Why Ray Bradbury Loved Charles Dickens' A Christmas Carol

     On more than one occasion, the great American writer Ray Bradbury was asked about his favorite books. While the answer varied, he most frequently spoke of Charles Dickens's A Christmas Carol. For those who know and love the writings of Ray Bradbury, it makes perfect sense this was a favorite of his. The theme of really living is vibrant in many Bradbury works. So it is no surprise that Bradbury spoke with great excitement about the scene in A Christmas Carol where the culminating visits of the ghosts moves Ebeneezer, when he realizes that he has another chance, to declare, I will live in the Past, the Present, and the Future!  The Spirits of all Three shall strive within me.
     As good as the many movie versions may be, there is a texture in the story that is simply missed in the visual interpretations. In this interview (toward the end of his life) Ray Bradbury speaks about his love of this great Christmas story that is a call to live life. While Bradbury says that his own The Halloween Tree is an homage to A Christmas Carol, his short story The Gift is a nice Christmas seasonal tale. You can also read Bradbury's Jack In The Box for a Bradburian twist of the declaration, "I'm alive."

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