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A Tale of Two Cities

by Charles Dickens, Richard Maxwell (Editor, Introduction), Hablot Knight Browne (Illustrator)

3.71 of 5 stars 3.71 · rating details · 402,473 ratings · 7,301 reviews

'Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death; -- the last, much the easiest to bestow, O Guillotine!'

After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille, the ageing Doctor Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There the lives of two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but...more

Paperback, 544 pages

Published May 27th 2003 by Penguin Classics (first published 1854)

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Dec 02, 2012 Leslie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Most satisfying ending in the English language.

Yes, the last line is a classic ("It is a far, far better thing ..."), concluding, in astonishingly concise language (for Dickens), the peace and redemption of the story's most poignant romantic hero. But this novel delivers such a gratifying experience because there are, in fact, many characters who cover significant emotional ground in their journey to love one woman as best they can.

Lucie's father battles his way back from madness under the gen...more

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Feb 13, 2013 Emma rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics

Christ on a bike - I’d forgotten how much concentration Dickens demands.

Reading the first few chapters of this book was, frankly, a chore. I could not be less bothered about The Mail and the more Dickens banged on about that never ending carriage journey the more I daydreamed about the next book I was going to read once this torture was over. I’m glad I didn’t give up though because as soon as we hit France and the wine shop I was hooked, the pace started to pick up and there were mysteries and...more Christ on a bike - I’d forgotten how much concentration Dickens demands.

Reading the first few chapters of this book was, frankly, a chore. I could not be less bothered about The Mail and the more Dickens banged on about that never ending carriage journey the more I daydreamed about the next book I was going to read once this torture was over. I’m glad I didn’t give up though because as soon as we hit France and the wine shop I was hooked, the pace started to pick up and there were mysteries and revelations galore.

There is so much in this book. It would take me a month to provide anything other than a quick and dirty overview - which I can't really do either. Just think London/revolutionary France 1775, unrequited love, revenge, a doppelgänger and la guillotine.

I loved the gothic feel to the book, Jerry Crunchers body snatching, the remote settings, the macabre events, the parts of the book that gave me an uneasy feeling. Right up my street.

I fell for Sidney Carton pretty much straight away too. Bohemian, brilliant, indifferent. J'adore Sidney Carton. Although we never find out exactly what is up with Sid; I wonder what would have become of him and how I would have viewed him had he not become a hero. A few main characters were also a little too underdeveloped for me to connect with them. Lucie Manette left me feeling ‘meh’. She links nearly every character in the book and inspires love in seemingly every direction but whilst likable enough, there is no depth and certainly not my type of heroine. But, I guess this was written in 1859 and Lucie is, I suppose, the type of heroine that would appeal to the readers of the time.

Madame Defarge, the antithesis of Lucie, on the other hand is marvellous. Clearly the villain of the piece, cold, consumed by revenge and not really even human by the end of the book but still, enthralling stuff. I think Dickens achieves a good balance with the historical telling of the revolution but perhaps was a little unfair to Madame Defarge, her motives and back story being revealed far too late in the book.

Overall though, I got an awful lot out of a Tale of Two Cities; I'm still heartbroken over Sidney's final thoughts and his vision of a better Paris 'fair to look upon, with not a trace of this day's disfigurement'; The defarges, with their Macbeth and Lady Macbeth qualities 'infirm of purpose, give me the daggers' - possibly the greatest dickens characters I've ever read - were awful and captivating; The oppression of the peasants, their plight and the awfulness of the revolution carefully told with historical accuracy. The only reason a Tale of Two Cities didn't get five stars is because of that bloody awful carriage ride.
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Apr 10, 2010 Dee rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourites, top-10-read-in-2010, 1001-books-list, classic

Picking up this book was a brave move. The only Dickens I'd ever managed to plod my way through was Great Expectations. My expectations weren't great and unfortunately it didn't exceed them (probably been tainted by the film version with Gwyneth Paltrow where everything is green). I tried Hard Times and didn't get very far (a poor choice for a novice I'll bet--should have known from the title). I know the general gist of many of his other books and have intended to read them, but three days ago...more Picking up this book was a brave move. The only Dickens I'd ever managed to plod my way through was Great Expectations. My expectations weren't great and unfortunately it didn't exceed them (probably been tainted by the film version with Gwyneth Paltrow where everything is green). I tried Hard Times and didn't get very far (a poor choice for a novice I'll bet--should have known from the title). I know the general gist of many of his other books and have intended to read them, but three days ago I had no clue as to what A Tale of Two Cities was about. I read on the back cover that Dickens himself believed it to be the greatest story he'd ever written, so, I figured if I tried and just couldn't do it then it would probably be over between me and him.

As you may have noticed from my rating I had a great one & am pleased to say that I will now open the next Dickens on the list with (a little) eager expectation. Yes, there were long patches of dense prose, but they really weren't too bad. Probably because I find the content fascinating: the storming of the Bastille and the Terror. Horrific, both on the part of the nobility pre-Revolution and the citizens of the Republic. Incredibly well written and utterly engaging. I actually enjoyed reading the pages describing the times & the imagery used to describe it. The 'sea of black and threatening waters' that rolled in wave after wave etc. And you've gotta love classic British dry wit & satire (demonstrated perfectly in the first half of the chapter Monseigneur in Town).

A problem I have with many classics (with exceptions like The Count of Monte Cristo which I just could not put down) is that the pacing is all over the show. I was just not that interested in all the time spent in England riding on trains and getting married etc. The real story was in France with Madame & Monsieur Defarge (or at least that's what I found the most interesting). To me the pace began to lag from about half way through until about the last 100 pages where it picked up dramatically. As soon as Sydney Carton came on the scene towards the end I could pick the outcome. Probably because the last line is so well known: 'It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done' etc. Nevertheless, I couldn't wait to see how it played out & I wasn't disappointed. Yay!

