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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
No, I didn't have to read this for a class or a book club or any specific reason. I first read this book as a freshman and loved it from the beginning. I read it again as a senior and hadn't fallen out of love with it. Now I choose to read this for pleasure. I love the way Dickens explains things. He has quite a way with words. Yes, he does use 300 words when 30 might work as well, but it just wouldn't be him. He's a master with description. I never was a student of European history an probably never will be, but I have started reading more historical fiction set in Europe. The changes in power are always bloody and the French Revolution is no exception. Such thirst for gore and blood in the formerly oppressed. Lucy, Charles, and Sidney might be my favorite love triangle, though it's certainly not a typical one. Sidney knows he isn't right for Lucy so he loves her from a distance and maintains relationships with her whole family without letting his love interfere. He becomes a favorite of her children and is a member of their family. Charles must fight against his family history, while doing everything in his power to not repeat his family's mistakes. Just when it looks like there is no way this story can end well, Dickens does his magic. What an amazing story!
A lot of the 'classics' as books that earned their designation as such simply because some dusty old man in a dusty old college decided 'yup this is a classic. A book about a whale that lasts for 10,000 pages? Classic literature!"
Not so with this book. It earns every bit of its reputation and longevity. Yes, the prose is sometimes difficult when reading from a modern perspective with modern taste, syntax, grammar, etc. etc. But if you get through that (and honestly it isn't hard to do) the book is phenomenally worth the effort. I say effort but I read it in about 6 sittings, reading more and more each time. I came away from this book with so many feelings and emotions. Dickens pulls no punches, and clearly wants you to sympathize neither with the aristocracy or the revolutionaries who ultimately begin the Reign of Terror of 1793-94. The 'side' you root for is the every-day family, the working people, and the lives caught up in the storm of the revolution. I think that's a rare feat for an author to accomplish.
Probably no point in going on and on. The book is so damn old I doubt there's anything new to say about it. But highly recommended!
Not so with this book. It earns every bit of its reputation and longevity. Yes, the prose is sometimes difficult when reading from a modern perspective with modern taste, syntax, grammar, etc. etc. But if you get through that (and honestly it isn't hard to do) the book is phenomenally worth the effort. I say effort but I read it in about 6 sittings, reading more and more each time. I came away from this book with so many feelings and emotions. Dickens pulls no punches, and clearly wants you to sympathize neither with the aristocracy or the revolutionaries who ultimately begin the Reign of Terror of 1793-94. The 'side' you root for is the every-day family, the working people, and the lives caught up in the storm of the revolution. I think that's a rare feat for an author to accomplish.
Probably no point in going on and on. The book is so damn old I doubt there's anything new to say about it. But highly recommended!
My first Dickens book, I have really fond memories of reading and analyzing this classic in high school (I may be in the minority there
emotional
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
For some reason my edition of the book is only 129 pages long 🤨it’s the Penguin edition so maybe that’s why. The first half was kinda confusing, I was getting lost in the plot and with the many characters but the second half was good.
adventurous
emotional
medium-paced
It took me a while to get into this story, but once I did, I couldn't stop reading. Once all the characters are introduced, the plot starts picking up speed like a snowball rolling down a hill, going faster and faster towards its inevitable conclusion. You start to see hints of the ending early on, but that only adds to the enjoyment. And Dickens' characters are the best in all of literature, I think.
Surprisingly, I've never read this before so I started to listen to this as I ran. Love it.
Favorite Quotes:
“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”
“I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul.”
"You might, from your appearance, be the wife of Lucifer,” said Miss Pross, in her breathing. “Nevertheless, you shall not get the better of me. I am an Englishwoman.”
“There is prodigious strength in sorrow and despair.”
Favorite Quotes:
“A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.”
“I wish you to know that you have been the last dream of my soul.”
"You might, from your appearance, be the wife of Lucifer,” said Miss Pross, in her breathing. “Nevertheless, you shall not get the better of me. I am an Englishwoman.”
“There is prodigious strength in sorrow and despair.”
Between these two famous lines:
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
and
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...
was an epic story that was immensely difficult to trudge through. I really wish I could say otherwise, but there you have it. Wonderful story. Almost impossible to read and understand without a dictionary and a book synopsis at hand.
It was the best of times, it was the worst of times...
and
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...
was an epic story that was immensely difficult to trudge through. I really wish I could say otherwise, but there you have it. Wonderful story. Almost impossible to read and understand without a dictionary and a book synopsis at hand.
reflective
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Until I read this book, I could speak lightly of the French Revolution and “la guillotine,” but no more. Its horrors feel much too real now, and closer in the best way.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Grief, Murder