Scan barcode
A review by slettlune
A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
4.0
What's funny is that I initially read one quarter of this book and I couldn't for the life of me get into it at all, I thought it was a lot denser and duller, less colourful than Dickens other works -- and then a year later, lacking other literary options, I try again and am absolutely smitten.
There's less of Dickens' humor, dark or otherwise, but there's all his trademark earnestness. I think this might be his finest work when it comes to effective use of themes -- death and resurrection (what a wonderful phrase it is, "recalled to life"), how the whims of the mob are constantly likened to a churning sea (with fun little asides, like how the horrible Patriot prisonkeep looks bloated like a water-logged corpse).
It's also a very dynamic novel in how its sympathies change: The civil unrest is so passionately described that in the chapters before the storming of the Bastille Dickens really did make me fall in love with the DeFarges, he made me anticipate the great social explosion, how change seemed to be in the air (not unlike our current social climate). And then those noble ideals crash down again as the mob takes over, the DeFarges become two of Dickens' most despicable villains, and the drunken lovesick Mr. Carton becomes a greater hero than even the main character ever could be.
My favourite part must be after Dr. Manette has overcome his second mental health crisis, and Mr. Lorry, who's patiently looked after him through it, asks in the most empathetic way how he can better help him if it should happen again, what his triggers are, if there are things that would speed his recovery. I'm continually blown away by just how empathetic and modern in his sensibilities Dickens truly was.
There's less of Dickens' humor, dark or otherwise, but there's all his trademark earnestness. I think this might be his finest work when it comes to effective use of themes -- death and resurrection (what a wonderful phrase it is, "recalled to life"), how the whims of the mob are constantly likened to a churning sea (with fun little asides, like how the horrible Patriot prisonkeep looks bloated like a water-logged corpse).
It's also a very dynamic novel in how its sympathies change: The civil unrest is so passionately described that in the chapters before the storming of the Bastille Dickens really did make me fall in love with the DeFarges, he made me anticipate the great social explosion, how change seemed to be in the air (not unlike our current social climate). And then those noble ideals crash down again as the mob takes over, the DeFarges become two of Dickens' most despicable villains, and the drunken lovesick Mr. Carton becomes a greater hero than even the main character ever could be.
My favourite part must be after Dr. Manette has overcome his second mental health crisis, and Mr. Lorry, who's patiently looked after him through it, asks in the most empathetic way how he can better help him if it should happen again, what his triggers are, if there are things that would speed his recovery. I'm continually blown away by just how empathetic and modern in his sensibilities Dickens truly was.