The Story of a Christmas Carol

There is only so much I can add to all that is written about Charles Dickens and his famous novel A Christmas Carol, a story that has apparently never been out of print since its first edition in the late 1800s. One can only aim of such success. So what is it that makes this novel so special. In one word, I’d say, relatability.

We are introduced to a grumpy old rich man Ebenezer Scrooge, who despises people, pleasantries, cheer, charity and frankly anything and everything related to being a good human. He doesn’t hurt anyone but is the personification of stinginess and unpleasantness. One day he is visited by the ghost of his dead friend and partner, who seems to be chained by the bad deeds that he did in his lifetime and is forewarned that he will be visited again by three ghosts. These are the ghosts of Christmas – Past, Present and Future.

The Story of a Moonstone

Moonstone, written in the early 19^th century by Wilkie Collins is a detective story where instead of a detective solving the crime, it’s the readers who discover the thief through a series of narrations. A very interesting way to put it. And quite skillful too

The plot starts with how the Moonstone comes into the hands of a Colonel, through a series of plunder of the Hindu temples that happened during the 600 yr rule of the Mughals and British in India. It then talks of its journey to England and there it is bequeathed to the Colonel’s niece during her 18^th birthday. She receives it on her birthday dinner but the following day, it is found to be missing. Who stole it, How did it find its way out of the house into a banker, Who then recovers it, forms the rest of the plot