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    A Tale of Two Cities
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    A Tale of Two Cities
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    A Tale of Two Cities
    Ebook577 pages8 hours

    A Tale of Two Cities

    By Charles Dickens

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    About this ebook

    The classic opening line "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." is familiar to most everyone, but not everyone has braved Dickens' masterpiece A Tale of Two Cities. If you haven't read it: the first part of the novel, while gorgeously written, has a slow-paced development of both plot and characters. But for the patient modern reader who gets to the second part there is the big payoff, which is a gorgeous climax with loads of riots and beheadings and such.

    The Two Cities involved are Paris and London in the period leading up to, and during, the French Revolution - and featured are the French peasantry, who struggle under the brutal authority of the aristocracy. Dickens creates a rich tapestry of protagonists, primarily Charles Darnay, a French former-aristocrat who falls victim to the retribution of the revolutionaries despite being a good guy, and Sydney Carton, a drunk British lawyer who's in love with Darnay's wife, Lucie Manette.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherSheba Blake Publishing
    Release dateJul 23, 2014
    ISBN9781312326774
    Author

    Charles Dickens

    Charles Dickens was born in 1812 and grew up in poverty. This experience influenced ‘Oliver Twist’, the second of his fourteen major novels, which first appeared in 1837. When he died in 1870, he was buried in Poets’ Corner in Westminster Abbey as an indication of his huge popularity as a novelist, which endures to this day.

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    Reviews for A Tale of Two Cities

    4/5

    6,643 ratings192 reviews

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    • 4/5
      It was my first Dickens, it was not my last. It was summer in Chicago and I was surrounded by lovely albeit unruly children. Oh dear, it was a struggle at times, watching three kids while my wife and their mother were in the city. Still I finished the novel over a long afternoon without drugging my charges.

      It is a story of sacrifice, maybe of redemption. I felt for everyone, zealots and drunkards alike. The concluding scaffold scene engendered tears, it has to be admitted. Is there a better novel about the French Revolution, its aspirations and its contradictions?
    • 5/5
      Suuuuuper glad I read this as an adult. I'm sure I appreciated it a lot more than I would have at 15. Not sure if it was reading via audiobook (Dickens' writing is incredibly lyrical), but I really enjoyed this book.
    • 2/5
      over rated
    • 2/5
      The French Revolution takes an interest in a family of expatriates.2/4 (Indifferent).There are some good characters (and also some terrible ones who exist purely to be noble or evil). About half the book is spent dwelling on Big Important Historical Tragedy in a way that guarantees the book is regarded as a Big Important Historical Work. A Tale of Two Cities is to Charles Dickens what Schindler's List is to Steven Spielberg.
    • 5/5
      It's been so long since I read this intense love story that much of it seemed new to me when I read it again. That's not bad. I am always attracted to Dickens' dialogue. His characters feel what they say and they distinctly say what they mean. Sydney Carton, of course, is the protagonist, he does the 18th century version of singing the blues and he's a laid back superhero. I don't mean to disdain his performance; Carton perfects his moral life in a bravely spectacular way, and the escape of Evremonde and his family really is one of literature's most unheralded anticlimaxes.For my money, Miss Pross is the heroine, a classic Dickens supporting character, so haughty, so tenderly solicitous of her Miss Lucie, so contentedly secondary, with such genius of physical and moral courage. Madame Defarge never had a chance when she went up against that pride of the English nation.A reading of Dickens is a swirl of characters you'd really like to meet.Read more on my blog: Barley Literate by Rick
    • 5/5
      A Tale of Two Cities with David Copperfield & Great Expectations acclaimed by some as one of the finest of Dickens many superb novels, however, other critics have been much less positive: It really does depend on the reader's viewpoint of Dicken's blend of historical-fiction with very well known events & and cities. It is a story that evokes the thrilling excitement and ghastly butchery of the French Revolution & all the social emotional explosion surrounding it told through the life, love and experiences of French Dr. Manette in Paris, & his daughter Lucie in London. Every student or lover of literature should have read it.
    • 4/5
      A family is caught up in the drama and terror of the French Revolution.Often I can summarize the plot of a classic, even one I have not read, because it's such a touchstone in the general culture. Not so this book. I knew the first line and the last line, but not much about what happened in between (just, blah, blah, blah, French Revolution, blah, blah, blah...). Now, having read it, I still find it a little difficult to summarize. It's a great story, full of love and sacrifice, high ideals and Revolutionary fervor. As with all of the classics I've tackled this year, I'm glad I read it -- and (which is not the case with all the classics I read this year), I'm keeping it on my shelf against the possibility of future rereadings.
    • 3/5
      A Tale of Cities. Charles Dickens. Open Road. I haven’t read any Dickens since high school and I enjoyed this as it was quite a change from the books I usually read even for book club. I enjoyed the love story and the description of life in France before and after the revolutions. Faults on both sides, friends, and Dickens showed them. I was only familiar with the first and last paragraphs of the book before I read it. And those are still the best lines. If you like to sink into Dickens, this is a good one.
    • 4/5
      This is book number 22 of the Kings Treasuries of Literature Series. Beside the text of the story itself, the book contains commentaries on: The structure of the story, the historical basis of the story, a memoir of Dickens and some notes and suggestions for student readers. As with all of these little books, it is a pleasure to hold, to see on your shelf and to read.
    • 3/5
      Probably nothing I can say that hasn't been said before: a socially-conscious novel from Dickens full of gorgeous description and startling passages of anger against the inhumanity of man. Particularly interesting to read in 2016, as the Arab world recovers from several years of revolution and the English-speaking Western world faces some surprising outsider politicians.

