472: A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens -- review and comment

To help you get in the holiday spirit, here's the latest edition of P&C's "shortcut to the classics." The expanded crew drinks and reviews Sam Adams' Old Fezziwig ale and discusses the Charles Dickens classic. Special guest Longinus starts the show with a brief bio of Dickens and provides some historical context to the story. The boys discuss how the book differs from the various movie versions (not much), and provide background on some of the more striking and interesting details. There are also 19th century concepts and terms we're not used to today, like the treadmill for the poor, negus and smoking bishop (which were types of punch), and forfeits, a party game. There are other little things that might have hidden meaning, like Scrooge's first name. Why "Ebenezer"? Other questions come up. * Why can't the ghost of Christmas future speak? * Why did Scrooge (and no one else) get this special chance at redemption? If you've seen one of the movies, you know the basic story, but the book is delightful and well worth reading.