Listening to the Classics

Recently, I had the opportunity to listen to A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens. The recording, beautifully narrated by Tim Curry, was a gift from my friends at Audible.com. 

Once again, I was reminded what a talented author Dickens was (and what a talented actor Tim Curry is). Dickens’s insight into human nature is just accurate and amusing—and sometimes frightening—as it was when he committed them to paper. There is a chapter in Nicholas Nickelby regarding the relationship between government and commerce that could have been written yesterday.

It is both reassuring and disturbing just how consistent human nature is. Reassuring because we don’t have to re-invent the societal wheel every couple of years. Disturbing because we as humans revel in the same foibles year after year.

Returning to my original point, if you haven’t read any Dickens lately—or at all—this would be a great year to give Charles Dickens a read…or a listen.