So, I am pleased to say that I have made up with Dickens and now gladly welcome recommendations for the next best to read. Just maybe not Hard Times. ;)
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Jun 25, 2012 Jason Koivu rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: fiction, historical-fiction, favorites

Hands down my favorite Dickens' I've read yet! It's got love, sacrifice, revenge, revolt and other exciting verbs! I'm a big fan of a solid marriage between character development and action. A Tale of Two Cities is well-wed. Some criticize Dickens for his trite stories and overblown caricature-esque characters. Yes, the man wrote some less-than-perfect books. He wrote them for a wide-ranging public and he wrote for money. High-minded prose eloquently crafted may garner praise, but it doesn't alw...more

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Jun 12, 2008 Laura rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: classic, perennial-favorite, english-lit

Years of teaching this novel to teenagers never dimmed my thrill in reading it — if anything, I grew to love it more every time I watched kids gasp aloud at the revelations! Critics are divided on its place in the Dickens canon, but the ones who think it an inferior work are simply deranged. It has everything: dark deeds, revolution, madness, love, thwarted love, forgiveness, revenge, and a stunning act of self-sacrifice. And melodrama! Oh, how Dickens loved melodrama, but in A Tale of Two Citie...more

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May 29, 2009 Melissa Rudder rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: teach-it

My primary goal when I'm teaching A Tale of Two Cities to my sophomores is to make them realize that Charles Dickens didn't write creaky, dusty long novels that teachers embraced as a twisted rite of passage for teenagers. Instead, I want them them to understand why Dickens was ~~one of~~ the most popular writers in England and America during his time. I want them to see the book as the suspenseful, comedic, and sentimental piece of entertainment that it is. Because, while A Tale of Two Cities is ma...more My primary goal when I'm teaching A Tale of Two Cities to my sophomores is to make them realize that Charles Dickens didn't write creaky, dusty long novels that teachers embraced as a twisted rite of passage for teenagers. Instead, I want them them to understand why Dickens was ~~one of~~ the most popular writers in England and America during his time. I want them to see the book as the suspenseful, comedic, and sentimental piece of entertainment that it is. Because, while A Tale of Two Cities is masterfully written with sly humor, densely meaningful descriptions, a cast of quirky characters only Dickens could create, an endless series of telling binaries and foils, and relevant social commentary about the French Revolution as well as Dickens' time, it is also simply a damn good story. By a damn good storyteller.

I have a difficult time writing reviews about books that I adore because, when I'm not reading them, I hug them too closely to be very critical. (BTW - I frequently hug A Tale of Two Cities in front of my students... and write Charles Dickens' name with hearts around it... They think I'm crazy, but it intrigues some of them just enough to make them doubt the derisive comments of upperclassmen.) I reluctantly admit that Dickens does oversimplify the causes of the French Revolution and the Reign of Terror; however, in doing so, he successfully captures the spirit of a tumultuous period and helps readers sympathize with characters on every side of the developing conflict. I also think that the characters of Roger Cly and John Barsad get a bit messy and may have worked better as a single character. Perhaps the confusion is a result of serialization restructuring. But, really, I read A Tale of Two Cities like a costumed Lord of the Rings fan at a movie premier. I cheer when my favorite characters enter scenes and I knowingly laugh when Dickens cleverly foreshadows future events.

Though I don't think that A Tale of Two Cities is Dickens' best novel--that title I would reserve for either Bleak House or David Copperfield--I do agree with Dickens, who claims that it was his best story. It is artfully written. Dickens introduces a cast of characters, sprawled across two nations and spanning varied social classes and political affiliations, and then effortlessly weaves their stories and secrets together in a masterful way. The Modernist movement painstakingly forced literature to reflect the ambiguities and uncertainties of the real world and that's great, but sometimes it is a real joy to read a story that ends with such magnificent closure. All mysteries are solved and everything makes sense. It is beautiful.

(I have to admit that I was overjoyed when a group of my fifth period girls persistently voiced their disdain for Dickens' angel in the house Lucie and backed Madame Defarge. I think they may have created a Madame Defarge myspace, actually. Oh how the times have changed.)

"Ms. R--, you got me." "What?" "At the beginning of this book, you said you would get some of us. And that we would love it. You got me." I didn't get you G--. Charles Dickens did. I just introduced you.

Quote:

"A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other."(less)

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Dec 09, 2012 Sparrow rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Rick Perry

Recommended to Sparrow by: Mr. Zottola

Shelves: classic-or-cannonical, motherless-daughters, slaves, up-hill-both-ways-in-the-snow, utopia-dystopia, knitting, reviewed, audio

Who are your gods? Whom do you worship in actions, and whom in words? Charles Dickens waggles his finger in my face, the finger of a crone, of a maiden, of a businessman. The polished finger of a marquis, the calloused finger of a knitter. He makes his point with the appropriate number of adjectives and with enough humor to break through the polished shell of morality and reach something true. When you dress your Good up in robes and worship it, maybe what you truly worship is Death. And Dickens...more Who are your gods? Whom do you worship in actions, and whom in words? Charles Dickens waggles his finger in my face, the finger of a crone, of a maiden, of a businessman. The polished finger of a marquis, the calloused finger of a knitter. He makes his point with the appropriate number of adjectives and with enough humor to break through the polished shell of morality and reach something true. When you dress your Good up in robes and worship it, maybe what you truly worship is Death. And Dickens graciously bows his way out of the room.

It is confusing to talk about successes and failures in A Tale of Two Cities because what doesn’t really work for me actually does, and there’s something beyond what really does work that I can’t quite get at. Maybe on my fourth or fifth reading I will have nestled into what I can’t quite get, but until then, I will have to rely on something contrary to my instincts. The thing that puts me off, but then, ultimately, makes the story what it is, is this image of the shy, humble nuclear family – the blond girls named Lucy and the unassuming, faceless father. The easiest shorthand for goodness, the celestial, angels.

