Review: A brilliant retelling of a classic Christmas story
Rating: 5 out of 5
Date: 12 20, 2012
Screwge is a modern retelling of the classic Charles Dickens story A Christmas Carol, which is the greatest Christmas story of modern times. It tells us that anyone can be saved, however lost they've become. It shows that what really matters is human kindness and goodwill to others. It's a story of rebirth and of hope.Carole Goodge is a mean-spirited, bitter, selfish London lawyer. Her partner Jack Farley died ten years ago, and since then her heart has frozen over. She has no compassion for others, sees the worst in other people, and is a stingy miser. She is very dismissive of her struggling secretary, Neeta, and refuses to give money to a charity. Her one ambition is to save up enough money so that she can be completely alone. She is a really unhappy person, like a dark cloud over everyone she meets.On Christmas Eve Carole is visited by Farley's ghost and then the spirits of Christmas Past, Present and Future. They take her on a voyage through time and place, to show her glimpses of her innocent childhood, and her forgotten happiness of her youth. We see the idealism she once had, and also the unresolved pains that have made her the bitter creature she is now. Then the spirit shows her the lives of those she has treated badly. Finally, and most devastatingly, she is taken to see her own death. Even if she had all the money she dreamed of, if she doesn't change she will die miserable and alone.Chris Child excels at creating strong visual imagery. I could picture characters and situations with absolute clarity from his precisely detailed descriptions. I felt like I was at Carole's side as the apparitions unfolded. I grew to feel sympathy for Carol as I was shown why her heart had frosted over. I could easily read a follow-up, because I'd like to see more of how she went on to change her life.I thoroughly enjoyed reading Screwge. It didn't take long to read, but I hope the lesson will stay with me long after.