Maybe Marley will be saved, by saving Scrooge. We don’t know how things work in this universe. That said, apparently Dickens was originally going for an unhappy ending and was persuaded to let Tiny Tim live.
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Why wasn’t Marley saved, while Scrooge was saved?
“How it is that I appear before you in a shape that you can see, I may not tell. I have sat invisible beside you many and many a day.”
“That is no light part of my penance,” pursued the Ghost. “I am here to-night to warn you, that you have yet a chance and hope of escaping my fate. A chance and hope of my procuring, Ebenezer.”
The optimist in me believes that if there is an afterlife, there is always hope for redemption.
Perhaps saving Scrooge is Marley’s penance and chance for redemption.
ETA: My post was stuck for hours because CC was down for me. I wonder if that was due to the AWS outage 
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Many of the holiday and angel movies have a plot that saving another soul that was somewhat salvageable is the ticket to being saved and getting off the treadmill.
The optimist in me likes to think that Morley can save Scrooge (and maybe one other person?) and the soul will get a good reward—whatever it is.
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I was thinking about the ghosts in A Christmas Carol. Their walk in the afterlife seems like Purgatory where they are atoning for their sins in hope of eventual redemption. In life Marley chose to ignore his opportunity for redemption, so he is now working to spare his friend from the same tortured destiny. I am going to be an optimist and hope the tortured walk of each of the ghosts will lead to their freedom from eternal misery.
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I think so…I couldn’t access CC (or a number of other sites) for most of the day yesterday.
Like the rest of you, I also hope that Marley can earn his ticket out through his assistance to Scrooge. Marley doesn’t even seem sure that Scrooge can be saved, much less himself:
“Old Jacob Marley, tell me more. Speak comfort to me, Jacob.”
“I have none to give,” the Ghost replied. “It comes from other regions, Ebenezer Scrooge, and is conveyed by other ministers, to other kinds of men. Nor can I tell you what I would. A very little more is all permitted to me. I cannot rest, I cannot stay, I cannot linger anywhere.”
By the way, the stage actor who played Scrooge at the Goodman Theatre in Chicago for many years (William J. Norris) died this week.
Mr. Norris once told the Chicago Sun-Times how he interpreted the classic Charles Dickens character: “He never cheated anybody. He just didn’t give anyone a break. He paid Bob Cratchit 15 shillings a week, par for the course then. There’s still a lot of work that can be done on a character that’s so richly written.” William J. Norris dead; Chicago actor was first Scrooge in Goodman Theatre’s ‘Christmas Carol’ - Chicago Sun-Times
It’s true – I expect Scrooge must at least have been law-abiding. (After all, Scrooge & Marley were in business many years.) And he even gave Bob Cratchit a paid holiday, even though he was grouchy about paying “a day’s wages for no work”:
The clerk observed that it was only once a year.
“A poor excuse for picking a man’s pocket every twenty-fifth of December!” said Scrooge, buttoning his great-coat to the chin.
Maybe this is one of the reasons A Christmas Carol has such universal appeal. Like it our not, we see ourselves in Scrooge at times – doing what we have to simply because we have to, and not out of mercy, compassion or love for our fellow human beings.
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- Many film and stage versions of the story omit the passages about the miners, the lighthouse and ship. Why do you think Dickens included them in the story? Do they add anything to the story?
The what, the what and the what? 
I finished the book only 10 days ago and barely remember the miners, the lighthouse and the ship, so I guess I’m not surprised the passages are generally omitted. I would say it’s because that brief excursion with the Ghost of Christmas Present takes us away from the primary setting (London) and the characters we know (Bob Cratchit and family, Scrooge’s nephew Fred). The visit to the other, more far flung locations seems unnecessary.
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I agree. I was surprised by them. They felt more like filler to me.
I think Dickens’ descriptions are effective – in any case, they are accurate as he is describing the times that he was actually living through. That said, I don’t think “outrage” is the prevailing sentiment in this particular story. A Christmas Carol is not Oliver Twist. It has a lighter touch than many of his other works.
Is Scrooge’s reformation believable? Nope. And that’s why I love the story. It’s a little miracle: a night & day change in personality from bad to good that we rarely, if ever, get to see in real life.
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Suggestions for February are welcome at any time!
Would there be any interest in reading The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy by Douglas Adams?
This was one of the books for my IRL book club many years ago that we never managed to read as a group because of insufficient number of copies available and I’ve always had a hankering for it.
I will be away from home all of January until the beginning of February so I’m not actually sure that I can join the February discussion.
So, I’m also suggesting one of the books that I had vetoed previously Daisy Jones and the Six by Taylor Jenkins Reid. I have read it and can follow along with the discussion.
I’ve always wanted to read it. All three of my (adult) children read and loved it - as did my English teacher sister.
I’ve read it but am interested in Malibu Rising by the same author.
