Ebenezer Scrooge is not a fan of Christmas. In fact, he dislikes most things, but especially people. Bah humbug!

But one Christmas Eve he is visited by the spirits of Christmas Past, Christmas Present and Christmas Yet to Come, and so begins a transformational evening for the mean and miserly man.

There are many classic stories lined up in my audible library, stories I never thought I’d get to read. A Christmas Carol is one of them. I know the story inside out but I don’t think I’ve ever read it for myself. The reason I don’t read classics is largely due to the way I process information. It is very difficult for me to read a classic without getting jumbled in all the wording and grammar. When audible added a load of classics to its plus catalogue, I greedily downloaded all of them.

This version of A Christmas Carol is narrated by Hugh Grant and I honestly wouldn’t have picked him as the narrator had I not been told it was him. I started listening to this at 6:21am when I woke up in a lot of pain – a side affect of some meds I am currently on! And it proved to be the perfect distraction.

Grant’s voice had a wonderful flow to it and he managed to give a different voice to each character. I was honestly surprised by his skill at narrating, as to me, he’s one of those actors who plays the same character in every film.

What I loved about listening to this was all the little details that you don’t get while watching an adaptation. The little details in Scrooge’s home, the Cratchetts, the trips with the ghosts etc. They made the book more enchanting and more interesting to listen too. I got to understand Scrooge’s character with a little more clarity as I think through watching adaptations of the book, his change of character can sometimes seem too quick and sudden.

I’m glad I had the opportunity to listen to this at long last. It gives me a lot of home for the other classics sitting in my audible library. Ironically, the one author I can read from the ‘classics’ is Shakespeare, whom I can read and completely understand what is going on. Yet, classic writers such as Charles Dickens, Jane Austen, H.G. Wells, Elizabeth Gaskell etc.

I give this delightful audiobook: ✨✨✨✨✨