im trying to read ‘a christmas carol’ by charles dickens quite literally one of the easiest books to read ever and i cant do it. at all. im trying to reread this one bit over and over and i am stressed out because my brain cant grasp it at all? what do i do? am i just stupid? english is my first language aswell and i have to read this by tomorrow, i’ve genuinely spent 2 hours reading this and got past 12 pages. wtf
‘The owner of one scant young nose, gnawed and mumbled by the hungry cold as bones are gnawed by dogs, stooped down at Scrooge’s keyhole to regale him with Christmas carol: but, at the first sound of - “God bless you, merry gentleman! May nothing you dismay!” Scrooge seized the ruler with such energy of act that the singer fled in terror, leaving the keyhole the fog and even more congenial’
is this just a normal sentence?? can you see where my confusions coming from or am i just dyslexic or whatever.
Dickens was writing nearly 170 years ago for a radically different society. They spoke differently, were educated differently, and responded differently to things. His plots are moving, and his character creation is unparalleled (half his characters seem to be there simply because he thought 'I love the idea of an overly tenderhearted butcher who’s poor because he’s always giving things away but also likes to chop up dead animals and I have THE BEST name for him.") It doesn’t make you dumb, and although A Christmas Carol has been adapted for kids a lot, it wasn’t written for kids.
It sounds like this is an assignment. What if you looked for an audiobook?