How is this experience of reading a dramatization of a Christmas carol different from reading the original story

The experience will vary depending on the
exact dramatization you read, but in general, a dramatization will be shorter and will eliminate
many of the details in the interest of condensing the story for the sake of time. While you may
see Scrooge reacting to the various ghosts who enter his room, you won't gain access to some of
his deeper reflections. You'll miss the details of the original setting like this one described
in the section when the Ghost of Christmas Present appears:

It was his own room. There was no doubt about that. But it had undergone a surprising
transformation. The walls and ceiling were so hung with living green, that it looked a perfect
grove; from every part of which, bright gleaming berries glistened. The crisp leaves of holly,
mistletoe, and ivy reflected back the light, as if so many little mirrors had been scattered
there...Heaped up on the floor, to form a kind of throne, were turkeys, geese, game, poultry,
brawn, great joints of meat, sucking-pigs, long wreaths of sausages, mince-pies, plum-puddings,
barrels of oysters, red-hot chestnuts, cherry-cheeked apples, juicy oranges, luscious pears,
immense twelfth-cakes, and seething bowls of punch, that made the chamber dim with their
delicious steam. In easy state upon this couch, there sat a jolly Giant, glorious to see; who
bore a glowing torch, in shape not unlike Plentys horn, and held it up, high up, to shed its
light on Scrooge, as he came peeping round the door.

The
descriptive details of the story which give it so much depth are missing from dramatizations.
While you might see some of these types of descriptors in stage directions or in staging
arrangements, you can't possibly take in all the visual cues at once, even in a well-written
dramatization, as is provided in the original text.

In a dramatization, you
also miss some moments of Scrooge's transformation that are more evident in the original text,
such as his feelings after inquiring about whether Tiny Tim will survive. When the Ghost of
Christmas Present tells him that the child will die if the future remains unchanged, the
original text says that Scrooge "was overcome with penitence and grief." A
dramatization could convey that Scrooge is saddened, but to be overcome with
grief is a much more compelling emotion and evidence of character change.

The sense of anticipatory dread which the final spirit brings is also lost in a
dramatization. Consider Scrooge's initial meeting with this spirit:

The Phantom slowly, gravely, silently approached. When it came near him, Scrooge bent
down upon his knee; for in the very air through which this Spirit moved it seemed to scatter
gloom and mystery.

The original text effectively builds a
tone that is crucial to understanding Scrooge's willingness to obey its commands. The Ghost of
Christmas Yet to Come brings with it the power to make Scrooge feel his own impending doom, and
some of this is lost in a dramatization.

Because of the speed at which
dramatizations must cover the text, much of the depth, detail, and power of character analysis
is lost at the expense of a faster retelling of the story. You will be able to recognize the
basic plot structure and the main characters, but the original text is far superior in language
and literary merit.