Well The Doctor was right again when he said that every Christmas is last Christmas. There goes another one just disappearing out of view. Whilst we are on the subject though and before we move past it for another year I would like to share some details of a December ritual one likes to indulge in(OH-ER!). I realise of course that such a statement is little more than a bloated conceit from one who is little more than a partially evolved ape-descendant but here goes. Anyway, every December just before Christmas, some times even a little after it, I reread Charles Dicken's A Christmas Carol and this is my favorite edition of that incredible wee book. A lovely hardback, one of the oldest books I possess, with the most stunning composed plates by the very talented Peter Fluck and Roger Law. I picked it up many years ago in Willis Bookshop in Calendar Street in Belfast. Another bookstore now long gone. It was one of those stores I used to haunt in search of Doctor Who Target Novelizations. Which was not an easy task as it sounds as I never had much money so if an item was not cheap I just had to do without it. Oh yes I had the freedom from possessions that comes with no income. I must have really, really wanted this volume because it was a whole four ninety five back in 1979. Mind you, A Christmas Carol is a story for the ages and it is nice to think one has a favorite version.
It was first published in 1843 which makes it exactly..er,well..it makes it pretty old.
But a tale that remains young at heart.
And what a heart. A big old dusty Victorian heart that still beats with all the vigor of a musical hall romp from the good old days...
My Old Man Said Follow The Van And Do'nt Dilly Dally On The Way!
