A Christmas Carol (Simon & Schuster Edition)

By: Charles Dickens

Narrated by: Patrick Stewart

Length: 1 hr and 47 mins

Publisher's Summary

Tiny Tim, Bob Cratchit, and Ebenezer Scrooge come to marvelous life in Patrick Stewart's critically-acclaimed solo interpretation of A Christmas Carol. The star of X-Men and The Royal Shakespeare Company, Stewart has performed his one-man stage production of this holiday classic to sell-out audiences. Now, in this Grammy-nominated studio recording of the dazzling achievement that has thrilled audiences in New York and Los Angeles, Stewart invites listeners to rediscover the timeless story at its source: Dickens' own words, presented in a soaring, virtuoso solo performance in which Stewart plays all parts.

©1991 Camm Lane, Inc (P)2006 Simon and Schuster, Inc. All rights reserved.

Critic Reviews

"Reciting the litany of Scrooge's scrooginess, Stewart relishes the emotional gamut of meanness....Humbug seldom sounds so good." (Newsweek)
"Not only is Patrick Stewart wonderful, but this is surely one of the best performances of A Christmas Carol ever recorded....By sheer energy and dramatic skill, Stewart invests this story with not merely life, but freshness, excitement, and wonder." (The Washington Post)
"A low tech audio Christmas card: no sound effects, no gimmicks, just one of the the great voices of the contemporary classical stage creating as vivid a cast of characters as Dickens imagines. The Royal Shakespeare Company veteran...doesn't so much read the story as inhabit it with infectious delight." (Entertainment Weekly)

It's not Christmas without this (audio)book

This is by far one of my favorite audio books of all time.

My grandparents bought me the cassette version at LEAST 15 years ago, and I've been listening to it faithfully every year since. I don't feel that Christmas has truly arrived until I've done so.

Patrick Stewart's one-man performance is just incredible, and I actually prefer it to the "movie" version that aired a few years ago, in which he also starred.

Highly highly HIGHLY recommended!

Captain Picard saves the day!

I am not really a fan of the Simon & Schuster version of "A Christmas Carol" but the awesomeness of Patrick Stewart's reading makes up for the cringe factor when the story deviates from the traditional version.

The story is shorter than the traditional one so you lose some of the classic parts, but you also get another point of view so maybe it's ok.

It's a good listen, but I recommend following it up with the Patrick Stewart movie version of this story.

Excellent!

Very well done, enjoyable!

It's am abridged version.

It's been cropped down. The original has subtleties that are skipped. You might as well watch the movie.

Patrick Stewart is Brilliant

Would you listen to A Christmas Carol [Simon & Schuster Version] again? Why?

Yes. The production is magnificent

Who was your favorite character and why?

Scrooge is in all of us.

What does Patrick Stewart bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you just read the book?

Brilliant voice characterisations by this Shakespearean actor.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes

Patrick Stewart is Outstanding

What did you love best about A Christmas Carol [Simon & Schuster Version]?

The performance paints a very accurate picture of victorian England, Stewarts performance really puts you into the action, and draws you into the story.

Who was your favorite character and why?

Since Patrick Stewart treats this as a one man show, he is the only character

Have you listened to any of Patrick Stewart???s other performances before? How does this one compare?

I am a big fan of Stewart, including his Star Trek performances, and as Captain Ahab in Moby Dick.

Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?

Yes, but it can be broken up into various sittings.

Any additional comments?

Well worth the price, and an exceptional recording.

Perfection

A Christmas Carol narrated by Patrick Stewart? God bless us everyone.

Required Christmas reading for me.

Excellent!!! A+++

Patrick Stewart does a extraordinary job in this reading. He brings new energy to the characters and is just a pleasure to listen to. Well worth the money.

Patrick Stewart is GREAT!

Love the TNT made for tv movie of this story with Patrick Stewart and is why I got this version. You will enjoy!