That is not my god, and even though I mistrust it, deeply – I mistrust it to whatever marrows up the marrow of my bones – it makes sense for what it is in this story. It is a symbol for something not grasping about humanity, a symbol for something that wishes happiness, not destruction, on people, and that does seem like a symbol of Good to me, even if its trappings are soaked in the suspicious. Where to me the Darnay-Manette family is code for abuse and for valuing security over integrity (the apologetic wife who so desperately craves her husband’s affection that she pretends helplessness; the husband who grovels to his father-in-law and otherwise has no remarkable personality traits), for Dickens it was not that. And I can see it and respect what he was doing here.

I don’t know, maybe I don’t think a hopeful family has been written, just like I haven’t seen a real-life family that would fit me right. But, where the girl action hero is a symbol of hope to me, I can see how Lucy Manette is a symbol of hope in reverse of that, but not in a bad way. She is a symbol of, “What if people were generous?” And she does not really have enough contrast to be an interesting character, but she, in herself, is a contrast. Because is this book about her or is about Madame Defarge? Really, it is about neither and the one is only a contrast to the other. Madame Defarge is more interesting to me, knitting revenge, but Lucy is still functional, and she still has meaning. She is the innocence that a person saves if we can.

But, back to our gods. The various choruses running through this book of sacrifice and resurrection, execution and revenge, wove together with the worship of the gods cleanly and in a way that resonated with me and made me think about how our actions reveal what gods we worship, if we, today, could call our gods by the helpful, honest names of the ancients – Wine, Beauty, Love, War, Freedom, Death, etc. The refrain of liberte, egalite, franternite, or death rings through the story like “my husband, my father, my brother, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, hush.” It is about the hopelessness of the death penalty, and it counts down from resurrection to death.

It questions all of our gods, with the goddess Liberty riding on a chair over a blood-soaked, rioting crowd; the sacrifice of Christ made by a dissipated drunkard; the British bank seeking execution, like the French aristocracy and serfs. None of us are safe; none of our hands are clean. In the words of the Biblical Christ, “Those who live by the sword, die by the sword.” Even honest tradesmen.

We know our gods, not by the names we attribute to them to make sure we have VIP access to the coolest back-stage events with our friends who call their gods by the same name. We know our gods by our own actions – how we act to ourselves and how we act to others. The revolutionaries in this book chant, “Liberte, Egalite, Fraternite, or Death,” and Dickens makes it clear that the people worship “or Death” even while they name it Liberte. In that same way, when we destroy our bodies and souls in the name of love by starvation, mutilation, or cultivating mental illness, we are not worshiping Love, even if we name it that. Today, for example, girl who starves herself, and a man who wins on steroids, do not worship Beauty or Strength through those actions; they worship Self-Destruction, Death. Because when beauty and strength are gone, that is the monster, the god, who thrives on your sacrifice. Be the best version of yourself, this book pleads, and if you cultivate self-destruction, at least let your sacrifice be voluntary and for something noble, not blind and hungry. Know the god you worship. But, do we ever? And how can it be anything but sympathetic when we do not? Because this life is all of our crazy mess, with all of our gods wearing halloween masks of another god.

As with any Dickens, the best parts of this book are in the common people. Mr. Cruncher and his honest trade of resurrection, and the good Ms. Pross and her noble work as executioner, are the best moments. The good, rough English folk are where Dickens truly shines. But, the political commentary of this book is very strong, as well. The parallels of London and Paris; the executions in both cities, by the rich and the poor; the self-descriptions of Mr. Cruncher and Mr. Lorry as honest businessmen, honest tradesmen, are all powerful statements about thinking of any class of society as subhuman – the poor, the rich, criminals. Everyone is someone’s husband, brother, someone’s father, 1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, hush. We may talk about our wrongs as though they were the “only harvest ever known under the skies that had not been sown,” but they are ours, sown by what we have worshiped. Or so judges Dickens . . . and he is a just executioner.(less)

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Jun 23, 2012 Jeannette rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 2012-mt-tbr-challenge, buddy-read-mt-tbr, books-i-own, france, historical-fiction, england, 2012-read

Final rating 3-1/2 stars

to paraphrase It was the best of books, it was the worst of books. I have to reconcile slogging thru the first two thirds with the outstanding finish.

My Review

This is the first full-length Dickens' novel I have read. Having watched many film adaptations of his books, I freely admit that he was a great storyteller. Here he presents a tale of the French Revolution, making it very personal by centering the story around one man, former prisoner of the Bastille, Dr. Manette....more

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Aug 10, 2010 Kaion rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: historical, seen-adapt

Let me tell you, popular culture is not kind about sparing the plot twists of classic literature. If you don't know, say, who stepped out in front of a train, you must have the remarkable preternatural ability to, at a moment's notice, dive under the same rock as those with no idea whose hand was cut of by his dad.

... So how is it that I upon cracking open the front cover, I knew nothing of A Tale of Two Cities other than it took place in the French Revolution and the very famous, very abridged...more Let me tell you, popular culture is not kind about sparing the plot twists of classic literature. If you don't know, say, who stepped out in front of a train, you must have the remarkable preternatural ability to, at a moment's notice, dive under the same rock as those with no idea whose hand was cut of by his dad.

... So how is it that I upon cracking open the front cover, I knew nothing of A Tale of Two Cities other than it took place in the French Revolution and the very famous, very abridged opening line? Wikipedia tells me that it is the most printed original English book at 200 million copies. Certainly some of those copies can be attributed to decaying away on impressive foyer bookshelves next to, say, The Satanic Verses, but really, this should be all be open knowledge.

Though of course I couldn’t recognize it yet, the answer to my question lay in that opening line. Because Charles Dickens lays it all up front, and manages to tell the reader more story before his first period than most authors manage to say in a whole novel. Granted, it's a monstrous sentence and reproduced unabridged for those of us used to the short version, e.g. myself, after which we can go into some quick thoughts about it:

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way--in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.

