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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
This is the best Dickens I have (hitherto) read. It succeeds without reliance upon polars of good and evil, instead blurring many of the character's ethics. The richest example is Madame Defarge, a Victorian Lady Macbeth, whose hunger for vengeance assimilates her further and further, until without pity she can turn on those she loves. She is introduced to the reader as the taciturn wife of a revolutionary, and gradually, as with the knitting she occupies herself with, the full picture is revealed. I found myself loving her strength, and her almost comical interposition in major events of the French Revolution. She is the embodiment of the French Revolution's increasing, inexorable, violent momentum.
The notes of this edition were of extreme value, it appears much of the text was based on Thomas Carlyle's historical account 'The French Revolution', to the extent that Dickens has taken minor anecdotes in order to paint a more vivid picture. The final chapter includes an absurd reference to a Mme. Roland who requested a pen and paper before her execution at the Guillotine in order to document some fascinating thoughts she was having. What integrity! Lois-Sebastien Mercier is also heavily cited, on top of Rousseau, the Arabian Nights, and The New Testament.
Dickens paints the Guillotine as the equivalent of the Christian Cross, and frequently uses his figurative skill to highlight the barbarity (as well as the efficiency) of the executional method. Another of my favourite Dickensian images was the 'fishing' of corpses by Jerry Cruncher. Dickens overly extends his metaphors creating a dramatic irony that at once represents the minds of the naive (in this case, Jerry's observing son) as well as highlighting the terrifying banality of it during these times.
It is impossible to write a concise book review, so I will leave off here saying that I am now tempted to read Dickens' other great historical work, 'Barnaby Rudge', as he represents the period in a way that appeals to me.
The notes of this edition were of extreme value, it appears much of the text was based on Thomas Carlyle's historical account 'The French Revolution', to the extent that Dickens has taken minor anecdotes in order to paint a more vivid picture. The final chapter includes an absurd reference to a Mme. Roland who requested a pen and paper before her execution at the Guillotine in order to document some fascinating thoughts she was having. What integrity! Lois-Sebastien Mercier is also heavily cited, on top of Rousseau, the Arabian Nights, and The New Testament.
Dickens paints the Guillotine as the equivalent of the Christian Cross, and frequently uses his figurative skill to highlight the barbarity (as well as the efficiency) of the executional method. Another of my favourite Dickensian images was the 'fishing' of corpses by Jerry Cruncher. Dickens overly extends his metaphors creating a dramatic irony that at once represents the minds of the naive (in this case, Jerry's observing son) as well as highlighting the terrifying banality of it during these times.
It is impossible to write a concise book review, so I will leave off here saying that I am now tempted to read Dickens' other great historical work, 'Barnaby Rudge', as he represents the period in a way that appeals to me.
adventurous
emotional
informative
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
3.85. I feel that whilst set up is needed for a story, this one went on a fraction too long, making it not the easiest book to get in to, but after that it was fine.
It’s winter, so Dickens season. This book has been on my to read shelf an embarrassingly long time. Probably at least a decade. Set during and before the French Revolution in London and Paris (the proverbial Two Cities), the story follows Dr. Manette and his daughter and critiques both the bloody methods of the revolutionaries and the excess and greed of the upper classes that led to the revolution. I enjoyed it. This book has more plot than many of Dickens’s other books, but less vibes. I kinda like the vibes more, I think. None of the characters in this book are very memorable the way the characters in David Copperfield or Oliver are. Not to say it isn’t good, because it is. I just thought I would like it more than I did.
Like most in the English speaking world, my introduction to Dickens was some amalgamation of pop culture adaptations of A Christmas Carol and a forced reading of Great Expectations at the barrel of a gun. (Why on earth do English teachers make students read Great Expectations? Because it's a "coming of age" story? Because they see themselves as Miss Havisham?)
For years, I've been operating under the assumption that I didn't like the man's works, and that his popularity must have been the product of 19th century boredom. (They didn't have video games back then, after all, what could possibly have occupied their attention? QED)
Like so many conclusions set upon in youth, I was very, very wrong.
Having swam through an ocean of modernism and out the unpleasant end of postmodern fiction, it's just so refreshing to find myself inhabiting a story told with earnestness and humor and that comes to a satisfying, though still pleasantly ambiguous, conclusion.
In the early part of the book, I was swept up by the Defarges and the Revolutionary fervor. Indeed, Madame Defarge is probably my favorite character in the novel. By the time I came upon the far far better thing, my sympathies had naturally swung in the other direction.
That might be the most impressive thing about the book, to me. That Dickens, as the inveterate Victorian Englishman, could portray the circumstances of the French Revolution so sympathetically while at the same time conveying the horrors and excesses of the Reign of Terror.
