A Tale of Two Cities

[Kathy]

What did you think? Love it? Hate it? Why? Why not?

[Suzanne]

Dickens does tend to ramble a bit. Take the opening sentence even- he lends to the volatility of France at the time by "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" but he doesn't just stop there. He feels the need to add a whole page of opposites to redundantly prove his point. However, after adjusting to his overelaboratory style, it is definitely a valuable read. Similar to Les Miserables, it gives faces, names, and feelings to a national state of trouble- French poverty, in particular- yet does not lose the aggregate historical significance that is the backbone of A Tale of Two Cities. It also brings another dimension to the quintessential holiday classic, A Christmas Carol, also written by Dickens.

[Jessie]

This will be my third attempt at getting through Tale of Two Cities. I'm determined to make it this time! But it is definitely slow going.

[B.T.]

I've read A Tale of Two Cities a few times. It is my favorite of Dickens' novels. The characters have depth, and purpose. Events that seem trivial and nothing more than setting to the story, have bearing on the outcome so nothing is wasted. One of my favorite aspects of Dickens' writing is the language. He wrote at a time when words were an art, before editors sliced and diced, stripping a sentence to as few words as possible. In a world where students turn in papers written in text speak, I have to wonder if we're going in the right direction.

[A]

I loved this book!