- You don’t have to look very far today to see the same injustices and inequalities— downright human pains that drive drastic social upheavals. It’s no coincidence it’s been made into a musical that transplants the action to the Russian Revolution… we see it again and again, then is now.
- It’s so not about the characters (they appear neither here nor in the entire first chapter). Sure they are our points of entry into the story, but in the larger picture they are swept in the swells of the time (and so their archetypical and sometimes downright thin characterizations are intentional).
- To have power, the French people become an unseeing mob under the thrall of symbol (extremes and "superlative"s), but the heroic act the forms the climax is individual and alone and transcendent—both equally representative of ideals, one twisted by hope and another by vengeance. Is it a naïve construction that our “protagonists” are such reactive victims?

Quite simply, there’s a rare passion and ambition to the scope of A Tale of Two Cities that makes it so easy to forget the some flaws of pacing (notably the end is dizzyingly terse with plot developments that could have been dispatched to focus the middle more) or short characterization. At the end of the day, I’m going to remember when Dickens hits the mark spot on. As readers, we remember the breathlessness of a giggle (oh the frequent scathing irony), the echo of a mental refrain (“a life you love”), the shudder down a spine (“Tell the Wind and Fire when to stop, but don’t tell me.”)… the sudden dustiness in the room ([Redacted:] for my modicum of self-respect) … And that’s real storytelling, folks, no shortcuts.

And I mentioned it was really crazy quotable, right? Rating: 4.5 stars(less)

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Dec 27, 2010 Michael rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-in-2010, classics, favorites

What a book! After reading this, I've come to appreciate Charles Dickens as so much more than "that guy who wrote the Christmas Carol."

One thing I love is his ability to create a perfect storyline. Everything in this book fits together in the end like a perfect, intricate puzzle. Components that were thought to be gratuitous at first will come back in major ways at later points in the book. Maybe it's just me, but I adore authors who blatantly show that they know exactly where they're going with...more

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Jun 23, 2012 Hayes rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: tbr-challenge-2012, ebook, gutenberg, read-in-2012

Mt TBR Challenge Buddy Read*

Hmmpf... Jeannette is right (see her review here). Far too much padding for such a brilliant story. I happen to be a Dickens fan, but I am partial to Great Expectations, which is as long, if not longer, yet not one word is wasted. ATo2C, however, could have been half as long, and been a far far better book.

For those of you who just can't bear reading it, you can watch a four-minute film of the story here, thanks to High School Summary. It is the whole story, awash wi...more

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Dec 02, 2007 Keith Mukai rated it 4 of 5 stars

This was the only book I remember enjoying from my high school English classes. Re-reading it twelve years later I can see why I liked it so much--and still do.

Dickens lays it on pretty thick in parts and is perhaps trying too hard to evoke the passions and bloodlust of the French Revolution. And as lovely as dear Lucie Mannette is, she's pretty unbearable by modern women's standards. But don't worry, Dickens isn't a misogynist. He more than makes up for Lucie in the characters of Madame Defarge...more This was the only book I remember enjoying from my high school English classes. Re-reading it twelve years later I can see why I liked it so much--and still do.

Dickens lays it on pretty thick in parts and is perhaps trying too hard to evoke the passions and bloodlust of the French Revolution. And as lovely as dear Lucie Mannette is, she's pretty unbearable by modern women's standards. But don't worry, Dickens isn't a misogynist. He more than makes up for Lucie in the characters of Madame Defarge and Miss Pross. Their strength, resolve, and particularly Madame Defarge's intelligence and leadership leave no doubts that Dickens respects women.

The beginning of the novel is also a bit difficult and choppy. I don't think it's simply a matter of adjusting to his style of English; I think his prose smoothed out considerably after the first few chapters.

He also has this annoying tendency towards intentional obtuseness. The technique occasionally pays dividends, but mostly it's just frustrating as a reader to wait for him to explain what the hell he's talking about.

But all quibbles aside, A Tale of Two Cities is a remarkable novel.

His storytelling is incredibly cinematic--he himself used the term "picturesque" to describe his approach--with many scenes and setups that are perfect examples of the sorts of visual storytelling prescribed by screenwriting how-to books. I'm convinced that had Dickens lived today, he would have been an incredible screenwriter.

And though the novel is set within and inextricably linked to the French Revolution, it is not about the French Revolution. That setting is used as a spectacular backdrop within which Dickens weaves an intricate and tightly plotted tale. It never forgets that first and foremost it is telling the characters' story, not merely recounting history.

And the last chapter is just incredible. I was crying while reading it on the train this weekend. And the famous last line--"It's a far better thing..."--is well-worthy of its fame; it's the most profound, beautiful last line of a novel I have ever read.

I'll admit that it's not consistently gripping, that a great bulk of the middle of the novel is merely interesting but not engrossing. But as a means to an end--as a means to that ending--it's entirely acceptable.

Took me about 9.5 hours to read. Not a huge commitment. I strongly recommend giving it a try.(less)

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May 22, 2009 Kelly rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Brit lit dorks, history geeks

Shelves: fiction, brit-lit, victorian, owned, 19th-century, grand-opera

Say what you want about this book. Overdone, overblown, overly dramatic. Yes. He drops anvils like Wylde E. Coyote. He's about as subtle as my dog when he needs to pee. Yes. But I love this book anyway. I just adore it, and you can't talk me out of it! It is my favorite Dickens novel.

All of the aforementioned may be completely true, but I think that with the subject and time period that Dickens is dealing with, he can get away with it. Was there anything subtle or restrained about the Terror? I'...more

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Apr 06, 2011 Erik rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, absolutely-terrible

A Tale of Two Cities holds the dubious honor of being the first book I ever picked up and failed to finish. The very first.