      Coming along in 1859, after Dickens had spent a couple of years primarily enjoying the theatre lifestyle and working for the betterment of sick children, it seems as if CD felt the need to write a historical novel to cleanse some personal creative desires. His 12th novel (and 20th important work), Two Cities doesn't seem to follow logically from the works that precede it. Unlike most of Dickens' novels, the characters here are particularly wooden (Lucie Manette just seems to faint a lot, really, and Dr. Manette and Charles exist primarily for things to happen to them) and the plot rather straightforward. I've seen it likened to Barnaby Rudge but I somewhat disagree; that book still had a lot of typical Dickensian aspects to it, even if it was ultimately a "historical novel" like this one. Still, it's a quick and entertaining read, with plenty of alternating sentimentalism and anger. The two most redeeming characters - Madame Defarge and Miss Pross - make it all worthwhile. How can anyone not adore a woman so English she refuses to cross the Channel? And Sydney Carton's final internal monologue is every bit the equal of that powerful first paragraph. Sydney is not as developed a character as those who came before, but this seems in part because he is seen through other people's eyes so often. Nevertheless, the desire to start him off so unlikable and gradually create his portrait is admirable.

      The relatively few bits of humour in the novel are less successful, because Cruncher lacks the human elements of previous grotesques but also lacks the purely "fantastic" elements that allow us to separate our sense of morals from our respect for their self-preservation. Miss Pross is good for a few laughs, admittedly! Still, for the kind of work it is, A Tale of Two Cities is a dashing good read nonetheless. Now on to the final black spot in my knowledge of his books: Our Mutual Friend!
    • 4/5
      I read this one on a plane on the way to England and actually enjoyed it. It isn't my favorite of all the Dickens I've read but it was valuable in and of itself. Everything really leads up to the last moments, which are insanely devastating in so many ways but touching. It didn't bring tears to my eyes - it didn't touch me on a deeply emotional level - but it was good. Definitely recommend.
    • 5/5
      It was the best of times, it was the worse of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness… Thus starts one of my favorite books. This could have been written today, for it is so appropriate to our times! And who doesn’t know the first words of Dicken’s “Tale of Two Cities”? Well, actually I had never read it—English not being my mother tongue—and am very glad I do now. What a marvelous book. (I actually read about it in Mrs. Kantor’s excellent “Politically Incorrect Guide to English and American Literature.”) This is the story of love’s redeeming qualities: it purifies the soul, it saves the lost—the best of times; it is also the story of the horrors of the French Revolution and its many excesses and crimes—the worse of times… A tale of love and hate, of the duality of human soul, but also the endurance of good. The movies I watched based upon this book could not perfectly recreate the beauty of its very touching end: one must read it to understand its meaning in the author's own words. Dickens was certainly a Christian man and everywhere we find mentions of God; but I am inclined to believe this will not be an impediment to the agnostic or the atheist readers. Definitely a must read for its literary quality, its lessons and the unmistakable Dickensonian style.
    • 2/5
      Documentair zeker waardevol, maar als roman echt mislukt.Geen doorlopende verhaallijn: de stukjes lijken nergens naar toe te voeren.Stilistisch: soms opflakkerend, maar over het algemeen flauw; overdreven toepassing van de spiegelingstechniek (Londen-Parijs, Darnay-Carton)nogal doorzichtig-sociaal gedreven
    • 2/5
      All I can say about this book is "I got through it"! Without the spark notes, I would not have understood a single thing here, but I have officially read a classic because I wanted to, not because I was forced to.
