A Christmas Carol

"What makes this particular story such an enduring, and endearing, classic? Well, it has pathos and warmth, humor and chills. Central to its appeal, also, is its theme of redemption...With Scrooge, we are presented with the idea that a good person might over time become cynical, embittered, bordering on evil – but still, might change again, and become redeemed. (The spirits seem to do that for him, but we know they're only a metaphor, perhaps even the manifestations of a nightmare.) This id...