From there, it's all gone downhill. Just look at my reviews where I casually admit to throwing away classics unread. A Light in August, Lolita, The Elegance of the Hedgehog, etc, etc...

If you enjoy the little things, like being sane and not hating life, then I recommend you never pick this up.

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Jun 19, 2011 David rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: victorian, british-literature, classic, audiobook, literary, historical, 1001-books-to-read-before-you-die, french-revolution, 18th-century, england, france

This is another one of those Charles Dickens classics I was supposed to read as a kid and never did. Since I've never seen any of the movies either, it was actually pretty unspoiled for me, though I did know how it ends (anyone growing up in the English-speaking world can hardly have avoided knowing Sydney Carton's famous last lines: "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.".

Once again, I am in awe of Dicke...more This is another one of those Charles Dickens classics I was supposed to read as a kid and never did. Since I've never seen any of the movies either, it was actually pretty unspoiled for me, though I did know how it ends (anyone growing up in the English-speaking world can hardly have avoided knowing Sydney Carton's famous last lines: "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.".

Once again, I am in awe of Dickens's ability to craft larger-than-life characters whose defining personality traits and conversational tics carry them strongly through the story, and his depiction of France before and during the Revolution is as vivid and bloody as the Terror, despite his exercising all the expected Victorian restraint when it comes to actually describing bloodshed. He also contrasts Paris with London, and not always in London's favor; Dickens was a marvelous social critic of his time, and with understated clarity he shows the reader how, while the British aristocracy was no longer trampling peasants beneath their horses' feet with impunity, the English court system was hardly more just or less rapacious and corrupt than the French.

The reader can be forgiven for thinking it's just a historical novel about the French Revolution and the thrilling escape of some of its would-be victims. Dickens tells us what the novel is really about in the last chapter:

And yet there is not in France, with its rich variety of soil and climate, a blade, a leaf, a root, a sprig, a peppercorn, which will grow to maturity under conditions more certain than those that have produced this horror. Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind.

The story itself is typically Dickensian in that it is full of memorable characters who are all brought onstage separately and then brought together by a tightening web of plot threads that ends up tying everyone together one way or another. Once Dickens introduces a character, he means to use that character until the very end, and will use any improbable plot device to make sure everyone is where he wants them to be. So of course the spy who is known to the Defarges is the very same man whom Sydney Carton saw tried years earlier in London; of course the nephew of the Marquis who imprisoned Doctor Manette (who once employed Monsieur Defarge) is the very same man who flees France and marries his daughter; of course Sydney Carton and Jerry Cruncher just happen to be in Paris on business (with the "man of business" Mr. Lorry) when Charles Darnay goes there, etc. And there is the most improbable plot device of all, telegraphed at the beginning of the book when Carton faces Darnay during that London trial. But it all works to create a tense and very enjoyable novel.

One of my chief complaints about Dickens (besides his overuse of coincidence) is his very Victorian view of women: always angels of one kind or another, whether fallen or still high on their pedestals. But he almost redeems himself of that in this book with his Angel of Death, Madame Defarge (and her sidekick, The Vengeance), one of the scariest ladies in British literature. And the final confrontation between Madame Defarge and Miss Pross was all the more epic for that Dickens so rarely resolves a situation with a scene of violence, and this time he did it with two bad-ass women, both of them practically waving their national flags as they went at each other.

Definitely a favorite, and one I should have read earlier.(less)

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Mar 27, 2008 Tammy rated it 4 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. I dont' know how to summarize my feelings about this book. It's title suggests the tale between England and France, a tale between london and Paris - and perhaps that's how Dicken's intended it. But as I got further and further into the story, to me, it begins to symbolize the tale between two sides - between mercy and vengeance, love and hate, aristocrat and peasant, freedom and oppression, and generations of poverty and tyrany. France goes from Monarchy to Anarchy to Empire in a span of 20 yea...more I dont' know how to summarize my feelings about this book. It's title suggests the tale between England and France, a tale between london and Paris - and perhaps that's how Dicken's intended it. But as I got further and further into the story, to me, it begins to symbolize the tale between two sides - between mercy and vengeance, love and hate, aristocrat and peasant, freedom and oppression, and generations of poverty and tyrany. France goes from Monarchy to Anarchy to Empire in a span of 20 years, and the turmoil, bloodlust, and hysteria of the French Revolution serve as the backdrop to some of the most engrossing chacracters I have ever encountered in Literature. The main characters, Lucie and Darney, are simple and under-developed. But Doctor Manette (incidently, I could not help but draw parallels between Manette and Hugo's Jean ValJean), Sydney Carton, Madame Defarge, and Miss Pross grow from tragic backgrounds into the strength of the novel. They rise from ashes to bring about intense and remarkable ends.
I struggled through the first part of the book, and then somehow got to a point where I couldn't put it down, and it all came down to the last chapter, for me. It was an ending I did not see coming, and found myself actually tearing up (which I have rarely done with a book) as Carton stood in line, holding the hand of a young girl, stoic and brave to face the guillotine. And his last line - "It is a far, far better thing that I do..." is one of the most beautiful and moving last lines of a book I have ever read.
I also cheered when Miss Pross stood before Madame, fiercly giving her line "I am your match". I could see it in my mind, two women - one aggresive and unrelenting in her power and leadership, dangerous and horrifying in her manical desire for revenge, and the other - defiant and protective, and unmoving because of love for her Lucie, and her will to protect her at all costs.
I have loved reading a novel where weak ones become strong in character, and where women are so portrayed in strength.
I don't think I will ever forget two moments in this book - when Monseignor's carriage kills a child, and he stands harassing the people for their carelessness, and all around look down, cowered and not meeting this gaze, except for Madame Defarge, who stands, steadily meeting his eye with a look of stone resolve. One begins to understand how the people of France emotionally came to a place where they could rise up in frenzied revenge, without mercy or pity. (Interesting, also, that Dicken's portrays two kinds of aristocrats here - Monsiegnor, who you feel deserves the anger and uprising from the people, and his fate, and Darnay, who is innocent, and even sympathizes with their plight, and who does not deserve to be targeted - two types of high society, and from both sides, thousands sent to the guillotine).
The second is when Carton has arranged his plans, and has set in motion his path to save Darney, and thus, the heart and life of Lucie, and the night before he sacrifices himself in one last great act of selflessness and love, he stands in the darkness before her window, closes his eyes, and whispers a blessing, resolved and redeemed.
This is the kind of love you hope to be able to experience - where your love and care and all that you do and feel is so strong and motivating for another, that you can set aside all you hold dear, even your own life, for the preservation of their happiness and all that THEY hold dear.
This is truly love - a pure, peaceful, life-changing love that, to me, upholds every one of Christ's teachings and ring's true the RS motto - Charity never faileth.
(less)

