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Title: A Christmas Carol read by Patrick Stewart
Author: Charles Dickens
Narrator: Patrick Stewart
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic
Length: 1hr and 46min
(Pages: 98)
(Words: 28K)
Last year when I listened to this story narrated by Tim Curry, many of my faithful followers recommended the audio version read by Patrick Stewart. I immediately put it onto my google calendar to help remind myself for this year.
And boy howdy, am I glad I did! I will never listen to another version again and I’ll be hard pressed to even justifying reading it. Stewart does an absolutely PERFECT job here and I was completely impressed.
He also reads at a faster pace than Curry did and takes about half the time, so it’s not a big time commitment. It never felt rushed though and his stage training meant his diction and enunciation were a joy to listen to.
In short, and to end, this is now my definitive and preferred edition of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol. Good stuff!
★★★★★
Bookstooge's Reviews on the Road 
Mr.Stewart has a wonderful speaking voice. He’ll always be Jean Luc Picard to me though!
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Make it so, number one!
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Aye aye Cap’n!
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Did not know this was Captain Kirk’s favorite story. I’ll see if i can track this version down. I was a fan of Curry’s version too
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If you liked the Curry version, then you’ll probably like this one for sure 🙂
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When do you listen to audio books? Driving?
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This one I put on a thumb drive and plugged it into my bluray player. I had some laser eye surgery the other week and so had some time after where I couldn’t do anything, so I sat on the couch and listened to it.
Normally I just don’t do audiobooks because I don’t have the time….
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I always had trouble listening to them when driving because I found them distracting. Maybe OK if you’re driving across the desert but not in the city.
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I pretty much only drive to and from work and that’s only 10min each way. And most other driving has Mrs B in the car, so I want to talk to her instead of listening to some chump drone on.
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Does Patrick Stewart want you for the US army?
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Hey, Lord Kitchener did it first . . .
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But with no beard, he didn’t stand a chance against Uncle Sam….
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He wants YOU for Starfleet!
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Is Patrick Stewart offering you a bucket of finger lickin’ KFC?
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Well, if he advertised for them, I’d be tempted!
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Does Patrick Stewart think he could show me a good time at the YMCA?
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I doubt it. Unless they’re giving elocution lessons now….
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With that Voice, I’m not surprised at your enthusiastic reaction! 🙂
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I’m surprised he hasn’t turned to audio books as his living…
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Have you seen the (I think made for TV) movie version starring him as Scrooge? It’s fantastic! It’s probably the most true to the book of any screen adaptation, and Stewart is perfect. Some of the ghost costuming and special effects are maybe a bit “meh,” but it’s my favorite version (Muppets comes in second and is surprisingly closer to the book that most adaptations).
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I have not. You mentioned it last year, so it will probably happen for next year.
I was pretty happy w the Muppets adaptation too 🙂
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The guy certainly has “the pipes” to pull off a masterful reading, and it sounds like he does just that. One of my favorite stories growing up, and this definitely sounds like a worthy experience to be had.
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It is really good! I thought I really liked Tim Curry’s reading, but this is another step up imo.
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I just realised that I’ve never read the original story. I should rectify that this year.
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It’s a good story and even those who aren’t huge Dickens fans like me should enjoy it
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Absolutely love A Christmas Carol. I’ll make sure to hunt this version down next time I listen to it 😁
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You won’t regret it, that’s for sure 🙂
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He does even better than Curry? Wow! But I guess I shouldn’t be surprised, he’s got a great voice and his classical training and stage acting probably translated well into narrating audiobooks.
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When Joelendil recommended this last year, I have to admit I was skeptical. But not anymore!
His elocution training makes a world of difference. I think i’m spoiled for life now 🙂
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Sounds great.
Our family listened to it while on a road trip many years ago, but I honestly don’t remember who did the narration. My kids were young enough that I was concerned about it holding their attention, meanwhile my husband and I were struck by the poignancy of the content.
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There are certainly a lot of versions out there. I think this one has been around since the 90’s though? I don’t care enough to go look it up 😀
Hearing it read to me, instead of just reading it myself, brings out so many different things. It’s rather amazing.
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Glad you liked it! So glad you turned me on to the Curry version last year, which was great, but it couldn’t displace this one for me.
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You know, was it you who recommended this version? I was thinking it was Joelendil the whole time but now I’m wondering if I’ve got my bloggers mixed up (which sadly, I do a lot)
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I was at least one of those who recommended it, perhaps both of us did. I’m trying to get better about keeping notes at who suggests what, but “trying” is doing a lot of work in this sentence.
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I hear you. I regularly tell myself that I’ll keep better track “next time” but so far, it just isn’t happening 😀
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This sounds like the absolute and perfect version to listen to. I’ll have to give it a go when I’m ready to reread this classic!
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Yep, this is definitely the route to go. It’ll give you a whole different take on it and it will sound great 😀
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Thanks for this, I may have to pick up this version for my wife.
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If someone likes A Christmas Carol, they need this version in their life. You won’t regret the purchase 😀
And how’s life treating you? Still puttering along at LT?
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Dickens became a writer I enjoyed in college but looking back I realize I met him as a child, via a Christmas Carol. Except to child me A Christmas Carol (and for that matter It’s a Wonderful Life, another Christmas classic) were horror films as they both unsettled and/or scared the crap out of me. I may have been too young to follow the plot points but the mood and atmosphere, not to mention the imagery, seemed so foreboding. To this day I’ve never read it but the Scrooged version of the film from my time did bring me around on the story’s appeal. Still not sure I could listen to an audio book without all the lights on.
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Most of the movies certainly lean into that aspect, especially with the ghost of Christmas future. Not sure I feel the book actually is that way.
The Muppets Christmas Carol would be a good introduction if you needed something to ease you into it 🙂
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lol
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