 "The Independent on Sunday (London, England)")
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BOOKS: GHOULS BY GASLIGHT; The Victorian Christmas was a darker festival than `A Christmas Carol' suggests. Judith Flanders looks beyond Dickens for her seasonal reading.(Features)
From:
The Independent on Sunday (London, England)
| Date:
November 30, 2003| Author:
Flanders, Judith
| COPYRIGHT 2003 Independent Newspapers (UK) Ltd. This material is published under license from the publisher through the Gale Group, Farmington Hills, Michigan. All inquiries regarding rights should be directed to the Gale Group.Copyright information
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Byline: Judith Flanders
The Victorian period fixed in our minds the image of a traditional Christmas, creating the symbols that we now think have always been present: Christmas trees, cards, Father Christmas. It also entwined two threads that continue today in modified form: communal reading and Christmas stories. Today we rarely read aloud, but at Christmas we watch films in family groups. Whether it is a James Bond repeat, or the new Harry Potter or The Lord of the Rin...