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emotional
hopeful
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
No
My first foray into literature about the revolution, and I think it will be hard to beat. It damns and sympathizes with the revolution all in one breath, and gives it the credit due as the most alive time in history (for most), while not saying away from its frenzied bloodlust.
The characters are excellently written - Sydney Carton is one of my new favorite characters in literature, as is Madame Defarge. Mr. Lorry is a fantastic foil to the passion of those two, with the English sensibility turned to 10. I do think that Dickens does what most writers of the 18th and 19th centuries do, which is to exalt some characters to pure virtue - it works sometimes better than others, and in this case Dr. Manette and Lucy are both infallible. It creates good tension with the forces outside of their control, but also makes them feel just like set pieces, although set pieces around which a fantastic story are told.
Carton's sacrifice at the end was so beautiful, especially against his arm length proclamation of love earlier in the book. His ride to the guillotine in the arms of, to the reader, an absolute stranger, was one of my favorite bits of fiction I've ever read. So impactful, cried real hard.
Only taking away quarter star, due to the Manette's (Lucy especially) feeling 1 dimensional. Contrasting with the other characters, she just felt like a character who was an object for love, who was interesting only in that she's sad and beautiful.
4.75 stars for me - a book that has lasted in memory for all this time for a reason.
Beware of furiously knitting women.
The characters are excellently written - Sydney Carton is one of my new favorite characters in literature, as is Madame Defarge. Mr. Lorry is a fantastic foil to the passion of those two, with the English sensibility turned to 10. I do think that Dickens does what most writers of the 18th and 19th centuries do, which is to exalt some characters to pure virtue - it works sometimes better than others, and in this case Dr. Manette and Lucy are both infallible. It creates good tension with the forces outside of their control, but also makes them feel just like set pieces, although set pieces around which a fantastic story are told.
Only taking away quarter star, due to the Manette's (Lucy especially) feeling 1 dimensional. Contrasting with the other characters, she just felt like a character who was an object for love, who was interesting only in that she's sad and beautiful.
4.75 stars for me - a book that has lasted in memory for all this time for a reason.
Beware of furiously knitting women.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Child death, Death, Violence
Absolutely insufferable. Dear Lord.
Full of flat and annoying characters, dry and longwinded paragraphs drone on for pages about absolutely nothing, horrible pacing, pointless conflicts, coupled with a love triangle that really adds nothing to the plot and makes no sense when the whole point is the characters being caught up in the middle of the French Revolution. It's clear Dickens was more concerned with his writing and making the story sound good when reading aloud than making an interesting and coherent story with any level of depth.
It's probably a classic for a reason, but honestlythat one fucking kid that got ran over by a cart to show the cruelty of the ruling class probably had a way nicer fucking time than I did trying to read this shit. Ugh. Waste of time.
Full of flat and annoying characters, dry and longwinded paragraphs drone on for pages about absolutely nothing, horrible pacing, pointless conflicts, coupled with a love triangle that really adds nothing to the plot and makes no sense when the whole point is the characters being caught up in the middle of the French Revolution. It's clear Dickens was more concerned with his writing and making the story sound good when reading aloud than making an interesting and coherent story with any level of depth.
It's probably a classic for a reason, but honestly
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Violence, Murder
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Domestic abuse, Misogyny, Death of parent
challenging
dark
informative
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:
Complicated
The opening and closing lines of this novel are just incredible, so is the plot. The prose was bit hard to get through, and I didn’t connect much with the characters. Also, I felt that the book could have been 1/3 shorter. There were several ghastly scenes that made me audibly gasp and I learned a lot about the French Revolution. Overall, incredible book, just a little difficult to read.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Violence, Blood
Moderate: Child death, Confinement, Death, Gore, Gun violence
Minor: Alcohol
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
Dickens proves again his masterful command of the English language. His world of Two Cities is humorous, blunt, treacherous, emotional, but full of hope and faith in humanity. I genuinely tear up whenever I think of this ending, and the love it inspires in any kind of reader. A magnum opus.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Violence
Moderate: Confinement
Minor: Child death
emotional
funny
informative
sad
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Content Warnings
Graphic: Animal death, Violence, Blood, Murder
Moderate: Child death
Minor: Rape
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I never that I would cry at the end of a book I had to read for English class, but here we are! This book has firmly cemented itself as my favorite book by Dickens. Such an interesting story, with a beautiful group of people who love each other so dearly at the center of it.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Classism
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Blood, Alcohol, Classism
Moderate: Alcoholism, Child death, Mental illness, Slavery, Violence
Minor: Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Dementia, Grief, Death of parent, Murder
challenging
emotional
hopeful
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Plot
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Alcoholism, Child death, Death, Mental illness, Violence, Blood, Murder, Classism
Minor: Death of parent
challenging
dark
emotional
sad
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
No
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Child death, Death, Injury/Injury detail, Classism
challenging
emotional
mysterious
reflective
sad
slow-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
2 stars for the first half; 3.5 stars for the second half.
Content Warnings
Moderate: Addiction, Alcoholism, Confinement, Death, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Toxic relationship, Violence, Blood, Medical content, Alcohol, Classism
Minor: Child death, Cursing, Gore, Gun violence, Rape, Kidnapping, Death of parent, Pregnancy, Injury/Injury detail