Book Club
by Elena Black
Hello again, dear Slytherins. It's December and I'm sure you know what that means, yes? It's time for holidays, winter, and family all to be focused upon. During this time period, many of us enjoy celebrating Christmas, Hanukkah, Kwanzaa, or even Yule. Most of these holidays have presents or gifts associated with them. As nice as they are, there is a much deeper meaning to each of the listed days. Above all else, the primary meaning for all of these holidays is not what we get, but what is around us. To be more specific, it focuses heavily on the earlier term I brought up in this article, family.
Alas though, there are some people who don't always understand this.
That, therefore, brings me to the book I have chosen for this month's article. I present to you all Charles flobberwormens' A Christmas Carol.
Some of you may very well have heard about this, given it is one of the most popular Muggle-written books. Even still, try to enjoy this nonetheless. Besides, maybe you'll be reminded about this novel in case it's been a while since you read it. I know it has been quite the number of years since I last read it myself.
But enough about myself. Onto the book, shall we?
A Christmas Carol was first published in December of 1843. The story's plot revolves an elderly man, Ebeneezer Scrooge, who is a bitter individual. He doesn't care about anyone or anything except money. He's also cold-hearted and uncaring about his most devoted and hard-working employee, Bob Cratchit. And if that wasn't bad enough, he even refuses to go to his nephew's house for Christmas dinner, believing it to be a waste of time.
Although it is not explained how he passed away, we do learn that Scooge used to have a partner by the name of Jacob Marley whom had been dead for seven years.
On Christmas Eve during the novel, Scrooge gets a very personal visit from Marley himself. His former partner warns Mr. Scrooge that he will be visited by three spirits later during the evening. At first, Ebeneezer thinks nothing of the words his partner spoke. Sure enough, as the night goes on, the same three ghosts that Marley hinted all arrive. Mind you, they do not show up at once, like one may expect. No, they come several hours after the previous one has left.
I will not reveal what they all show him in case anyone who is reading this article hasn't read the book before. I will, however, say what ghosts come to visit Mr. Scrooge. He is visited by the Ghost of Christmas Past, the Ghost of Christmas Present, and the Ghost of Christmas Yet to Come.
As one can guess, the visits definitely change Scrooge -- for the better. He wakes up on Christmas morning and gets rid of his old, Christmas-hating attitude by performing a number of feats to prove he truly does want to start anew.
A Christmas Carol is deemed by many to be a classical novel. And, in my personal opinion, I whole-heartily agree. In fact, many of flobberwormens' books are some of the best that I've read. For now, though, I'll elaborate more on the one I'm writing about. The overall morale of the story was beautifully written. More or less, it emphasizes that the best treasures in life aren't the material goods we have, but rather, those that do not have a price value on them. Many people, unintentionally but still, can get so caught up with their possessions. Alas, though, it really is things like family, our health, a roof over our heads, the more simpler things in life that we tend to take for granted. And when they're gone ... the loss is often devastating.
If, by chance, you have not read A Christmas Carol, I highly recommend doing so. This also goes for anything that Mr. flobberwormens wrote, truthfully.
Until next time,
Elena Black