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3.72 AVERAGE
3.72 AVERAGE
Wat een boek, niet grappig zoals ik stiekem hoopte, maar toch “indrukwekkend”. De grap over kikkerspringen en het “spikey” haar van een servant zal altijd bij me blijven. Het was een boek om neer te leggen jammer genoeg, maar werd steeds beter en zorgde ervoor dat ik verder wilde lezen.
My first watershed moment — the book that got me hooked on reading and what kickstarted my love for character-driven stories!
adventurous
challenging
emotional
mysterious
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
3.75 — i think that the story this book tells is really interesting, as was the way in which it swaps between england/france at this specific moment in time with the french revolution really seeming, at times, like the true “main character.” even with that understanding, though, the first ~2/3 did really drag on for me for lengthy periods of time — in fairness, the final act was difficult to put down.
i almost wish i had read this as assigned reading, because while i didn’t take notes/annotate i’m now wishing that i’d done so. maybe i’ll revisit it in the future in a more intricate manner.
i almost wish i had read this as assigned reading, because while i didn’t take notes/annotate i’m now wishing that i’d done so. maybe i’ll revisit it in the future in a more intricate manner.
challenging
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
For 300 pages I hated reading this, but in the 3rd act it all clicked into place for me. A tale of two cities comes together brilliantly in the end. For much of this book I thought I was a Dickens hater, but upon finishing I'm not so sure that's true - I'll be reading more in the future to find out.
adventurous
challenging
emotional
reflective
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
N/A
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
mysterious
reflective
tense
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Spoiler warnings
I’m warning you
I hate this book I hate it so much . I was supposed to read this for school, usually I don’t have problems reading books for school but this book was something else. First of all book the 1st was the hardest to read, it was so long boring even if it was good to the plot and I did like the idea of the chapters the writing was too much and the chapters would stray away from the main idea. It prepared the readers for the shithole this book is.
Now for the book two was extremely slow. Although I found it easier to read than book 1 it was still as bad as it. Book two lacked any true depth. Book 3 was the only good part of each 3 books, book 3 showed some true story.
The main problem I had with this was the super obvious symbolism. Now dickens has only two types of writing. He could write “and James sat on the chair” and that would refer to that one story in that British newspaper no one ever read which would symbolise desperation or he would write “vengeance was looking for Madame defarge” now that’s not the actual words but in the last chapter when Vengeance was looking for Madame defarge made it so obvious what he was trying to do and it irked me.
I also didn’t feel for any of the characters. We learned a lot of the characters background and their struggles but dickens wrote in a way that did not make it anything interesting and you could not feel for the characters. When darnay got prisoned I did not care or at all. When Sydney got killed it made me feel something but not something I would usually feel when someone dies.
Now the love story part of the book was really annoying too. There was no chemistry between the characters. The characters which I thought had chemistry was miss pross and lorry. Charles darnay and Lucies love just felt as if you saw someone and was like yea that persons good but then you suddenly get married to them just because your pretty and that person is pretty. Or maybe that’s just a me problem because I’m all about the slow burn.
Sydney carton kind of annoyed me sometimes. He gave me pick me boy energy. But I think he’s the only real character in the book with a cool personality. Plus I COULD DEFINATELY FIX HIM RAHHHH, When he came back in book 3 my heart was so happy.i liked him but not enough to care about his death but enough for me to LIke him.
Overall this book was horrible I’ve read better books would have never read it if it wasn’t for school.
I’m warning you
I hate this book I hate it so much . I was supposed to read this for school, usually I don’t have problems reading books for school but this book was something else. First of all book the 1st was the hardest to read, it was so long boring even if it was good to the plot and I did like the idea of the chapters the writing was too much and the chapters would stray away from the main idea. It prepared the readers for the shithole this book is.
Now for the book two was extremely slow. Although I found it easier to read than book 1 it was still as bad as it. Book two lacked any true depth. Book 3 was the only good part of each 3 books, book 3 showed some true story.
