As we journey through our busy schedules, we can easily forget to contemplate life. In his short story, “The Child’s Story,” Charles Dickens shows that, rather than just passing through life, we should contemplate it, for life is “a magic journey” filled with lessons and treasures we cannot find elsewhere. A traveler sets out on…

NEW YORK —The fictional worlds of Charles Dickens and Sir Arthur Conan Doyle lovingly collide in playwright Mark Shanahan’s not-at-all humbug, “A Sherlock Carol” at New World Stages. This delightful mash-up features beloved literary characters, one from the Dickens’ novella “A Christmas Carol” and various elements from Doyle’s Sherlock Holmes stories—in particular, the only Holmes tale Doyle set during Christmas: “The…

CHICAGO—It took him five weeks to write what he envisioned as a ghost story, and that it starts as a frightening yarn may explain why Charles Dickens’s masterpiece “A Christmas Carol” has a rather gloomy opening. We know the story: The tale starts when we learn that Ebenezer Scrooge is very rich but his wealth…

Ah, the winter holidays. That glorious time when hopes and wishes override past experience, when the forgetful again envision the season from Thanksgiving through New Year’s as a Hallmark flick, bright with good cheer and glad hearts. In your mind’s eye, you see Grandma baking pies in the kitchen, Mom and Dad wrapping presents in…

Commentary Here’s a theme for a modern Christmas carol. “People are blasting Chanel’s $825 advent calendar on TikTok. TikTok users unboxing Chanel’s $825 advent calendar are complaining about the quality of items in the holiday package.” Dickens being unavailable, what sort of tale can I make of this news item about Karen meets Marley? For…