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A Tale of Two Cities

Charles Dickens

Start date: December 1, 2012

Finish date: December 31, 2012

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What Members Thought

Aug 11, 2015 Samantha wickedshizuku Tolleson rated it really liked it

Shelves: 2016, 4-stars, under-revision, male-lead, title-t, not-manga, 1001-books-to-read-before-i-die

“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.”

From this very first paragraph, I knew that I was going to be very disgruntled while reading this, and I have been.

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Mar 15, 2011 Nance rated it really liked it

Shelves: classics, books-read-2011

What can I say about a novel written by the immensely popular English author of the 1800s, Charles Dickens? His novels are filled with distintive depictions of individuals during a grossly impoverished economy against the backdrop of extreme war-time events and the Industrial Revolution. A Tale of Two Cities , written in 1859, thus referring to the opposing cities of Paris and London, takes place during the beginning of the French Revolution involving several characters whose families were deepl What can I say about a novel written by the immensely popular English author of the 1800s, Charles Dickens? His novels are filled with distintive depictions of individuals during a grossly impoverished economy against the backdrop of extreme war-time events and the Industrial Revolution. A Tale of Two Cities , written in 1859, thus referring to the opposing cities of Paris and London, takes place during the beginning of the French Revolution involving several characters whose families were deeply affected by the brutality of the revolutions against the aristocrats of the society. “Le Guillotine” was introduced as a horrific means of carrying out a prisoner’s final sentence to a crime against the republic. During the novel, which was originally released in weekly installments by Dickens himself in a literary periodical publication, we are introduced to Charles Darnay, who was once an French aristocrat who since has denounced his inherited title, and Sydney Carton, a once English barrister who secretly is besotted with Darnay’s wife. The two men, similiar in appearance, both portray a hero deeply embedded amongst the pages of the historic novel, but Carton’s character delivers a tremendous sacrifice in the final pages of the novel, whereby, Darnay comes off as a bit boring, but yet admirable in some of his previous decisions before he had left France to immigrate to England. Both men are supported by Darnay’s wife, Lucie, who loves one as her husband and the other as an unreplaceable friend. Lucie is also supported by Dr. Alexandre Manette (her loving father, a physician who was held in the Bastille prison under false pretenses), Miss Pross (a long-time servant that protects and is loyal to her charge), and Jarvis Lorry (an elderly businessman who works for Tellson’s Bank while constantly proving his loyalty to the Manettes with friendship and honesty). In the opening pages of the novel, Darnay is accused of treason to the English Crown, but due to unforeseen circumstances, the charges are dismissed. He is smitten with Lucie, and a year later asks her father for her hand in marriage. They are married, and Lucie gives birth to “Little Lucie”. As the years go by, it is becoming more and more brutally apparent that the revolutionists are determined to carry out their barbaric plans concerning the aristocrats. We are also now introduced to two contemptuous characters, Monsieur Defarge (a wine-shop owner, who is a dedicated revolutionary mindful to demonstrate his allegience to the republic no matter what the cost), and his wife, Madame Defarge (a vengeful bitter woman, also a revolutionary, that stands behind her stern beliefs strictly for the sole purpose of the republic’s cause). Together, the couple, resolve to bring about the demise of Charles Darnay, including anyone that is associated with him, which means his wife, his father-in-law, and his young daughter too. I had to read several paragraphs over to get the gist of what Dickens implied during the reading of this intricate and tragic novel. Some of the novel was hard to understand with its old-English verbage, but I was interested in the story as a whole, and shed a few tears at the end. Even though Sydney Carton was the more charismatic character between the two lead gentlemen, I did tend to be more entranced with the character of Charles Darnay...I tend to go for the dark mysteriously somewhat unspirited type. A novel that was a rewarding and highly passionate read, which leads me to believe that I should pick up another Dickens novel soon!!!

Famous Quotes written amongst the pages of “A Tale of Two Cities”:

Book 1, Chapter 1, Page 1 - “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. . . .”

Book 3, Chapter 15, Page 4 (Sydney Carton) - “I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out. . . .

I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine. I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his. . . .

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

Book 2, Chapter 13, Page 2 (Sydney Carton) - “I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul. In my degradation I have not been so degraded but that the sight of you with your father, and of this home made such a home by you, has stirred old shadows that I thought had died out of me. Since I knew you, I have been troubled by a remorse that I thought would never reproach me again, and have heard whispers from old voices impelling me upward, that I thought were silent for ever. I have had unformed ideas of striving afresh, beginning anew, shaking off sloth and sensuality, and fighting out the abandoned fight. A dream, all a dream, that ends in nothing, and leaves the sleeper where he lay down, but I wish you to know that you inspired it.”
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Oct 19, 2014 Daniel Tebbe rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-this-past-year

I can't believe I waited this long to read Tale of Two Cities. I think I was prejudiced against Dickens because of a teacher whose enthusiasm for Dickens was surpassed only by his dorky pomposity. Anyway, I found myself struggling to get into Dickens prose and diction at the beginning, so I decided to use a form of Mortimer Adler's philosophy on reading a difficult book -- I jotted down a summary of each chapter, and then a quick thesis statement. I want my students to be always trying to think ...more

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