The notion that the "long ranks of the new oppressors who have risen on the destruction of the old" suffer the same fate before calm can be seen is much more realistic than it is romantic or perhaps monarchist.
But through Carton, the reader is left with the reminder that if humanity doesn't learn its lesson from this episode, the same horrors could be visited again.
"Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind."
In a world where the institutions of industry and public governance are seeking to tighten their grip on the global population even as those selfsame institutions crumble under the burden of a declining resource base, we would all do well to remember that lesson.
For years, I've been operating under the assumption that I didn't like the man's works, and that his popularity must have been the product of 19th century boredom. (They didn't have video games back then, after all, what could possibly have occupied their attention? QED)
Like so many conclusions set upon in youth, I was very, very wrong.
Having swam through an ocean of modernism and out the unpleasant end of postmodern fiction, it's just so refreshing to find myself inhabiting a story told with earnestness and humor and that comes to a satisfying, though still pleasantly ambiguous, conclusion.
In the early part of the book, I was swept up by the Defarges and the Revolutionary fervor. Indeed, Madame Defarge is probably my favorite character in the novel. By the time I came upon the far far better thing, my sympathies had naturally swung in the other direction.
That might be the most impressive thing about the book, to me. That Dickens, as the inveterate Victorian Englishman, could portray the circumstances of the French Revolution so sympathetically while at the same time conveying the horrors and excesses of the Reign of Terror.
The notion that the "long ranks of the new oppressors who have risen on the destruction of the old" suffer the same fate before calm can be seen is much more realistic than it is romantic or perhaps monarchist.
But through Carton, the reader is left with the reminder that if humanity doesn't learn its lesson from this episode, the same horrors could be visited again.
"Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind."
In a world where the institutions of industry and public governance are seeking to tighten their grip on the global population even as those selfsame institutions crumble under the burden of a declining resource base, we would all do well to remember that lesson.
**THIS REVIEW CONTAINS SPOILERS**
I’ve had a Kindle copy of this novel for years - probably acquired on a Kindle Daily Deal and then left for ‘the right time’ which never seemed to come. I have to admit that for me Dickens = Victorian, so the fact that the novel is set during the French Revolution made it less appealing. I don’t think I would have picked it up any time soon had it not been the ‘Surprise Dickens Read’ for the Hardcore Literature Bookclub.
I was sucked in pretty much from the beginning right from the famous opening lines ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’ - Dickens pulls you in right from the first page… there’s a reason why people still read him in 2024.
Dickens is often accused of writing two-dimensional characters but I think it’s fair to say that that Sydney Carton and Jarvis Lorry are as well-rounded characters as they get. Charles Darnay is, on the contrary, barely sketched-out and a little bit dull, but it makes sense when you realise that he’s not really this novel’s hero - he’s only a device to allow Sydney to shine.
This is definitely a novel I will read again - but not before I work my way through the rest of Dickens. It’s been so many years since I read some of his other novels, I think it’s time I go back to them and read them through the eyes of someone who has been on this earth for over half a century now.
Pro-tip: I partly read ATOTC on the Kindle and partly hard copy. I got Ben's (of the Hardcore Literature Bookclub) recommended Chapman & Hall facsimile edition by Fabbri Editori. Reading from the original typeface, looking at the original illustrations added so much to the experience and now I want all the other volumes.
I’ve had a Kindle copy of this novel for years - probably acquired on a Kindle Daily Deal and then left for ‘the right time’ which never seemed to come. I have to admit that for me Dickens = Victorian, so the fact that the novel is set during the French Revolution made it less appealing. I don’t think I would have picked it up any time soon had it not been the ‘Surprise Dickens Read’ for the Hardcore Literature Bookclub.
I was sucked in pretty much from the beginning right from the famous opening lines ‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times’ - Dickens pulls you in right from the first page… there’s a reason why people still read him in 2024.
Dickens is often accused of writing two-dimensional characters but I think it’s fair to say that that Sydney Carton and Jarvis Lorry are as well-rounded characters as they get. Charles Darnay is, on the contrary, barely sketched-out and a little bit dull, but it makes sense when you realise that he’s not really this novel’s hero - he’s only a device to allow Sydney to shine.
This is definitely a novel I will read again - but not before I work my way through the rest of Dickens. It’s been so many years since I read some of his other novels, I think it’s time I go back to them and read them through the eyes of someone who has been on this earth for over half a century now.
Pro-tip: I partly read ATOTC on the Kindle and partly hard copy. I got Ben's (of the Hardcore Literature Bookclub) recommended Chapman & Hall facsimile edition by Fabbri Editori. Reading from the original typeface, looking at the original illustrations added so much to the experience and now I want all the other volumes.
Joseph Conard Said:
“The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.”
I had to add that quote. This book is just to much.
