A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens

Who doesn't know this story? Ebeneezer Scrooge, literally the definition of a grumpy old miser, is visited by the shade of his old business partner who urges him to change his ways before it is too late. With the help of the Ghosts of Christmases Past, Present, and Yet To Come, Scrooge gets a second chance at figuring out what's really important in life and immediately becomes a kinder and more generous man.

A Christmas Carol really is a great little story, and I can see why it is one of Dickens's most loved books. It's sweet and touching and full of characters that burst off the page in true Dickensian fashion. There are also some genuinely chilling and unearthly parts, the most unnerving of which is when Scrooge comes face to face with his own corpse which lies cold and unregarded in an empty chamber. 

My favourite thing about the book, however, is all the stuff that doesn't make it into the adaptations. Dickens was a tireless social campaigner, and A Christmas Carol calls out the attitudes that many held (and, sadly, still hold) about the poor. At the start of the book, Scrooge refuses to give to charity because the poor should turn to the workhouses and the treadmills if they have no money. He also advocates that hunger and disease will rid London of its 'surplus population' - a sentiment he regrets when a ghost asks him to choose who will live and who will die. Lastly, Dickens calls out politicians who pass discriminatory laws in the name of religion;

"There are some upon this earth of yours,” returned the Spirit, “who lay claim to know us, and who do their deeds of passion, pride, ill-will, hatred, envy, bigotry, and selfishness in our name, who are as strange to us and all our kith and kin, as if they had never lived. Remember that, and charge their doings on themselves, not us."

My first experience with Dickens was Great Expectations, which landed with a thump on my desk when I was 14 years old. Like so many schoolchildren, this first introduction to Dickens wasn't an inspiring one and I've steered clear of his works ever since. A Christmas Carol has convinced me to give him another chance.

Recommended For: Anyone, like me, who is a little intimidated by Dickens.

Read On: There's so many to choose from! I'm tempted to give Great Expectations another chance, or David Copperfield as there's a film adaptation out in January.

A Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich by Aleksandr Solzhenitsyn

When we meet him, Ivan Denisovich Shukov has served eight years in a Siberian labour camp and is a veteran at the art of survival. From the first clang of reveille on a bitter January morning to lights out that same evening, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich chronicles a single day in the life of Shukov.

This is a short little book that only took a day to read, but will linger with me for much longer. With its stark descriptions of the hunger, cold, and fatigue faced by Shukov, Solzhenitsyn depicts the harshness of life in the gulag and how it changes those who are imprisoned there. Honest, cunning, selfish, and compassionate, Shukov hides bread in his mattress, cheats the cook, runs small errands for his superiors, smuggles a scrap of metal into the camp, and steals building supplies. All of this for a few extra scraps of food which, in the Siberian winter, can make the difference between life and death.

But what really struck me was that in the face of such deprivations, Shukov refuses to let the gulag turn him into anything less than human. He always puts himself first but helps others if he can. He's loyal to his workmates and takes a quiet pride in a well-built wall. He also manages to wring tiny moments of joy and humour whenever he can. An unexpected bit of fish in his soup, a successfully cadged cigarette, a mouthful of sausage - Shukov's happiness at such tiny pleasures is his way of holding on to his humanity and self-respect in a place designed to strip him of every dignity.

Quiet, understated and very, very human, One Day in the Life of Ivan Denisovich is a short and powerful depiction of the fate of thousands of Russians caught up in the Stalinist purges of the USSR. A book that truly deserves its place in James Mustich's 1000 Books To Read Before You Die.