Ailantha
  • Blog
  • About
  • Contact

'Tis The Season To See Some Lights And "The Man Who Invented Christmas"

12/15/2017

0 Comments

 
      Last Friday night Tom, myself, and our good friends Kevin and Barb went on a Christmas-seeking excursion.
Picture
     And while there are many Christmas-inducing venues to be found in Columbus, Ohio,
...such as Wildlights at the Columbus Zoo,
Picture
Picture
...The Village Lights in German Village,
....Gardens Aglow at the Franklin Park Conservatory,
Picture
Picture
...and the Scioto Mile, to name but a few,
...we opted to seek out some Christmas spirit at Easton Town Center, which we found all seasonably lit up and decked out,
...both inside,
Picture
Picture
...and outside.
     However we decided before taking in the lights and sights to start off the evening at the Easton AMC where we saw the movie "The Man Who Invented Christmas."
Picture
...which, in spite of the schmaltzy and somewhat misleading title, was a really great film.
     Or so thought I.
     The movie tells the story of a moment in the life of Charles Dickens when, following  the fame and fortune he achieved from the publication of "Oliver Twist," Dickens had out-spent his income, written three commercial flops and subsequently found himself drowning in debt and on the verge of financial ruin, which, in 19th Century London, could well send a man and his family to one of that city's notorious workhouse prisons.
      In the film we see a portrait of Charles Dickens, gripped by writer's block and the demons that still haunted him from his childhood of poverty, hunger and as a child laborer in a sweatshop boot-blacking company, struggling to produce another marketable book.

Picture
     The obvious irony at play is that Charles Dickens, now a world-famous author for his story of wretched poverty in London's orphanages and workhouses, stares in the face the possibility that he and his family could end up in the same straits as the suffering characters  in his novel.
     The movie takes on the feel of a psychological thriller as Dickens, under the gun by publishers, printers, book artists and creditors, paces his office, trolls the streets of London, and wracks his brain searching for inspiration, characters and the bits and pieces of the powerfully moving  story of  greed, poverty, and redemption that eventually becomes "A Christmas Carol."
       After the movie, feeling inspired and uplifted (well, at least I was), we strolled around Easton,
    ...enjoying the magical displays,
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
Picture
...and talking about the movie (at least I was).   
        "I think you liked that movie the best of us all," said Tom.
        Well, I did love the movie.

         The scenes of Victorian London,  wealth and poverty side-by-side,
Picture
...the scenes from Charles' Dickens' childhood and of his life as a father, husband and dutiful son in a large, loving but often chaotic family, the chaos usually of his own making.
Picture
       I loved that the character of cold-hearted, penny-pinching Scrooge was the diametric opposite of Dickens, who was an extravagant spender not only on himself but on charitable causes as well, feeling a need to give money to every beggar on the streets of London.
   But I mostly loved the scenes of Charles Dickens' writing life, his habit of writing down interesting names he'd hear in passing,
...how the characters in his head became so real that he could see and talk to them,  how they became an ever-present part of his life, following him around wherever he went,
Picture
...and how the world of stories and characters playing out inside his head was constantly being interrupted by the demands of family life and life in general.
        All things that I could identify with, as can all writers.
       My favorite line from the movie was from Dickens, crying out in frustration, "My characters won't do what I want them to do!" 
         Neither will mine.    

Picture
     Alas, one doesn't have to be a Charles Dickens to struggle with demons, recalcitrant characters and writer's block.


     Looking for something to do tomorrow, Saturday, December 16 at 10 am?
     Tune into the yourbookmybook
podcast of my interview with Indian author Sonnal Pardiwala
at
www.yourbookmybook.com

Picture
0 Comments



Leave a Reply.

    Picture
    "Hail Mary"
    by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    https://www.amzn.com/1684334888

    Picture
    "Equal And Opposite Reactions"
     by Patti Liszkay
    Buy it on Amazon:

    http://amzn.to/2xvcgRa
    or from
    The Book Loft
    of German Village,
    Columbus, Ohio
    Picture
    Or check it out at the Columbus Metropolitan Library
    Picture

    Archives

    January 2021
    December 2020
    November 2020
    October 2020
    September 2020
    August 2020
    July 2020
    June 2020
    May 2020
    April 2020
    March 2020
    February 2020
    January 2020
    December 2019
    November 2019
    October 2019
    September 2019
    August 2019
    July 2019
    June 2019
    May 2019
    April 2019
    March 2019
    February 2019
    January 2019
    December 2018
    November 2018
    October 2018
    September 2018
    August 2018
    July 2018
    June 2018
    May 2018
    April 2018
    March 2018
    February 2018
    January 2018
    December 2017
    November 2017
    October 2017
    September 2017
    August 2017
    July 2017
    June 2017
    May 2017
    April 2017
    March 2017
    February 2017
    January 2017
    December 2016
    November 2016
    October 2016
    September 2016
    August 2016
    July 2016
    June 2016
    May 2016
    April 2016
    March 2016
    February 2016
    January 2016
    December 2015
    November 2015
    September 2015
    August 2015
    July 2015
    June 2015
    May 2015
    April 2015
    March 2015
    February 2015
    January 2015
    December 2014
    November 2014
    October 2014
    September 2014
    August 2014
    July 2014
    June 2014
    May 2014
    April 2014
    March 2014
    February 2014
    January 2014
    December 2013

    RSS Feed

    I am a traveler just visiting this planet and reporting various and sundry observations,
    hopefully of interest to my fellow travelers.

    Categories

    All


























































































Proudly powered by Weebly