The main problem I had with this was the super obvious symbolism. Now dickens has only two types of writing. He could write “and James sat on the chair” and that would refer to that one story in that British newspaper no one ever read which would symbolise desperation or he would write “vengeance was looking for Madame defarge” now that’s not the actual words but in the last chapter when Vengeance was looking for Madame defarge made it so obvious what he was trying to do and it irked me.
I also didn’t feel for any of the characters. We learned a lot of the characters background and their struggles but dickens wrote in a way that did not make it anything interesting and you could not feel for the characters. When darnay got prisoned I did not care or at all. When Sydney got killed it made me feel something but not something I would usually feel when someone dies.
Now the love story part of the book was really annoying too. There was no chemistry between the characters. The characters which I thought had chemistry was miss pross and lorry. Charles darnay and Lucies love just felt as if you saw someone and was like yea that persons good but then you suddenly get married to them just because your pretty and that person is pretty. Or maybe that’s just a me problem because I’m all about the slow burn.
Sydney carton kind of annoyed me sometimes. He gave me pick me boy energy. But I think he’s the only real character in the book with a cool personality. Plus I COULD DEFINATELY FIX HIM RAHHHH, When he came back in book 3 my heart was so happy.i liked him but not enough to care about his death but enough for me to LIke him.
Overall this book was horrible I’ve read better books would have never read it if it wasn’t for school.
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
The 2nd novel by Dickens that I’ve read. I blamed it on my own incompetence for all complicated sentences that I encountered. For once I understood them, I was awestruck by how vivid Dickens’ mere proses were to my mind. The opening scene was the most dramatic, most splendid, and the grandiosest of every book I’ve ever read. Even if the ending was hinted and became obvious once Sydney Carton opened himself to Lucie Manette, Dickens managed to captivate me in his storytelling and cinematographic writing until the end. Oh, and how delightful were the satires and metaphors! I hope I would have enough time to read all other works of Dickens before I die.
Favorite character: Sydney Carton—because who could not? He will always stay at the top among most memorable characters on my list.
Favorite character: Sydney Carton—because who could not? He will always stay at the top among most memorable characters on my list.
When I was in my 20s, I discovered the classics. I devoured Jane Austin, the Brontes, Thomas Hardy and many others. Except Dickens. I tried a few, but I just couldn’t get into Dickens.
Now, some 25 years later, I’ve started reading classics again. I loved Anna Karenina. I was enthralled by The Count of Monte Cristo. I decided to give Dickens another shot, so I picked up A Tale of Two Cities.
I don’t like Dickens. At least, I don’t like this Dickens.
At first, the writing style annoyed me. I was losing the story in the words. I was tempted to give up, but was determined to finish it. Eventually, I began to appreciate the writing. The imagery came alive. I found the third section much more readable. Readable, but not enjoyable.
The main problem I had was with Lucie. Much of the book revolves around people’s love for Lucie, but I really couldn’t figure out why. She was beautiful and she fainted a lot. She’s a completely undeveloped character. And Sydney Carton? He shows up at the beginning, long enough to establish that he’s the spitting image of Charles Darnay. Then in the middle he proclaims his love for Lucie. Which leads us to the end. It didn’t feel real to me – it felt like a plot device.
I wanted to like it, but it just didn’t work for me.
Now, some 25 years later, I’ve started reading classics again. I loved Anna Karenina. I was enthralled by The Count of Monte Cristo. I decided to give Dickens another shot, so I picked up A Tale of Two Cities.
I don’t like Dickens. At least, I don’t like this Dickens.
At first, the writing style annoyed me. I was losing the story in the words. I was tempted to give up, but was determined to finish it. Eventually, I began to appreciate the writing. The imagery came alive. I found the third section much more readable. Readable, but not enjoyable.
The main problem I had was with Lucie. Much of the book revolves around people’s love for Lucie, but I really couldn’t figure out why. She was beautiful and she fainted a lot. She’s a completely undeveloped character. And Sydney Carton? He shows up at the beginning, long enough to establish that he’s the spitting image of Charles Darnay. Then in the middle he proclaims his love for Lucie. Which leads us to the end. It didn’t feel real to me – it felt like a plot device.
I wanted to like it, but it just didn’t work for me.