A Christmas Carol, by Charles Dickens

Meh. I like Dickens, as some of the earlier reviews in this blog should show, but this one did nothing for me. I already knew the story, of course--who can grow up in America and not know this story--and Dickens's writing, frankly, didn't do much to transform this from the preachy, sentimental pulp it has always seemed to me. I'm all for Christmas spirit as the next person--and it is rather fun to see a manifestation of that spirit from the guy who basically invented the term--but I tend to avoid things labelled as "heartwarming," and, unfortunately, that includes this little tale. I prefer my saccharine overemotionalism with a taste of subtlety included.