Dickens’s Christmas novella is often read as a reassuring parable about our ability to change — but the whole point of Scrooge’s ghostly visitations is how dramatically his moral life needs to be ...

The literary significance of "A Christmas Carol" by no means impedes the fun provided by the tale. As Wilson wrote, "A Christmas Carol" is as much a part of the holiday as the holly and the ivy.

Mr. Rosenblatt is an author of memoirs, novels and meditations, the most recent of which is “A Steinway on the Beach: Wounds and Other Blessings.” Since its publication in December 1843, “A Christmas ...