    • 5/5
      Still one of my favorites and maybe the best last line of any book ever.
    • 4/5
      I started this book for two main reasons. First, I read Great Expectations last year for the second time and love it. Second, I teach A.P. European History and we study the French Revolution in detail each year. Since this book is the classic novel of the time period, it only makes sense that I read it. Now that I am finished, I am truly glad that I chose to read the book. Dickens does a fantastic job of bringing out the emotions and chaos of Paris during the Reign of Terror. From the blind hatred and violence of the Defarges and their fellow "citizens", to the love and heartache of the Manette and Darnay families, I felt immersed and connected with all the characters involved. It is easy to read the history books and learn all about the Revolution, but living the story through the mind of Dickens has given me a real appreciation of what it was like.
    • 4/5
      My favorite Dickens book!
    • 4/5
      A fascinating story about the parallels between Paris and London during the French revolution particularly with respect to class differences. An eminently quotable book.
    • 4/5
      The core challenge when constructing a historical novel is that, for every building block used--plot, character, theme--the author has to find a balance for the modern story he's trying to tell and the historical setting he's chosen for it. To crowd out story in order to promote history (which seems to be what people who complain about historical inaccuracy in movies generally want) leads to a very boring novel; conversely, to ignore history for the sake of story leads to writing so frustratingly atrocious it's often impossible to finish the book.And I've never seen those two concerns balanced better than Dickens manages in A Tale of Two Cities. The characters are utterly products of their time--the scion of ancien regime French nobility who seeks moderate reform but, when he's unable to achieve it, ends up a victim of the very classes of society he was trying to help; the middle-class physician who must piece himself back together after being shattered by two decades false imprisonment in the Bastille; the cunning plotter who masterminds the French Revolution from her husband's wineshop--but their aspirations and fears caught the imaginations of Dickens's readers in 1859 just as they do for readers today. And the events of their lives, which Dickens builds into a story of love, martyrdom, resurrection and--famously--of redemption through self-sacrifice (again, all powerful themes to people of any age, but particularly well-suited for a story of the French Revolution), are woven seamlessly into the events of the 1780s and 90s. This is a story that could not have been told of 1859--or of our own day--but that nevertheless speaks powerfully to peoples of all times.On top of which, in Madame Defarge you have one of the most sinister villains I've ever read, her creepiness only compounded when we learn her family history and realise that we can't actually condemn her actions.
    • 5/5
      My first Dickens - read because of the excellent B & W film with Dirk Bogard, and as a required book for 'O' Level! Madame Defarge remains one of the truly frightening characters of all time, and Sydney Carton is entirely believable. "It is a far, far better thing . . ." remains as one of the most memorable lines in literature.
    • 2/5
      Such a disappointment. A shallow story with so many "flat" characters who didn't sustain my interest at all. One of the few books in my life that I've stopped reading halfway because I just couldn't be bothered.
    • 4/5
      Liked it! The ending had me turning pages until I was done. I found the end notes extremely distracting to the flow of reading,a necessary evil tho. Classic Dickens.
    • 5/5
      Wordy, yes. It is Dickens, after all! It has been very worthwhile reading and listening to these classic books. Not only does it put the quotable phrases we all know into their proper place, but it gives us the entire quote. Best of time and worst of times: yes, but so much more. And It is a far far better thing I do than I have ever done....I'm not sure I ever realized that was also from "A Tale..."Superbly narrated by Simon Vance.
