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saruh_12 's review for:
A Tale of Two Cities
by Charles Dickens
I forgot how funny Charles Dickens is (in the...ahem, seventeen year gap since I was forced to read Great Expectations in high school). I didn't really forget how much concentration is required to read his prose, though I maybe overestimated how much better I'd be at it now than when I was a kid.
I can't say I remember much in the way of specifics re: my last Dickens experience, but I found the realization of this story was very good. From, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of time," good old Charles lets you know that he's going to hit you with some juxtaposition. You get the unfair imprisonment of Alexandre Manette under one regime and the unfair imprisonment of Charles under another. English trial and French trial. Charles and Sidney, two men who look similar enough to be twins with vastly different lives. Charles should be "bad," considering his upbringing, but is good, though with a penchant for attracting legal trouble. Sidney is "bad" for unknown reasons despite a good upbringing, though everyone still manages to be fond of him.
While the plot drags at times (honestly, I thought I might never get over the hill with the mail at the beginning), it really picks up in the second half, and the ending is, of course, magnificent.
I'm giving three stars for the want of more character depth and development. It's a modern convention, I know, but I am a modern reader clicking imaginary internet stars, so I can do what I want.
I can't say I remember much in the way of specifics re: my last Dickens experience, but I found the realization of this story was very good. From, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of time," good old Charles lets you know that he's going to hit you with some juxtaposition. You get the unfair imprisonment of Alexandre Manette under one regime and the unfair imprisonment of Charles under another. English trial and French trial. Charles and Sidney, two men who look similar enough to be twins with vastly different lives. Charles should be "bad," considering his upbringing, but is good, though with a penchant for attracting legal trouble. Sidney is "bad" for unknown reasons despite a good upbringing, though everyone still manages to be fond of him.
While the plot drags at times (honestly, I thought I might never get over the hill with the mail at the beginning), it really picks up in the second half, and the ending is, of course, magnificent.
I'm giving three stars for the want of more character depth and development. It's a modern convention, I know, but I am a modern reader clicking imaginary internet stars, so I can do what I want.