2 DECEMBER 1922, Page 14

THE CHRISTMAS STORIES OF CHARLES DICKENS (Jonathan Cape. 12s. 6d.)

Charles Dickens's Christmas Stories do not all belong, we venture to think, to the immortal part of Charles Dickens. Every age has its own sentimentality. Sentimentality should be quite fresh if it is to be enjoyed, even the sentimen- tality of genius. It goes rancid very soon, especially if it is kept in close proximity with beef and pudding and decorative greens. These words do not, however, apply to the Christmas Carol itself, which has the real Dickens flavour and charm, even if the pathos is sometimes a little forced.