You've probably seen one of the many versions and adaptions of A Christmas Carol (a a search at IMDB turns up quite a few; my favorite is George C. Scott's) or perhaps you saw the cartoon version (Scrooge McDuck!). Or maybe you even read a short, abridged version of the novella. Most of you are familiar with the story, but I'm willing to bet a few shillings that few of you have actually read the original.

I certainly hadn't. And now I know what I missed.

A Christmas Carol is fantastic! It's a downright rippin' good read. Right from the beginning, "Marley was dead: to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that," to the end, "He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world." You know exactly what's going to happen and when it's going to happen, but Dickens's book is timeless. His words carry you along as if you had never heard of the story before.

This is definitely one of those cases where the book is better than the movie(s), and it's definitely a case where the original is the best one of all. I'm really glad I picked it off my shelves.

What are you waiting for? Here's the complete text.