The beginning is just too difficult to decipher at some places. Lucky for Charles Dickens that he is one of the most famous writers or many would have left the book due to its crazy difficult start.
The book is slow, slowly building, slow like the quiet before storm which Dickens unleashes by the end. Everything in this book builds up to something. Every character how useless and random they may seem play a certain part in this story.
In the beginning i felt that the characters were too puppet like, they felt more like porcelain dolls than real people. But slowly they start to feel more natural and more rooted. I think it was Dickens way of maturing them, inexperience is leaves us hollow with no real insight towards life, and experience comes from suffering and living. Tale of Two cities is ultimate book of sacrifice and what it can mean to love and set in most dreadful times when humanity in itself was questionable, and what it means to care.
"Crush humanity out of shape once more under simple hammers, and it will twist itself into same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious licence and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind."
This book ends with a man finding meaning to his life, a man finding meaning to his suffering, a man finding meaning in his friendship, a woman finding meaning in loyalty, a woman finding meaning to care, a man finding meaning of goodness. all for, "A life you Love."
“The belief in a supernatural source of evil is not necessary; men alone are quite capable of every wickedness.”
I had to add that quote. This book is just to much.
The beginning is just too difficult to decipher at some places. Lucky for Charles Dickens that he is one of the most famous writers or many would have left the book due to its crazy difficult start.
The book is slow, slowly building, slow like the quiet before storm which Dickens unleashes by the end. Everything in this book builds up to something. Every character how useless and random they may seem play a certain part in this story.
In the beginning i felt that the characters were too puppet like, they felt more like porcelain dolls than real people. But slowly they start to feel more natural and more rooted. I think it was Dickens way of maturing them, inexperience is leaves us hollow with no real insight towards life, and experience comes from suffering and living. Tale of Two cities is ultimate book of sacrifice and what it can mean to love and set in most dreadful times when humanity in itself was questionable, and what it means to care.
"Crush humanity out of shape once more under simple hammers, and it will twist itself into same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious licence and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind."
This book ends with a man finding meaning to his life, a man finding meaning to his suffering, a man finding meaning in his friendship, a woman finding meaning in loyalty, a woman finding meaning to care, a man finding meaning of goodness. all for, "A life you Love."
The final third was well worth it - some action and mystery, French Revolution history, characters making a place for themselves. But on the whole it's just way too long and rambling. It doesn't help that the names are a bit similar and if some time passes between readings, it's difficult to make sense of it.
***
"No, you wicked foreign woman; I am your match."
***
"It was remembered afterwards that when he bent down and touched her face with his lips, he murmured some words. The child, who was nearest to him, told them afterwards, and told her grandchildren when she was a handsome old lady, that she heard him say, "A life you love.”"
***
"No, you wicked foreign woman; I am your match."
***
"It was remembered afterwards that when he bent down and touched her face with his lips, he murmured some words. The child, who was nearest to him, told them afterwards, and told her grandchildren when she was a handsome old lady, that she heard him say, "A life you love.”"
It took me long enough, but at last I finished A Tale Of Two Cities.
I'm not sure what to say about this one, apart from the fact that it is Dickens at his most grandiose and at his finest. While Dickens typically tends to excel at pursuing smaller plots in overlooked corners, here he proves that he can do high-scale historical fiction on par with Les Mis or Monte Cristo.
I read (or sort of, kinda got the gist of an abridged version of) this story in a high school english class and everyone knows the first and last line of the novel, so I read it knowing where it would end up and slowly dreading the second half of the novel. I should not have feared so greatly because there are plenty of smaller elements that bolster the grand ending. The journey through the French Revolution is frightful and harrowing, but it remains interesting.
I cried in the last chapter of this book. It's too good, too full of evil and goodness triumphing over that senseless evil, to keep it at bay from the deepest depths of the heart. Read it.
I'm not sure what to say about this one, apart from the fact that it is Dickens at his most grandiose and at his finest. While Dickens typically tends to excel at pursuing smaller plots in overlooked corners, here he proves that he can do high-scale historical fiction on par with Les Mis or Monte Cristo.
I read (or sort of, kinda got the gist of an abridged version of) this story in a high school english class and everyone knows the first and last line of the novel, so I read it knowing where it would end up and slowly dreading the second half of the novel. I should not have feared so greatly because there are plenty of smaller elements that bolster the grand ending. The journey through the French Revolution is frightful and harrowing, but it remains interesting.
I cried in the last chapter of this book. It's too good, too full of evil and goodness triumphing over that senseless evil, to keep it at bay from the deepest depths of the heart. Read it.
So many of my students need to read this each year so I figured it was about time I read it. Definitely not a light summer read...which is when I tried to read it. Dickens is a master of language and intertwines history into this story seamlessly. Some interesting characters but definitely not an easy read!