Ik snapte het op een gegeven moment niet meer...
Niet zeker of ik nu de rest nog wil lezen/luisteren.

I didn't even realise I had missed Dickens before I strated to read him again. The rhythm of the prose and the word play is clever and fun, in this case like ringing of the bells, and there's humour as well. I also noted this was the first time I'd read Dickens in English, and it was definitely worth every second. The Finnish translations are good, but the descriptions of weather and London feel more vivid in the original language. I especially loved the beginning where Dickens describes how the wind goes through the church and the bell tower.

However, I can't help but compare this to A Christmas Carol, and the latter wins without a doubt. Despite the similar concept, The Chimes is still good. You just have to consider it as an independent novel instead of a part of the Christmas Books -series or as a companion piece to A Christmas Carol. During these final hours of the old year it was great to just calm myself down, and prepare to receive the new year before all the partying. During this time of the year I always get chills, because one period of time is ending and the next is about to start. The most exciting thing is that there's no way of knowing what the future will bring, so you can grab onto it with a new kind of attitude and enthusiasm, and forget all the bad stuff of the previous year. You can start with a clean slate.

This is also the case with Trotty. Even though Scrooge is a more effective character, there's room for improvement with the melancholic Trotty as well. The passing of time offers a chance to improve. There's no use worrying about the past, because it's just that - the past. Don't doubt yourself, but instead you should trust and hope that everything will be alright eventually.

What?

I usually like Dickens, but this was really unpleasant. Oh well, book club discussion will make it worth the time it took to read.

3 1/2 stars

While this slim book is much darker than A Christmas Carol, there are many parallels - the visions, the moral lessons, the chance for redemption, and others. However, Trotty is no Scrooge, and in fact, it took me a while to figure out what his "failing" was. And once I did, I liked the story even more. I will definitely be reading this one again!

Especially fun to read this on New Years Eve! “So may the New Year be a happy one to you, happy to many more whose happiness depends on you! So may each year be happier than the last, and not the meanest of our brethren or sisterhood debarred their rightful share, in what our Great Creator formed them to enjoy.” From last paragraph of The Chimes.

Loved Richard Armitage as the narrator, the story was ok to me. It might've been because it took me so long to get through it because of my schedule and also partially because of how Dickens' writes.

I didn’t love listening to this book just because it was so sad in the bleak part- it was so gloomy, even though I knew it would come around. Well read, though.

The first Dickens story I didn't love.

One of Dickens five Christmas stories, where Christmas Carol is by far the best know and loved, the Chimes tells the story of Trotty an old Porter, who in a series of visions is forewarned of future events if he loses faith in his fellow humans.

As in most other Dickens stories there's a indignation towards the living conditions of the poor and a harsh criticism of the privileged classes indifference or misguided philanthropy, but here it's delivered heavyhanded and without the usual elegance and humour.

The writing is still brilliant and poetic in places (it is Dickens after all) but uncommon for Dickens, some of it felt really dated and full of references that has been lost in time.

This book wasn’t terribly gripping or memorable. It reminded me of A Christmas Carol since the main character learns a lesson from a spirit who shows him an alternate reality. A Christmas Carol was much more memorable and interesting, though. The main reason I finished listening to this book was because Richard Armitage was reading it and I would listen to him read a phone book. The reason I gave it two stars instead of one was because of his wonderful voice acting.

Not as good as "A Christmas Carol," but still pretty good - and better suited for New Year's reading.