Charles Dickens Returns to Larchmont: A Holiday Tradition Continu

On Monday evening, December 11, at 7:00pm, a Larchmont holiday tradition will again take place at the Larchmont Public Library when librarian Frank Connelly channels Charles Dickens reading the timeless classic A Christmas Carol. This will be the twelfth consecutive year that Connelly has performed the piece, fully decked out in frock coat and stovepipe hat.

Charles Dickens (February 7, 1812 – June 9, 1870) was born in Portsmouth, England, and was catapulted to fame with the publication of The Pickwick Papers in 1836. By the end of his life, he had penned some of the most beloved novels the world has ever known including David Copperfield, Bleak House, Oliver Twist, A Tale of Two Cities and Great Expectations. His novella, A Christmas Carol, was written in 1843 and became an instant best seller and its characters, Ebenezer Scrooge, Bob Cratchit, Jacob Marley, Tiny Tim, and the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present and Future, became household names. Of course they are all just as familiar to us today.

Those in the know will recall that Connelly recently performed readings of the works of Edgar Allan Poe at the very same library to great acclaim. Connelly, a somewhat enigmatic character, has been in the employ of the Larchmont Public Library for many years and appears to have channeled a number of questionable characters best left unnamed before finding his connection with Charles Dickens and later, Poe. Connelly’s reading of Dickens’ most famous work takes the listener back to Victorian Era Britain, a time when there was both strong nostalgia for old Christmas traditions as well as an initiation of new Christmas practices that are with us today, such as Christmas trees. The story is credited with being one of the greatest influences on Christmas traditions now practiced the world over.

There are uncanny coincidences regarding the readings of A Christmas Carol by Dickens and later by Connelly. In 1853, A Christmas Carol was chosen by Dickens for his first public reading and his performance was an immense success. Connelly, after channeling numerous unknown minor authors with questionable success, chose the piece for his first public reading of a Dickens work in 2005, precisely 135 years after Dickens’ final performance. Connelly’s reading quickly became his biggest success. Dickens read the tale in an abbreviated version 127 times. Connelly, reading the same abridged version as Dickens, has quite a distance to go before he reaches 127 readings but he claims to be working on it. Dickens read the text of A Christmas Carol as his “farewell reading” shortly before his death in 1870 and with his readings of A Christmas Carol, Connelly makes it clear that he is bidding farewell to no one.

While the characters and the story are indeed familiar to all of us, it is Connelly’s reading that keeps it fresh and that brings out the story’s true meaning and character. Connelly has made it his mission to perform the reading in a fashion that is as true to its writer and as historically accurate to the original 127 readings as possible. Connelly’s reading of A Christmas Carol has become one of the premier holiday traditions in Westchester County and it simply is not to be missed. Best of all, Connelly’s performance is free and he promises not to accept tips.