Over the years of the Victoria Classics Book Club, our group has grown to encompass thousands of members connected by a love of reading. Below, find discussion questions for past volumes, which can be explored further on our Book Selections page. We also invite you to join the ongoing conversation on our Facebook page, where you will meet a delightful coterie of devoted readers.
A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Tales by Charles Dickens
A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Tales includes Charles Dickens’s beloved tale of redemption, compassion, and mercy. Follow along and share your thoughts as we explore the adventures of Ebenezer Scrooge, a grouchy miser whose heart is transformed when he encounters a series of ghosts in the form of his late business partner, Jacob Marley, and the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come.
First published in 1843, A Christmas Carol and Other Christmas Tales, Charles Dickens’s time-honored novella takes place amid the snow-filled streets of London at Christmastime. A reclusive and bitter man named Ebenezer Scrooge is visited nightly by ghosts who guide him to look inward and tend to his broken spirit. As Scrooge remembers his past, encounters the joy he avoids in the present, and glimpses a harrowing future that awaits, his heart is transformed, and he learns to embrace a spirit of kindness and generosity. What are your initial impressions of Scrooge? And how do they change over the course of the story?
We meet the four ghosts who visit Ebenezer Scrooge on Christmas Eve: Jacob Marley, the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come. Though each spirit is different, each has ethereal and otherworldly qualities that shock Scrooge and teach him powerful lessons. Which ghost would have the biggest impact on you? Would you most like to visit the past, learn about your neighbors in the present, or see the future?
The Ghost of Christmas Past whisks Scrooge through time to experience a montage of holidays from his younger years. In a tour of his personal history, Scrooge remembers Yuletides as a child in the schoolhouse and as young man in love. Do you have a favorite holiday memory?
Create your new holiday memories with our festive pairings!
Charles Dickens ends his story with Tiny Tim’s famous phrase: “God bless Us, Every One!” This sentiment is much more gracious than Scrooge’s repeated “Bah Humbug!” at the beginning of the novella. Looking back on this story and all of the Christmases throughout your life, what lessons has this holiday taught you?
Find Victoria Classics Book Club resources—including discussion questions, companion materials, and a reader forum—at Victorimag.com!