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Jun 27, 2007 Brad rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: novel

A great multi-sited novel centering on the French revolution.

My generic comment about Charles Dickens:
First of all, although I am a partisan of Dickens' writing and have read and relished most his works, I concede to three flaws in his oeuvre that are not insignificant. First, while he seemed to develop an almost endless variety of male social types, his female characters are much less well developed. Second, although he portrayed the stark brutality of economic and class inequality with unparal...more

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Apr 26, 2013 Phoebe rated it 1 of 5 stars

A reaction, written by sixteen-year-old Phoebe (and submitted to my lovely English teacher, Mrs. S., in lieu of a summer reading essay):

I've got nothing to say, but it's okay ..or is it?

I'm risking my grade to write this, I know, but I just have to get this off my chest. After stressing my brain for two and a half days I have come to the following conclusion: The second book of A Tale of Two Cities utterly and completely bored me. I can think of nothing of substance to write about, other than th...more A reaction, written by sixteen-year-old Phoebe (and submitted to my lovely English teacher, Mrs. S., in lieu of a summer reading essay):

I've got nothing to say, but it's okay ..or is it?

I'm risking my grade to write this, I know, but I just have to get this off my chest. After stressing my brain for two and a half days I have come to the following conclusion: The second book of A Tale of Two Cities utterly and completely bored me. I can think of nothing of substance to write about, other than the fact that I've never really liked Charles Dickens' writing. I could bullsh*t and make something up, I could buy the Cliff Notes and rearrange them into a workable essay, but I'm not going to do that. Life's too short to feign an interest.

Perhaps this is partially due to the mind-numbingly slow pace of the "book the second." Sure, stuff happens. The two central points of interest are Darnay's marriage and the storming of the Bastille (see, I did read!). However, the marriage is so pristine and ideal that it's positively drab. Darnay loves Lucie. Lucie loves Darnay. Lucie's father has post traumatic stress syndrome. yawn. Perhaps if Dr. Manette's condition had caused more strain on the marriage, the book would have become more interesting. Instead, Dickens used it for foreshadowing alone. It had little impact on the character's lives and was disregarded upon Manette's recovery. The storming of the Bastille, on the other hand, was so slow in coming that it felt almost anticlimactic. The ruthless actions of the French were practically spelled out in "The Wineshop" We already knew that their thirst for blood was as intense as their thirst for alcohol; we already knew that the Defarge's could control both thirsts from their positions of power. No surprises there.

Which brings me to the rant portion of my journal. I have never enjoyed Charles Dickens' writing. Not even "A Christmas Carol," which everyone seems to love. Many people excuse his wordiness and lack of literary excitement on the times in which he lived. Why, then, did I enjoy Jane Eyre and Silas Marner? Why were Frances Hodgson Burnett and Lewis Carroll two of my favorite childhood authors? Period is no excuse. I've read portions of the Bible (Old Testament, no less) for literary purposes alone and found them to be a swinging bunch of stories. Is it acceptable not to like a "classic"? I tried to tell my English teacher last year that I did not like The Grapes of Wrath. It seemed to be taken as laziness on my part...and that I hadn't given Steinbeck's work a chance. I read the entire novel, just as I've completed A Tale of Two Cities. My eighth grade civics teacher said that if he didn't like a book, he'd stop reading it at twenty five pages. If 25 pages is enough to judge a book by, 304 pages certainly is.

Which leads me to my final issue. Each summer since sixth grade I've read between 300 and 1000 pages of required reading material, as well as any books I chose for my own enjoyment. I'm not a light reader in my free time. I've often pulled muscles carrying home library books. I love to read. I would read if no one told me to. I HAVE read when people have told me not to. It upsets me to tell myself I cannot go to the library because I need to get a few boring books over with. Books which I have to read because of an overstuffed curriculum and an assumption that teenagers won't read if they're not told to. We're honors students. If we don't read in our free time, maybe we don't belong in honors classes.

Twenty-nine-year-old Phoebe's response to reading all this: Damn, I wish I'd had goodreads back then. Sure seems like I needed it.

(My saint of an English teacher, by the way, responded: "OK--an honest response!")(less)

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May 24, 2011 Sps rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: book-club, story

Awfully witty and fun. Though I'll admit to sometimes getting lost and confused in descriptive passages, and that the thunderheads of the French Revolution are teetering between melodrama and the Donner Party. If Jacques is going to take down the nobility, then do it already. Quit with the gloomy, meaningful knitting, my good madame.

Frequently there are these wonderful strings of words that are undoubtedly Statistically Improbable Phrases. (Amazon's are the fairly unremarkable 'immovable close,...more

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Dec 20, 2009 Michelle rated it 4 of 5 stars

First of all, I'd like to give this book 4.5 stars. (Why is it so hard to be confined by the one-star increments?) It is a great book, I just can't give it my very highest rating. I wonder if it is suffering somewhat in comparison to The Count of Monte Cristo, which I read right before A Tale of Two Cities, and I loved that one SO much.

