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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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Aug 21, 2012 Sheila rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: owned, reviewed, classic

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 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.
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Sep 10, 2010 Capsguy rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: british-irish

And with that a greater tale was never told...

But seriously, Dickens finally pulled through for me. I'd read quite a fair few of his novels (Christmas Carol, Oliver Twist, Great Expectations, and Hard Times) and they all left me feeling as if something unexplainable, and yet essential was missing to make it comparable to a great piece of literature that will not diminish through time.

This was totally different. For once his dreary ongoing passages didn't feel like dreary ongoing passages, writte ...more

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Jun 24, 2012 Lauren rated it really liked it

Shelves: 1001-books, classics, tbr-dec2012, 1305

I am having a hard time rating this novel.

It starts out with one of the best, albeit long winded opening sentences of all times: " It was the best of times, it was the worst of time, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it 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 Hea I am having a hard time rating this novel.

It starts out with one of the best, albeit long winded opening sentences of all times: " It was the best of times, it was the worst of time, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it 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." I immediately found myself unable to decide if this type of opener was a good or bad thing. Would the whole novel be consist of these style of unbelievably long sentences?

What I found instead is that it was a novel that truly consisted of books and each book is deserving of its own rating.

Book I ***

I would give this book three stars. It was interesting enough to keep me going but overall it dragged a few times. This book didn't answer the questions it left me with and that annoyed me.

Book II ****

This book caught my interest. Although I was unable to become attached to the character of Lucie (oh, I cannot express how glad I am that this type of woman is no longer the "perfect" woman because she was BORING) I really enjoyed the stories of the characters as they lived out their day to day lives. (view spoiler) Nice little cliffhanger at the end of the book, I can just imagine how people were on the edge of their seat waiting for the next installment to be published when this first came out.

Book III *****

I cannot say enough about the degree to which I enjoyed this part of the novel. This part made the other two parts with their lagging plots and overly descriptive passages worth it. It was the part in which I was able to fully empathize with a character. I have to say that I believe that Sydney Carton is one of the best characters ever written. (view spoiler) To be able to "watch" a character evolve from a seemly selfish, cynical alcoholic into a self-sacrificing saint of a man was breath-taking. "They said of him, about the city that night, that it was the peace-fullest man's face ever beheld there. Many added that he looked sublime and prophetic."

Plus, I was able to enjoy the pure evil of a character. Madame Defarge was totally incapable of forgiveness and understanding and it was so enjoyable to hate her and root against her. "She was absolutely without pity. If she had ever had the virtue in her, it had quite gone out of her. It was nothing to her, that an innocent man was to die for the sins of his forefathers; she saw, not him, but them."

Overall I would give this novel a solid 4.5 stars. It was my first Dickens and I am very excited to continue with more of his novels. ...more

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Jul 27, 2011 ☯Emily Ginder rated it really liked it

Shelves: historical-fiction, classics

I am not a Dickens fan, but I remember reading this many years ago and enjoying it. It is just as readable now as then. I have been reading about the French Revolution. Even though this is not a history book, Dickens accurately reveals the disdain the aristocracy had for the poor. They mistreated everyone who was not a part of the aristocracy, taxed their workers unmercifully, raped the peasant women and killed the young men. Eventually, the oppressed will rebel. However, the oppressed in France ...more

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