"I have always thought of Christmas time . . . as a good time; a kind, forgiving, charitable, pleasant time; the only time I know of, in the long calendar of the year, when men and women seem by one consent to open their shut-up hearts freely."   So wrote Charles Dickens in A Christmas Carol , his tale of miserable miser Ebenezer Scrooge and his transformation into a kind and caring benefactor after visits on one Christmas Eve from the Ghosts of Christmas Past, Present, and Yet to Come. Dickens's short novel is one of the most-loved works in the English language and the best-known celebration of the Yuletide season.   This special pocket edition of A Christmas Carol features an elegant bonded-leather binding, distinctive gilt edging, and decorative endpapers. It's the perfect gift for the Christmas season, and any other season.