Take a photo of a barcode or cover
3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
inspiring
sad
medium-paced
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Reading this book gifted me with immense satisfaction. Dickens' stylistic sentences danced elegantly from word to word, portraying the story in a fashionable manner. While I've attempted many classics in the past, this has been my first true, accomplished, and enjoyed read from a book of this nature. My past attempts have often been equally enjoyed in the style of writing. However, a slow pace of story delivery hinders my completion of the book. This storyline isn't stagnant but rather moves along swiftly. It's also not a means of instant gratification, so deriving substance is highly satisfying and encouraging! For anyone wanting to attempt their hand at reading a classic, this is a great narrative :)
I read half of it, too slow as expected. The writing is still excellent, but slow.
I never thought I would be a Dickens kind of person, and I was truly dreading the day I would have to pick up A Tale of Two Cities from the day I read the syllabus for my AP English IV class. The fact that I enjoyed this book - and the degree to which I enjoyed it - was a huge surprise (but definitely a pleasant one).
This book demands concentration and determination, and occasionally required me to read entire chapter out loud lest I continue to read the same sentence over and over without comprehending its meaning. That would probably be my biggest piece of advice to anyone who has this problem reading Dickens (or Tolstoy, or Austen); if you're struggling, try reading it out loud to yourself.
I found that once I got past the initial 1/3 of the novel I began to fall slowly but surely in love with the characters and with Dickens' style. There is something to be said for the page-long sentence, even if it takes quite a bit of work on the reader's part to get through it. I also found the plot twists to be genuinely surprising, which I had not anticipated. For me, the best part of ATOTC is a single character; I have never encountered a better hero than Sydney Carton and I doubt that I ever will.
This book demands concentration and determination, and occasionally required me to read entire chapter out loud lest I continue to read the same sentence over and over without comprehending its meaning. That would probably be my biggest piece of advice to anyone who has this problem reading Dickens (or Tolstoy, or Austen); if you're struggling, try reading it out loud to yourself.
I found that once I got past the initial 1/3 of the novel I began to fall slowly but surely in love with the characters and with Dickens' style. There is something to be said for the page-long sentence, even if it takes quite a bit of work on the reader's part to get through it. I also found the plot twists to be genuinely surprising, which I had not anticipated. For me, the best part of ATOTC is a single character; I have never encountered a better hero than Sydney Carton and I doubt that I ever will.
a novel for ap lang ! very excited to re-iterate myself over 3 months, yippee...
2.5
Suffice to say, this book was not for me. I see the characteristics that make it a classic but it did nothing to sway me or make me interested in any of the characters. I found most of them bland and two dimensional. I did like the plot twist but not much more.
Suffice to say, this book was not for me. I see the characteristics that make it a classic but it did nothing to sway me or make me interested in any of the characters. I found most of them bland and two dimensional. I did like the plot twist but not much more.
Did I finish this? Yes. Do I have any memory of anything that happened in this? Absolutely not!
My first classic novel finished this year (indeed, the first in some time before that), and my first real attempt at Dickens, aside from an assigned reading of Great Expectations in high school that I never quite finished. And I have to say that I really enjoyed it. I was, of course, aware of the ending beforehand, so it was fascinating to watch the pieces fall into place. Though I felt it was a slow starter, Book 3 really seemed to speed along and the ending was great. So, yes. Liked it a lot.