In any case, I'm just thrilled that I finally read this book! I have been suffering for some time now as the result of not having read it. I have felt like a pseu...more

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Oct 03, 2012 Sheila rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: classic literature fans

Recommended to Sheila by: David Copperfield

Shelves: owned, classic, reviewed

My first Charles Dickens and it was fairly difficult.

I was unfamiliar with the author's abundant use of language combined with satire, but I was very satisfied in the end. It's probably the second novel (the first is Orwell's 1984) I've read that has an ending which is so deserving of the previous pages that one feels it came too soon.

In short, it's a classic.

In brief, A Tale of Two Cities is the story of the devoted Lucie Manette and his unfairly imprisoned father, Dr. Manette and their esca...more My first Charles Dickens and it was fairly difficult.

I was unfamiliar with the author's abundant use of language combined with satire, but I was very satisfied in the end. It's probably the second novel (the first is Orwell's 1984) I've read that has an ending which is so deserving of the previous pages that one feels it came too soon.

In short, it's a classic.

In brief, A Tale of Two Cities is the story of the devoted Lucie Manette and his unfairly imprisoned father, Dr. Manette and their escape from the horrors of Paris to London, before and during the French Revolution. Circumstances make the father and daughter dependent on the kindness and friendship of Manette's banker, Mr. Lorry. But Lucie's beauty binds them to the lives of the secret French aristocrat Charles Darnay and the hopeless and heroic Sydney Carton.

It is a story of hope for new life, of achieving harmony with old and new love, of performing one's moral obligation, of making sacrifices, of redeeming oneself for the love of the person that binds them all. Expect lots of mystery and drama in between, told plainly but with hint of the theatrical. While reading it, imagine the sound of screaming violins or the repetitive and slow piano music in the background.

Reader, you will love Sydney Carton.

He is a hero who, in the beginning, does nothing to improve our impression of him, but in the middle surprises us with his tender nature by his confessions of love and promised sacrifice to Lucie. Meaning: he is most interesting. But Dickens didn't give us reasons for his self-flagellation and yet in the end, his final act, his final thoughts, can't be written otherwise.

And to arrive at that closing of the novel, when death is certain and the start of an immortal life is everything to be hoped for, is one of the best reading experiences I've had.

There are more characters of note, including the villain, the shroud-knitting Madame Defarge whose background story is as mysterious as Dr.Manette's. It would have been curious if we could see inside their heads---the former, while plotting for murder and the latter, after the reading of his prisoner's letter. But we don't read Dickens for psychological insight. We read him for the joy of seeing how these characters come to life and how each struggles to win over the other.
(less)

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Mar 11, 2013 Naile Berna rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I read this book as part of a book club. It was very challenging at the beginning, I had to use wikipedia let alone webster dictionary. After the first 50 pages either I got used to Dickens' language or he simplified things a bit...

For some reason, (most likely through the literature I've read like Bernard Show and Ishiguro Kazuo) I feel a misplaced Nostalgia of England in early nineteenth century when I read the lines of English servants talking to their masters: "Yes, sir. .... sir, ... sir."...more

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Jun 08, 2012 Danger rated it 3 of 5 stars

About 30 pages into this book, I was struck with a moment of panic:

WHAT'S GOING ON HERE? WHERE THE HELL IS GARFIELD?!?

Had the lasagna-loving feline been uncerimoniously behead on the guillotine before the happenings of page 1? Without my favorite cartoon cat's wry, laid-back sense of wit these are surely THE WORST OF TIMES!

That is when I realized I was reading the classic text A Tale of Two CITIES, by Charles Dickens and not watching the 2006 cinematic masterpiece Garfield: A TAIL of Two KITTIES...more

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Jan 11, 2011 Cinnamon rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-for-school, own, classics, historical-fiction, reviewed, 2011, 4-delightfully-scrumptious

This review may also be found on A Thousand Little Pages.

Schoolwork is rarely pleasant, only mandatory and often mind-numbingly boring. I was expecting such when my English teacher announced the next book in our curriculum. With the memory of my attempt ~~and failure~~ at staying awake while viewing the movie adaptation of A Tale of Two Cities in History class last year still fresh in my mind, I flipped to the first page of my shiny new paperback feeling like I was participating in the beginnings of...more

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Jan 09, 2012 Hazel rated it 4 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Meredith

Shelves: literary-fiction

A colleague of mine recommends reading one of Dickens' novels every year. I thought that was a splendid idea, and I remembered it today when I found the 1958 movie on tv. This is the one with a perfectly cast Dirk Bogarde, as Sydney Carton. Very good supporting cast, too; a too-thin, but chilling and convincing Madame Defarge, Donald Pleasance as the oily little informer, Bas(t)ard, Ian Bannen and Christopher Lee and Leo McKern, all perfect in small roles. I started weeping when the first tumbri...more

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Oct 01, 2008 Lori Anderson rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: historical-fiction

***** SPOILER ALERT -- IF YOU HAVEN'T READ THE BOOK, GO NO FURTHER! ******

"A Tale of Two Cities" is one of those books that a lot of people THINK they've read, but never have, because it has an ending that nearly everyone knows -- one man trades his life for another under the guillitine. I knew how it ended, but also knew I'd never read the book, and felt it was high time to get on with it.

There's a lot more to it than just swapping Man A with Man B. There's intrigue, plot twists, lots of histor...more

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Mar 22, 2009 Brad rated it 1 of 5 stars

Shelves: most-hated, classic

A painful beast of a book. It took me five attempts to get past page one hundred, and when I finally did break that barrier I pressed on until the very end so that I didn't have to suffer ever again.

Dickens is a problem for me. I admit it freely.

There was a time, many years ago, when I was a fan. I read Great Expectations for the first time in grade four, and I was in love with the book and Dickens. And I imagine that some part of my social consciousness, which wasn't a gift from my parents, was...more A painful beast of a book. It took me five attempts to get past page one hundred, and when I finally did break that barrier I pressed on until the very end so that I didn't have to suffer ever again.

