Customer Reviews

A Maine Christmas Carol

5 star:		(3)
4 star:		(1)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(2)

 

 

A Maine Christmas Carol had me mesmerized from the first page. While loosely based on the traditional Christmas Carol, Philip Harris has brought the story into today's world and given it some unique twists that make it a brand new story.

Anyone with kids, gramdkids or even anyone who knows someone with kids needs to pick up a copy of this book. It is one that you will find yourself reading over and over again.
Joyce A. Anthony
author of Storm

The fact that anyone has given this 5 stars, is incomprehensible to me. I wish I could get my money and my time back. It reads like poorly written fan-fiction.

The diction and word choice are inconsistent. The author should have committed to the modernization and not tried to tuck in period vocabulary and turns of phrases to recall the Dickens classic. None of the characters behaved in logical or appropriate manners, they flip flopped and changed personalities to suit the point of that particular passage. Not to mention that we were constantly told, rather than shown, character traits. The narrative constantly contradicts itself and can be confusing.

I can honestly say that I've read better fan-fiction stories (with the same Christmas Carol conceit), stories that put this one to shame. I'm not sure how this got published, it seems so unpolished. Even the editor didn't seem to care about it too much, because there are typos and unevenly spaced words and letters. In a soft cover book I payed over $14 for. Like I said, I wish I hadn't wasted my time on this. Though it's my own fault, I suggested it for book-club. Maybe if I'm lucky I will realize that it was all just a 'nightmare caused by an undigested brownie'...



And here's a bonus review from another member of my book club (who universally gave this book 1 star- only because there was nothing lower to give):

"Seriously how did it get published? The story goes that TJ is depressed and angry because of his father's death in Iraq a few years before the story takes place. He hates his mother because she works, Christmas, and life in general. One night before Christmas he is visited by his father, sister, and dead girlfriend. At the end he decides to embrace life.

The story is poorly written and contains every cliche possible. Cliches would be fine as the story is based on a Christmas Carol but my problem with it is that it lacks the magic and complexity of the original story."


And another:

"Can we give negative stars?"




Honestly, I don't enjoy putting down other people's work, but I don't want anyone to be fooled into paying so much money for such a low quality product. I advise against buying this book.

I feel betrayed by all of the blindly positive reviews. I would have gotten a failing grade if I'd handed it in to a teacher in high school. I worked in a writing center in college, and this type of writing was what professors sent students to be helped with, not what was submitted for final grades.

It just isn't very nice to leave such a long detailed positive review when you don't mean a word of it.

Philip Harris' A Maine Christmas Carol, a modern retelling of the Dickensian fable of Christmas' past, present, and future in a middle class New England setting is a holiday treat for readers of all ages. The spirit of the original story is cleverly unraveled in a more up to date but equally grim narration of the experiences of a blighted contemporary Scrooge named Thomas as he "sees" Christmas with his spirit guides.
The classic unfolding of the life of a beleaguered and very ill-spirited young man faced with the consequences of his own self-serving actions is cleverly layered with messages aimed at the socially irresponsible of our own life and times. A Maine Christmas Carol is a powerful parable of the ills of progressive society left to exist unchecked and held unaccountable. Through the eyes of the spirit guides, Thomas sees that while he is not responsible for the happiness of others, his actions do deeply impact all those who come in contact with him. From the local shop owners to his eight-year-old sister, his exploits leave a deep and lasting impression. Even more critical to note is the tsunami-like wave affect his acts, deeds, and lack of achievement has on those he will never meet. What he does not do with his life is just as significant as what he has done so far in his 16 years.
In Harris' A Maine Christmas Carol, a new family tradition is born. The easy conversational writing style, the logical flow of the story, and the twist to the original story makes this book a new classic that will go on the shelves right next to Dickens' original morality tale. Harris does a marvelous job of weaving Thomas' profound experience of redemption with the underlying themes of social justice and poverty. A Maine Christmas Carol is explicit in demonstrating the relationship of the privileged class in our country who has failed to address the social issues facing our society. Philip Harris has clearly and unequivocally produced a rich allegory that redefines the importance of Christmas to a new generation of readers.

A Maine Christmas Carol is the modern retelling of Dickens's classic. Set in the small picturesque town of Hallowell, it is the story of TJ, a lost teenage boy. Left fatherless by the war in Iraq he withdraws from his family and the world into the land of drugs and surliness. His younger brother and sister adore him but he is not willing to let their caring affect him. His mother has retreated into her job as a social worker, tying up her feelings of loss by helping others who have it even worse.

The story takes place on Christmas Eve. In the face of a raging Maine snowstorm TJ's family decides to spend the night at their uncle's house. He refuses to go with them instead choosing to spend it home alone, stoned as usual. It is then that his father comes to him, apologizing for leaving him so often as a child. He tells TJ that during the night three spirits will visit him. And so arrive the three ghosts of Christmas- past, present and future. Each shows TJ the effects of his behavior on others. He is shown that he too has a role in the world, in his family and his community. Each person can make a difference, even when they chose not to be involved. TJ begins as the poster child for youth at its most callow and ends as youth at its most caring.

A Maine Christmas Carol is a moving replay of the Christmas classic. It comes to life in its portrayal of the character of TJ, a realistic portrait of a disenfranchised youth. He struggles to deal with the loss of his father and fears loving his family in case he loses them also. By becoming totally self absorbed he only has to think about himself, by putting down others he maintains his wall of uncaring. The author, Phillip Harris, has managed to create a sympathetic, understandable character even as TJ scares the elderly and young children alike.

A strong, thorough and meaningful plot is enveloped within of these pages. At around 100 pages it is a poignant and timely reminder of the meaning of caring in today's world. Its well chosen words enable a full length novel to inhabit the pages of a novella. In the guise of the well loved tale it reminds us of the effects of modern life, its drugs, wars and poverty, on its people. It gives us the hope and optimism that is much needed in our contemporary world.

This will be a holiday treat for Maine and the country. Put up the holiday lights of all nations, light the fireplace and curl up with this dose of hope.

I really hate to downplay someone's work. Art is art and can mean several different things to different people. Also I know how much work goes into writing a novel. However, I can't in good conscious consider this story art nor do I think the author put much time into it. He just couldn't have. Either way, the number of positive reviews on this site made me decide to purchase this book and I feel that I have to warn anyone else from purchasing "A Maine Christmas Carol". It was quite frankly the worst book I have ever read. The characters, plot, tone were all over the place. I was told much about the story rather than shown. Basically every basic writing skill learned in school was disregarded here. It was essentially a piece of fanfiction. a bad piece of fanfiction. Please, avoid this book. There are much better Christmas books that can be purchased in it's place. Or pull out Dickens' original, a much better way to spend 100 pages.

Now, this book is really cool. I wasn't sure initially how another make-over of the old Scrooge tale would work out, but author Phil Harris has really spun a relevent-for-today twist to the traditional fable. A troubled misfit teenage druggie is the new Scrooge, and the spirits of Christmas past, present and future are ... well, read for yourself, I don't want to spoil your fun. It's a reading experience that will have you riveted and thoroughly enjoying your time on the couch.

You really could re-name this charming little book "The Main Christmas Carol," because it is what quintessential Christmas Spirit is all about, and re-delivers in today's context the message of compassion and love that we should all strive to display with our lives every day of every year.