My Favorite Christmas book

Listening to Patrick Stewart reading this clasic Christmas tale in his marvelous brogue is the ONLY way to listen to it. It has become a Christmas tradition for me.

Abridgement of such a short book?

Of course this is excellent. Classic story, the best reading of it I've ever heard, but abridging it ought to be criminalised, the penalty should be to read out War and Peace in its entirety.

An abosolute must have!

Brilliant, simply brilliant, a fantastic story, brought to new life by a fantastic performance by Patrick Stewart. Stewart doesn't just read the book, he acts it out vocally, in a true style of one of the greatest actors of our age. Definately the highest priority for this christmas.

Bah! Humbug! But then I love humbugs...

Any additional comments?

I had the great privilege some years ago of seeing Patrick Stewart’s one-man show of A Christmas Carol at The Old Vic theatre in London – one of the theatrical highlights of my life. At the time I was aware of him as Jean-Luc Picard of the Star Ship Enterprise and knew that he’d been a ‘proper’ Shakespearian actor before that. But seeing him perform Dickens’ wonderful story live was a revelation. This audio version is based on that performance.

A Christmas Carol must surely rate as the best ghost story of all time, and be on the shortlist at least for best short story. Dickens’ exuberant and larger-than-life style is perfectly suited to a tale of this nature, and it in turn is perfectly suited to the message of Christmas. We see Scrooge first as a mean and miserly old man, measuring out his clerk’s coal and objecting to losing a day’s work for Christmas. Our introduction to the ghost of Marley is truly scary – the clanking chains, the face on the door-knocker, the chimes of the clock; and who can forget the gaping jaw as Marley removes the kerchief tied around his head? The Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Yet to Come lead us through a turmoil of emotions as we see the lonely little boy, the young man who lost his one love, the gradual sinking into loneliness and miserliness, and the horror of what might be to come. But Dickens does redemption like no-one else, and he leads us away from the despair of Ignorance and Want towards a joyous and uplifting ending, where Scrooge gains his salvation through learning that to give to those less fortunate than himself brings him the pleasure and happiness he had forgotten could exist.

Stewart’s performance is superb. There’s no music, no sound-effects – he performs the whole thing completely with his voice, creating different personas for each character, each fully realised and totally individual. It is his voice that gives us the bells, the chimes of the clock – it’s through his voice that we hear the fear, the horror, the hope and finally the wondrous joy. When Scrooge learns to laugh at the end, I defy anyone not to laugh with him. When he sings a Christmas carol for the first time in years we hear his voice go through the stages from creaky and rusty to a full-scale boisterous bellow. And when he gives us Dickens’ last sugary-sweet line, he makes it so tender that even the cliché becomes truly moving.

This is an abridged version, running at just under two hours, but it’s so skilfully done I’m never really aware of what’s missing. It’s a once a year must-listen for me and I love it just as much each time. A masterly performance of a masterpiece, and guaranteed to boost your festive stock of goodwill to all men.

brilliant!

A wonderful reading if the classic story. Stewart encapsulates each character perfectly in his performance. a must listen for the Christmas holidays.

amazing rendition

Absolutely loved it. Patrick Stewart is delightful, only wish it were longer. Will listen to again and again. The different voices and richness of the reading were excellent.

Sir Patrick Stewart's delights.

A delight to listen to and quite funny to listen to sir Patrick's impressions of the characters. A good fun version to listen to narrated well by a absolute legend.

Patrick Stewart is just amazing!

thoroughly enjoyed by myself and am looking forward to letting the kids listen in this time

The best of countless audio adaptations.

Patrick Stewart's Scrooge is gleefully awful, but when he grows a heart he's so touchingly vulnerable.

Most audiobooks are a compromise, this one is not.
it's perfect.

The Best Book In My Collection!

Patrick Stewart is absolutely phenomenal is this tale of joy and sorrow. It is brilliant

fantastic

fantastic 😀 could not stop listening. only wish it were a longer story etc. etc.