Dickens is a problem for me. I admit it freely.

There was a time, many years ago, when I was a fan. I read Great Expectations for the first time in grade four, and I was in love with the book and Dickens. And I imagine that some part of my social consciousness, which wasn't a gift from my parents, was planted with the seeds of Dickens.

Over the years, though, Dickens and I have grown apart.

I don't mean that I have "outgrown" him in any sort of condescending manner. It's not the sort of thing I expect anyone else to do, nor is it something that I blame fully on Dickens. No, we've grown apart as many couples do when one person changes through life and experience and the other remains constant.

I have become a radical over the years, and Dickens...well, he's still as bourgeois left as ever, and we're not compatible any more. He venerates the comforts of the middle class; he expounds the virtues of law and order and charity; he attacks the indignities of the abuses of power but only offers imaginary methods for overcoming them, mythologizing the bourgeoisie's ability to overthrow the things that ail us; he vilifies those who seek more radical solutions; and, whether he admits it or not, he still believes in the superiority of nobility and noble blood.

So when he starts to attack the revolutionaries in Paris and uses it to illustrate the "superiority" of civilized English behavior, when Dickens' moral soapbox weighs heavier than his plot, I begin to tune out of his lecture, and A Tale of Two Cities makes me increasingly angry from page to page.

I recognize Dickens' talent. I still love his prose. And I get why people love this book, and maybe even why you do, kind reader, but I can't stand it (and I am finding it increasingly difficult to like any of his work anymore).

I may burn this someday. But I have fully annotated the version I own and while I can burn the words of others (it's the radical in me), my lovely inner narcissist simply can't burn words of my own (unless it is for catharsis). So A Tale of Two Cities will likely survive on my shelf until I die, mocking me from its high perch in my office, whispering that a catharsis that may never come just may be necessary.(less)

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Mar 27, 2009 Werner rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Fans of 19th century fiction

Shelves: classics, historical-fiction, books-i-own

Most of Dickens' novels were set in his own time; this was one of only two forays he made into historical fiction (both of which are set in the time of the generation immediately before his own, for which he could still draw on the impressions of living witnesses) but in it, he managed to produce one of the genre's timeless classics. All of the best traits of his writing are here: his unequaled characterizations, his mastery of plotting, his passionate sense of justice, his ability to evoke the...more Most of Dickens' novels were set in his own time; this was one of only two forays he made into historical fiction (both of which are set in the time of the generation immediately before his own, for which he could still draw on the impressions of living witnesses) but in it, he managed to produce one of the genre's timeless classics. All of the best traits of his writing are here: his unequaled characterizations, his mastery of plotting, his passionate sense of justice, his ability to evoke the atmosphere of his settings, and his capacity, as one critic has said, "to make us care about the things that matter." This is also probably the one novel, besides A Christmas Carol, that most clearly reflects his nondenominational but heartfelt Christian convictions --not so much because of the one passing narrative mention of Christ as "our Saviour," though that type of reference is rare in his writing, as because of the unmistakable Christian symbolism of the novel's climax, which is all the more powerful because its implications are left clear but unstated.

A Tale of Two Cities is also the Dickens novel most charged with socio-political relevance for today, because the present-day hard-core, totalitarian Left was born in the French Revolution (it's not at all surprising that Arthur Koestler's Stalinist characters in Darkness at Noon frequently make comparisons between themselves and the architects of the Terror!) Whole volumes could be written about the connections; but those wouldn't be strictly relevant to a review of a novel by Dickens, whose own perspective was circumscribed by the 19th century. What is relevant, though, is to note that he pegged and delineated the "humanitarian with a guillotine" mindset perfectly, in all of its stark, nauseating ugliness: its vicious self-righteousness, its utter absence of anything resembling compassion or human decency, its mindless group-think, its messianic zeal to create hell on earth in the chimerical pursuit of an imagined heaven on earth, and above all its fundamental moral springs of unbridled psychopathic hate and envy. A reading of this novel could furnish a better understanding of 20th and early 21st century political forces than most "standard" textbooks! (less)

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Oct 16, 2007 Meghan Davison rated it 5 of 5 stars

I started reading this book in an effort to whittle away at my ever-growing "classics to read" list and expected it to be a completely perfunctory experience, so I was surprised at how much I enjoyed it. I rarely read anything that is older than I am, so the style and syntax were a bit off-putting at times. Dickens' sentences are long and littered with commas, but that was honestly the only thing that made the novel feel dated. Dickens is funny and sarcastic-- and his sarcasm is the best kind, i...more

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Sep 25, 2008 Erin rated it 4 of 5 stars

Recommended to Erin by: Dad

I have learned SO much about the French revolution through reading this. It has given me totally new perspective on government and the lack of it. I just never truly realized that the French revolution was so horrible. I always thought it needed to happen and that Marie Antoinette and the King and the aristocracy needed to go. I never knew how blood hungry these peasants were. Dickens doesn't have one good word to say about those involved in the Revolution; yet he doesn't truly blame them either...more

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view all 4 comments

Lucinda Elliot Erin, I hope you don't mind my cutting in here.

I was very interested in your comments. Apropos the view that revolution always makes things worse, I'...more
updated Mar 19, 2012 03:24am

Erin Hi, for some reason I'm just seeing this comment. I appreciate your thoughts and agree. I think after first reading a book, I get so persuaded of the...more
Dec 29, 2012 10:47am

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About Charles Dickens

A prolific 19th Century author of short stories, plays, novellas, novels, fiction and non-fiction; during his lifetime Dickens became known the world over for his remarkable characters, his mastery of prose in the telling of their lives, and his depictions of the social classes, morals and values of his times. Some considered him the spokesman for the poor, for he definitely brought much awarenes...more

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“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.” — 1,367 people liked it

“It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” — 990 people liked it

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