I loved The Love Songs of W.E.B DuBois. It’s long but we usually pick a longer book for the after-Christmas/January-weather time of year. Anyway, beautiful writing and much to discuss.
Books I’ve wanted to read but haven’t yet:
Anxious People
The Dutch House
Harlem Shuffle
And always fun for gathering ideas: mix and match the filters - NPR : Books We Love
I would not be interested in rereading The Hitchhiker’s Guide. I thought it was stupid. One of the few cases where I actually found the movie better than the book.
If we wanted to do memoirs, I found it interesting that this pair was still on my want to read list:
Funny in Farsi by Firoozeh Dumas
The author’s family emigrated to CA when she was seven.
Dreaming in Hindi: Coming Awake in Another Language by Katherine Russell Rich
The author accepts a freelance writing assignment in India and gets interested in linguistics and how the learning the language gives her a new perspective on India.
Other thoughts
There, there by Tommy Orange
"Together, this chorus of voices tells of the plight of the urban Native American–grappling with a complex and painful history, with an inheritance of beauty and spirituality, with communion and sacrifice and heroism. " I think I may have suggested this before and it got nixed.
Painter to the King by Amy Sackville
A fictionalized biography of Velazquez. "It is a portrait of a ruler, always on duty, and increasingly burdened by a life of public expectation and repeated private grief. And it is a portrait of a court collapsing under the weight of its own excess. " and from one of the Goodreads reviewers: “And this brings us to the heart of what is, ultimately, a highly philosophical novel. I felt Painter to the King to be an exploration of the correlation between art and artifice, truth and reality, public personas and private feelings.”
I will also throw out that my best friend from high school is trying to get me to read Angela Thirkell. Angela Thirkell - Wikipedia
I’ve also read Daisy Jones and the Six (really liked it), but not Malibu Rising or The Seven Husbands of Evelyn Hugo, which my daughter read and enjoyed. (She mentioned that to my brother-in-law once, and they began a confusing conversation about the book – until they realized he was talking about The Seven Deaths of Evelyn Hardcastle. How funny to have two novels with such similar names published in the same year.)
If we’re looking at nonfiction:
These Precious Days - essays
Currently reading and loving “The Book of Longings” by Sue Monk Kidd for my (online) undergrad Alumni Book Club. (As a side note, the Book Club is not nearly as much fun as this one – though they do manage to get the author of the book we’re reading to do a virtual Q & A.)
Non-fiction is not usually one of my favorite genres, especially these days.
Usually we pick something longer to read in the cold month of January or with a hint or more of romance to discuss in February.
I’d love to follow what we just read with Gaskell’s North and South which fits for both our typical Jan and/or Feb read. I don’t know a thing about it other than being one of @Mary13’s favorite books and I trust her recommendations. Throw it on the list for consideration. I didn’t mention it earlier because I felt it might be too soon after the Dec. choices. On the other hand, if not now then when.
I just started reading Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr. It’s been very well reviewed. I anyone is looking for a long book, this is it. I wouldn’t mind it being one of ours to discuss.
I read Anxious People and thought it was amusing. Charming. I didn’t think it was book-club-worthy, but that’s me.
I’ve never read Anthony Doerr and he seems to rack up the accolades, so I’d be happy to read Cloud Cuckoo Land. It sounds pretty weird!
Great suggestions and commentary – lots of choices and lots of vetos for various reasons. @ignatius, as much as I love North and South, and as much as it would be a good winter Valentine’s month read, I’m going to veto it because I think we need a break next round from classics (and Elizabeth Gaskell). Maybe February 2023? I’m not going anywhere. 
Malibu Rising by Taylor Jenkins Reid
The Love Songs of W.E.B. DuBois by Honoree Fanonne Jeffers
The Dutch House by Ann Patchett
Harlem Shuffle by Colson Whitehead
There, There by Tommy Orange
The Book of Longings by Sue Monk Kidd
Painter to the King by Amy Sackville
Cloud Cuckoo Land by Anthony Doerr
Something by Angela Thirkell
OR a memoir (non-fiction, but @CBBBlinker, I don’t think any of them are too depressing):
These Precious Days: Essays by Ann Patchett
Funny in Farsi: A Memoir of Growing Up Iranian in America by Firoozeh Dumas
Dreaming in Hindi: Coming Awake in Another Language by Katherine Russell Rich
Did I miss anything? Any straight-up vetoes for any of the above?
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Veto: The Book of Longings
Concerns: Painter to the King is not available at any of the three library systems I access. That rarely happens. On Amazon it only comes in hardback or paperback, no eBook version. While not an out-and-out veto, lack of easy access drops it low on my list.
Ditto for Angela Thirkell - Complicated. My library system has two titles - one copy each - no eBook. (No Project Gutenberg either) Having to buy a copy seems likely. Which one though … most are part of a series and, for the record, I really really don’t like to drop into the middle of a series. This one comes close to veto for me.
I must be fussy this morning. I’m eyeing another one or two with suspicion.
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