Rebecca Swain wrote this review.
MARLEY was dead, to begin with. There is no doubt whatever about that. The register of his burial was signed by the clergyman, the clerk, the undertaker, and the chief mourner. Scrooge signed it. And Scrooge’s name was good upon ‘Change for anything he chose to put his hand to. — Charles Dickens, A Christmas Carol (1868 reading text)
I love being read to. I love sprawling in a chair or on my bed, closing my eyes, and letting someone else create a world for me without any effort on my part. This audio recording did not disappoint me. I enjoyed it immensely.
It is not easy to read aloud — you have to get the pace right, put expression in your reading, change your voice enough to make it clear who is speaking. I don’t do it well myself, but Tom Mula does. It doesn’t hurt that he’s an actor, of course, or that he has a studio full of equipment behind him. Still, I give him full credit for writing such an amusing, moving story and performing it so well.
A few years ago, Mula says, a friend’s daughter pointed out that Jacob Marley got a raw deal in Dickens’s Christmas Carol. Thanks to him, Scrooge was redeemed, but Marley stayed in chains. Mula agreed that this was grossly unfair, and wrote his version of the story, told from Marley’s point of view.
Seven years after Marley dies he finds himself in Hell, and the only way out is to try to change Scrooge’s heart. Marley is reluctant to do this because he thinks Scrooge was even more miserly and unpleasant in life than Marley himself, but as the story progresses Marley learns fear and pity, and earns redemption for himself as well as for Scrooge.
Mula’s description of Hell early in the book is horrifying, though it is not bloody or violent in any way. The idea of people being chained eternally to what they most hated on earth, or to the thing they prized above other people, chills me. As Marley begins to plot how to redeem Scrooge and, thereby, himself, the book becomes more amusing. The box uses the adjective “hilarious.” I wouldn’t go that far, but it certainly has its funny moments. The little imp who is assigned to Marley in Hell is sarcastic and — dare I say it? — impish, and Mula has funny turns of phrase on occasion. The ending is moving, and leaves the listener with a warm, happy feeling.
The pleasure is increased by the music and sound effects. The music is an original score by Laurence Schanker, and is evocative of appropriate moods throughout the story. There are some discreet sound effects, as well: tolling bells, the wind, and the occasional use of reverb for Mula’s voice, among others. They are wonderful for creating atmosphere and making the story more realistic.
This is an audio book families can listen to together. The story was originally produced for National Public Radio, and it is certainly worth hearing every Christmas.
(Woodside Avenue Productions, 1998)