    • 4/5
      I was quite surprised at how much I liked this novel, but have written so many reviews today, I'm spent. Suffice to say that I particularly liked the ending.
    • 4/5
      A number of fine points of the "Tale" were brought up by the reviewers - and I do agree with most of them - but for me (even though I am in no way an expert on Dickens), this historical novel just didn't seem one of the author's best. There was an engaging plot with an admirable, noble sacrifice at the end, the haunting description of French Revolution, with a lot of figurative language involved, fight between good and evil, with some of the evil even on the Revolution's side (represented by Theresa Defarge character), but the Revolution details were much too gory; and though most of the characters were quite vivid, Lucie Manette was a bit too perfect, angel-like, and melodramatic even for Dickens's times; and even Charles Darnay didn't have much of a personality, except for the fact that he denounced his inheritance. Maybe because it was just one of the two historical fiction works that Dickens produced, and it wasn't his forte, the narrative didn't flow as well as, say, in "David Copperfield". But here is my favorite quote from the book: " ...every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other.... every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret; ... every room in every one of them encloses its own secret; .... every beating heart in hundreds of thousands of breasts there, is, in some of its imaginings, a secret to the heart nearest it!! "
    • 5/5
      It is nearly twenty years since I previously read this novel of the French Revolution and I had forgotten how wonderful it is. It is more accessible for the general reader than many other Dickens novels, with a dramatic narrative full of colour and incident, no significant sub-plots and a much less extensive cast of minor characters than probably any other full length Dickens novel. The author's voice rings out strongly against all forms of oppression and tyranny, whether of the ancien regime, whose representatives such as the Marquis St Evremonde treat the peasantry with less consideration than they do their dogs and horses; or of the revolutionary authorities and their local representatives such as Mme Therese Defarge, with their implacable thirst for vengeance and retribution against all members of aristocratic families, regardless of those members' individual guilt and innocence for acts of oppression. It is a warning against endless cycles of bloodfeuds and vengeance, and the tendency of many political and social movements in extremis to view and judge people en masse, and not as living, breathing individuals. As powerful today as it was when first published in 1859. Wonderful stuff.
    • 4/5
      A drunkard loser lawyer is pulled into the drama of the Darnay family, who foolishly returned to post-revolutionary France. Sydney Carton defends them as best he can, but the wheels of revolution and vengeance will not be stopped for long.
      My second favorite Dickens novel.
    • 5/5
      Hugely moving. Frequently hilarious. Agape.I wish there was a higher rating I could give. Fabulous, worthy, wonderful book.
    • 3/5
      Dickens places his own spin on the French Revolution in this classic novel. He captures much of the spirit of the time, especially the opposing classes of nobles and peasants, and revisits the themes which dominate so many of his novels - oppression, violence, and injustice. While A Tale of Two Cities does make a good story - I was impressed by the final sacrifice of Sydney Carton - I could not really get into the story.
    • 5/5
      "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
      And thus begins what I think is Dickens' best work. Turns of phrases that capture a period of time as though you were there. At his finest, Dickens doesn't tell stories but imprints them on your mind.