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Originally Posted by BelleZora
According to Wikipedia, The Cricket on the Hearth was a commercial success in 1845 quickly going through two printings and was performed repeatedly in stage adaptations to the end of the century. So the most interesting thing about this book for me is how much literary tastes have changed in the last century and a half.
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Interestingly, the book which was the most commercially successful of Dickens's five "Christmas Books" during his lifetime was "The Chimes" (the second of the five to be published). It was only in the early years of the 20th century that "A Christmas Carol" achieved the runaway success it has since maintained.
I must say that "The Cricket on the Hearth" is far from being my favourite of the five, but given that generally all the attention goes to ACC, it's nice to read the other four from time to time. They're all short reads which can be easily read in an evening.