A Christmas Carol: Read Along (Stave 2)

Well, we’re back for week 2 of A Christmas Carol read-along hosted by Dog-Eared & Bookmarked.  Hopefully our first session was enjoyable.  If everyone will please open their books to the beginning of stave 2 we’ll go ahead and get started.  Quiet down in the back and Stanley; spit your gum out please….

Stave Two is almost entirely about the eventful visit from the Ghost of Christmas Past.  We can only imagine what it must have felt like to hear the clock bells toll ever closer to 1 o’clock.  On second thought, we don’t want to imagine it.  Once again the humor in this part is solid.  The highlight for us is when the ghost proclaims that his visit is for the benefit of Scrooge’s welfare and Scrooge immediately reflects that an uninterrupted night of sleep would be more welcomed.  In the end, the unlikely pair decides to indulge in an evening stroll down memory lane.

Five scenes are revealed which enable the reader to glean important information about Scrooge’s past (there is considerable weeping performed by the main character).  We also learn that given slightly different circumstances Mr. and Mrs. Fezziwig would have been the favorites on next season’s, So You Think You Can Dance.  Most profoundly however, we begin to see small glimpses of remorse within Scrooge.

Overall, Stave 2 was another Dicken’s delight.  As an added benefit, we experienced about an inch of winter during the reading.  There’s nothing like some blustering snow to further establish the mood.  Unfortunately, we’re forced to cut this post just a little short because the shovel is calling our name from the garage.  Class dismissed!  Extra credit if you lend a hand with the driveway!