Marly's Ghost: A Remix of Charles Dickens's a Christmas Carol

by David Levithan

Brian Selznick (Illustrator)

When Ben's girlfriend, Marly, dies, he feels his life is over. What could possibly matter now when Marly is gone? So when Valentine's Day approaches, it makes sense that this day that was once so meaningful to Ben leaves him feeling bitter and hollow. But then Marly shows up--or at least her ghost does--along with three others spirits. Now Ben must take a painful journey through Valentine's Days past, present, and future, and what he discovers will change him forever.

• ISBN10: 0803730632
• ISBN13: 9780803730632
• Publish Date: 1 December 2005
• Publish Status: Out of Stock
• Publish Country: US
• Imprint: Dial Books
• Format: Hardcover
• Pages: 167
• Language: English

Reviews

[Leah]

David Levithan is one of the most popular young adult authors, although I haven’t actually read any of his books, which is very much on me. So when I spotted Marly’s Ghost up on Netgalley, I thought it sounded quite intriguing, and I was very happy to be approved to read the novel, which is actually a Valentine’s re-telling of Charles Dickens’ A Christmas Carol.

I have to confess that while I haven’t read any of David’s books before, I also haven’t read the book that Marly’s Ghost in based on. No, I have never read A Christmas Carol. Shocking, I know. But I don’t really read the classics, and I never have, but I would be interested to go back and read A Christmas Carol to see how similar Marly’s Ghost is.

Marly’s Ghost was an interesting read, sometimes a bit too old-fashioned in the way Ben would speak to the spirits that visited him and it was more of a novella than a novel, taking me an hour or so to complete, but it was interesting to see Ben see his old self, and to see how love shows itself in different forms. It was easy to see how Ben had become how he had after Marly’s death, but if everyone gave up after they lost a loved one, there’d be no one left in the world.

It was definitely an interesting little tale. I am somewhat disappointed I didn’t get to see the awesome illustrations that will be in the finished book, because they would have added an extra dimension to the story for sure. I’m glad I read Marly’s Ghost, it was certainly an interesting experience and I can’t wait to read more of David Levithan’s work in the future.

[Jo]

Originally posted on Once Upon a Bookcase.

Being the huge fan David Levithan that I am, when I heard that Marly's Ghost was being released in the UK, I had to read it! Sadly, this wasn't really my cup of tea.

Ben is still grieving four months after the death of his girlfriend, Marly. His grief has turned him bitter and resentful; he no longer hangs out with his friends, he snaps at others, and has given up on love. Then on the night before Valentine's Day, Ben is visited by Marly's ghost. His behaviour and loss of faith in love are causing her to struggle in her afterlife, so she has arranged for him to be visited by three spirits; the Spirit of Love Past, the Spirit of Love Present, and the Spirit of Love Future. Will these spirits be able to teach Ben the error of his ways before it's too late?

Despite the Valentine's Day holiday, theme of love and the age of the characters, Marly's Ghost stays pretty true to the original story of A Christmas Carol by Charles Dickens, which it is a remix of. I've not read the original story, but I've seen various movie adaptations, so I know the story pretty well, and I was surprised at how true to the original it was. In some ways, I think it was too true.

Marly's Ghost is set in contemporary times, yet the dialogue harks back to language of Dickens' time - if not exactly, then pretty close. I found this to be really disrupting, and would jolt me out of the story, definitely a style I'm not a fan of. People just don't talk like that these days, and it felt really false to me. Levithan mentioned in his Author Note that he wrote the story with a copy of the original, remixing it line by line, page by page for the first draft, and then changing things during the edit, so the language is understandable in that regard, but it just really didn't work for me.

Saying that, all of the characters we know from the original story make there appearance in one way or another, if not as actual characters - like Fred, who is Ben's best mate - then as merged essences to form new characters - like Tiny and Tim, a young gay couple who stand in for the whole Cratchit family, but also the two men who are collecting for charity. Like this, all the important characters to the original story are there in spirit (excuse the pun) with words or actions of other or merged characters, if not with their own place in this story.

This story wasn't for me, sadly, but if you enjoy The Christmas Carol, you may appreciate this new take on the story with love and life at it's heart, rather than Christmas spirit.

Thank you to Electric Monkey for the review copy.