Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol was our nominated book for the approaching festive season. It was odd given its classic status, how very few of us had in the past read any Dickens. Maybe one of the problems for modern readers is the overwhelming length of some classic novels, but A Christmas Carol is perfect to try as it is relatively short. Originally published in 1843 Charles Dickens was already confirmed as the most popular writer of his time. Since then more than 20 films versions of A Christmas Carol have been made, but would the book stand the test of time for the modern reader?

For our group it was unanimously enjoyed, and evoked in everyone, with its lovely language and evocative vocabulary, a quintessentially British Christmas atmosphere. This is particularly interesting as it was written at a time when traditional Christmas rituals were in decline, and is credited by some for redefining and refuelling the awareness of historical customs. We looked in detail at some of the language, reading aloud some long, clause-filled sentences that spanned paragraphs, but that we still understood because they were so clearly and cleverly written. We discussed parts of the story we didn’t understand: Dickens made several cultural references which his modern audience would have thoroughly enjoyed, but which today’s audience would struggle to appreciate. Not ‘getting the joke’ didn’t stop anyone from enjoying the story, but if you go out to buy this book, consider buying an edition written for schools, as the notes often explain these historical gags. Despite this, the rest of the humour in the novel hit a definite contemporary flavour.

Collectively loving a book doesn’t always make for the most exciting book group session – a good debate or argument can be much more stimulating – but reading a good story of the quality of this novel more than made up for that. I don’t know about anyone else, but I rushed home, turned the air-conditioning colder, got out my sheepskin slippers and ate mince pies all afternoon.