132. A Christmas Carol

Context:

The central subject of the entire podcast episode. The hosts walk through London locations associated with the story, discuss its origins in Dickens' personal and financial circumstances in 1843, analyze its characters (Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Tiny Tim, Marley), read extensive passages aloud, and debate its political meaning as a conservative rather than radical critique of Victorian inequality. They argue it is likely the most adapted story in the English language and discuss why its fairy-tale quality and moral simplicity have made it enduringly popular.

Context:

Mentioned as one of Dickens' earlier successful books that had established his reputation before A Christmas Carol. The hosts note that despite these earlier successes, Dickens was under financial pressure when he wrote A Christmas Carol because his most recent book had underperformed.

Context:

Mentioned as one of Dickens' earlier successful books before A Christmas Carol. Also referenced specifically when the hosts note that Saffron Hill, where Dickens visited a ragged school before writing A Christmas Carol, is where Fagin hangs out with the pickpockets in Oliver Twist.

Context:

Mentioned as one of Dickens' earlier successful books that had established his literary reputation before A Christmas Carol, listed alongside Pickwick Papers and Oliver Twist.

Context:

Described as Dickens' most recent book before A Christmas Carol and characterized as 'a bit of a failure.' The hosts explain that its poor reception, combined with his wife expecting another baby and publishers threatening to pay him less, motivated Dickens to write something commercially successful, leading directly to A Christmas Carol. Also connected to Dickens' 1842 trip to America, where he visited a Pittsburgh penitentiary and had the idea of a prisoner being visited by ghosts.

Context:

Mentioned as Dickens' very first published work, with the hosts noting that it included a sketch about Christmas, establishing that Christmas was a theme running through Dickens' entire career from his earliest writing to his last unfinished novel.

Context:

Mentioned as Dickens' last unfinished novel, notable for featuring a murder that takes place on Christmas. The hosts cite it as evidence that Christmas was a theme running throughout Dickens' entire literary career, from Sketches by Boz to his final work.

Context:

Referenced when comparing Tiny Tim to the character Little Nell. The hosts note that Little Nell's death had famously caused a 'universe of weeping and wailing,' with Americans waiting at the quayside for the next installment, and that Oscar Wilde famously mocked the sentimentality. Tiny Tim is described as essentially a similar sentimental figure to Little Nell.

Context:

One host mentions reading it during the COVID lockdown Christmas, having not read it since school when he hadn't enjoyed it. He describes being 'literally in tears at the end,' using it as an example of how middle age has made him more receptive to Dickens' sentimentality rather than cynically dismissive of it.

Context:

Referenced while walking through the City of London, in connection with the hosts' upcoming episode on 1922 as the year modernity was born. They cite Eliot's 'terrifying description' of people crossing London Bridge — 'I had not thought death had undone so many' — drawing a parallel between Eliot's vision of modern London and the atmosphere of the financial district they are walking through.

Context:

Referenced when discussing Mr. Fezziwig's Christmas party in A Christmas Carol, where the dance 'Sir Roger de Coverley' is performed. The hosts note that this dance was named after a character in The Spectator, clarifying they mean the early 18th-century periodical rather than the modern magazine. While a periodical rather than a single book, it was a significant published literary work.

Context:

Mentioned as 'one of the great ghost stories ever' when discussing Dickens' complex relationship with the supernatural. The hosts note it demonstrates that despite being a skeptical 19th-century man, Dickens was genuinely fascinated by ghosts and death. They also praise the 1970s TV adaptation starring Denholm Elliott as 'absolutely superb.'

Context:

Referenced when the hosts visit St. Peter upon Cornhill church. They mention John Stow (spelled 'Stowe' in speech) as 'the great Tudor writer about London at the end of the 16th century' who cited a tablet claiming King Lucius had founded the church in the 2nd century AD. Relevant for anyone interested in the deep history of London's landmarks.

Context:

Mentioned when one host discusses reading children's books to his son and getting emotionally choked up at certain passages, while his son remained 'completely indifferent.' Used as a humorous example of how parenthood amplifies emotional responses to literature.