The 'Pop and Policy' of Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' at 180 Years Plus 2024 Book Recommendations
In this Special Holiday Edition, I Reflect on the 180th Anniversary of Charles Dickens' 'A Christmas Carol' and Offer 16 Books, Podcasts, and TV Show Recommendations to Kick Off Your 2024.
Happy Holidays!
Each year, I compile a list of top books and podcasts I recommend for 2024, and this time, I've included a few TV shows as well. You can go ahead and explore the full list here.
In a Substack exclusive, I'm also adding Charles Dickens' ‘A Christmas Carol’ to the mix in the spirit of Christmas Eve. Turning 180 years old this year, Dickens’ classic remains as timeless as ever, with various TV and movie adaptations over the years. My favorite version - “A Muppet’s Christmas Carol” - can be found on Disney+. Michael Caine is perfect as the Christmas-hating Scrooge. Last night, I enjoyed rewatching it with my mom—the VHS version my parents gifted my sister and me as a Christmas present in the early 1990s.
While the well-worn story of 'A Christmas Carol' is widely known, its backstory is less familiar. Dickens wrote the nearly 100-page manuscript in just six weeks. Faced with rejection from publishers, he took matters into his own hands and decided to self-publish, funding the endeavor himself. The rest is history—almost instantly, it became a bestseller. In the U.S., it became his bestselling book and laid the groundwork for a lucrative speaking tour across the country several decades later. Annotated versions, used during his captivating performances, are currently on display at the New York Public Library, while the original manuscript is housed at the Morgan Library & Museum.
In his unique way, Dickens could be regarded as a policy entrepreneur. His work not only reshaped the essence of 'Christmas' but also steered societal perspectives on social and economic inequity, bringing these issues to the forefront of people's minds (it's noteworthy that it was published in the same year as the first-ever Christmas cards were sent). 'A Christmas Carol' is mainly responsible for shaping the popular imagination of how we view Christmas today. As Penguin notes:
'It helped to form our concept of Christmas: one of charity, reconciliation, and the sharing of generosity and goodwill over a table laden with glistening food. Before 'A Christmas Carol,' Victorians didn’t wish one another a “Merry Christmas” or label those who didn’t as “Scrooge.”'"
However, it's also argued that Dickens' primary intent was “to communicate a radical political message and to do so in a form that would help to effect real change.” Deeply disturbed by the findings of a parliamentary report on the appalling working conditions of young working-class children released earlier that year, Dickens viewed them as the invisible, innocent victims of the Victorian Era’s Industrial Revolution. Motivated to write 'something to strike the heaviest blow in my power,' he aimed to mobilize public opinion in favor of more progressive social policies. In this context, Scrooge becomes the embodiment of all that is wrong in society. His infamous response when asked for a donation, “If they would rather die, they had better do it and decrease the surplus population,” echoes the 18th-century economist Thomas Malthus’ idea that there were too many people on earth for the planet to feed. Regrettably, this notion persists today and has become the foundation for numerous sinister ideologies that unfairly blame the poor, suggesting that their family size is the root cause of many global issues.
Of course, with so much suffering today, there will be debates on the long-term effectiveness of Dickens' message. Currently, parts of the world, including the land where Christmas has its original origins, are experiencing untold suffering and conflict, with poverty still pervasive worldwide. Nevertheless, it's essential to acknowledge that the world is fundamentally better than it was 180 years ago. Child labor, for instance, is now outlawed in many countries (though, unfortunately, it persists even where technically illegal). In 1840s Britain, a staggering 1 in 4 children died before the age of 5. Today, significant progress has been made due to advancements in healthcare, vaccinations, proper sanitation, and other improvements, as well as a commitment to prioritizing education over child labor.
Dickens left a lasting impact by skillfully incorporating popular culture, arguably one of the pioneering examples of 'pop and policy.' This strategy aimed to broaden the social acceptability of public policies benefiting the poor and raise awareness of their plight. Fast forward 50 years and photojournalist Jacob Riis undertook a similar endeavor, focusing on the marginalized, predominantly migrant neighborhoods of New York. His photography captured the attention of a young Theodore Roosevelt, who, in his later role as President, actively pushed back against the excesses of many Gilded Age Robber Barons, including the ironic figure of J.P. Morgan.Live Aid, and indeed, the Global Citizen Festival, both exemplify the fusion of pop and policy
Even after 180 years, the profound message of 'A Christmas Carol' remains enchanting and timeless. In our childhood, my sister, cousins, and I would frequently craft plays for the adults during the Christmas break. One year, we settled on 'A Christmas Carol,' and I memorized lines from Dickens' books. The book's final segment has always stayed with me—a literary passage that resonates with Dickens' overarching themes of redemption, generosity, compassion, new beginnings, hope, and change. In the midst of widespread suffering worldwide, its relevance speaks to us today. As we celebrate the holidays, let's reflect on Dickens' radical message that Scrooge realizes at the story’s end: 'Looking after the most vulnerable in society is the greatest gift of all.'I leave you with the books’ words and wish you all happy holidays.
“Scrooge was better than his word. He did it all, and infinitely more; and to Tiny Tim, who did not die, he was a second father. He became as good a friend, as good a master, and as good a man, as the good old city knew, or any other good old city, town, or borough, in the good old world. Some people laughed to see the alteration in him, but he let them laugh, and little heeded them; for he was wise enough to know that nothing ever happened on this globe, for good, at which some people did not have their fill of laughter in the outset; and knowing that such as these would be blind anyway, he thought it quite as well that they should wrinkle up their eyes in grins, as have the malady in less attractive forms. His own heart laughed: and that was quite enough for him.
He had no further intercourse with Spirits, but lived upon the Total Abstinence Principle, ever afterwards; and it was always said of him, that he knew how to keep Christmas well, if any man alive possessed the knowledge. May that be truly said of us, and all of us! And so, as Tiny Tim observed, God bless Us, Every One!”
PS. In case you missed it, here is the link to 16 books, podcasts, and TV shows I enjoyed this year.