Name: A Tale of Two Cities
Rating: 3.825487012987013 (616 reviews)
ISBN: 9780141196909

Charles Dickens

Richard Maxwell

Presents Dickens' classic tale of love, courage, and sacrifice set against the cataclysmic events of the French Revolution.

A Tale of Two Cities

Josephina Lucke

France, less favoured on the whole as to matters spiritual than her sister of the shield and trident, rolled with exceeding smoothness down hill, making paper money and spending it. Under the guidance of her Christian pastors, she entertained herself, besides, with such humane achievements as sentencing a youth to have his hands cut off, his tongue torn out with pincers, and his body burned alive, because he had not kneeled down in the rain to do honour to a dirty procession of monks which passed within his view, at a distance of some fifty or sixty yards. It is likely enough that, rooted in the woods of France and Norway, there were growing trees, when that sufferer was put to death, already marked by the Woodman, Fate, to come down and be sawn into boards, to make a certain movable framework with a sack and a knife in it, terrible in history. 

Alec Karlen

“…as I draw closer and closer to the end, I travel in the circle, nearer and nearer to the beginning. It seems to be one of the kind smoothings and preparings of the way. My heart is touched now, by many remembrances that had long fallen asleep, of my pretty young mother (and I so old!), and by many associations of the days when what we call the world was not so real with me, and my faults were not confirmed in me.”

Paul Baggaley

I downloaded and read this Dickens classic on a whim, and am very glad I did. The first few chapters are a little slow going, but if you persevere until the story shifts to Paris for the first time you will be rewarded. The story moves inexorably on towards it's fittingly amazing climax. Along the way, seemingly irrelevant diversions end up being important. Not a character that is wasted or underdeveloped. Deservedly one of the greatest English novels.

Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities portrays a world on fire, split between Paris and London during the brutal and bloody events of the French Revolution. After eighteen years as a political prisoner in the Bastille the aging Dr Manette is finally released and reunited with his daughter in England. There, two very different men, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat, and Sydney Carton, a disreputable but brilliant English lawyer, become enmeshed through their love for Lucie Manette. From the tranquil lanes of London, they are all drawn against their will to the vengeful, bloodstained streets of Paris at the height of the Reign of Terror and soon fall under the lethal shadow of La Guillotine. This edition uses the text as it appeared in its first serial publication in 1859 to convey the full scope of Dickens's vision, and includes the original illustrations by H.K. Browne ('Phiz'). Richard Maxwell's introduction discusses the intricate interweaving of epic drama with personal tragedy.i

I honestly had no idea what this book would be about when I picked it up, so I was really in for a surprise. 

The beginning was really slow, but it picked up eventually and then I was really hooked. The plot was great, I thought it was really interesting and I was not expecting that little plot twist at all, really elevated the experience for me.

The characters were done so well, I really liked all of them and I was rooting hard for all of them to get what they wanted, even if both sides were opposed. I understood where they were coming from (Madame Defarge apologist mayhaps??). I loved their relationships with one another. The themes of devotion, sacrifice, loyalty and vengeance were really well explored in this. Also the setting for this being the French Revolution was really interesting.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, truly a suitable opening line for a book with such a bittersweet ending.

bel 

I honestly had no idea what this book would be about when I picked it up, so I was really in for a surprise. 

The beginning was really slow, but it picked up eventually and then I was really hooked. The plot was great, I thought it was really interesting and I was not expecting that little plot twist at all, really elevated the experience for me.

The characters were done so well, I really liked all of them and I was rooting hard for all of them to get what they wanted, even if both sides were opposed. I understood where they were coming from (Madame Defarge apologist mayhaps??). I loved their relationships with one another. The themes of devotion, sacrifice, loyalty and vengeance were really well explored in this. Also the setting for this being the French Revolution was really interesting.

“It was the best of times, it was the worst of times”, truly a suitable opening line for a book with such a bittersweet ending.

talk ab getting caught up in the moment! yowch!

elissa

C. J. Daley 

I have read more than one Dickens’ novel and liked those much more so than this. I have also read many other novels of the period and had better or similar luck. However, I found this so longwinded as to not be the slightest bit enjoyable. At points the dialogue was so long and drab that I genuinely forgot who was speaking it in the first place. I didn’t particularly enjoy these characters and I felt that I had to fight to absorb every single word. This sounds overly harsh, but as I’ve said, I have liked other works of his much more...

The audio I chose was also not an A-grade caliber unfortunately and that did not help.

The grim tale of the people who were caught up in the wave of violence and murder which marked the French Revolution

Vilandra

Once you get into the meat of the story, you are riveted. The twists can make you laugh or cry or tear your hair out in frustration at the characters. You really become invested in the story, and the suspense is palpable.

Jamieson

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times. Such a memorable opening that perfectly summarises this book. 

A Tale of Two Cities has been on my to read list for a long time, and it took me some time to get through. Overall, however, I thoroughly enjoyed this book

It contains a hosts of characters interesting and quirky, but all with their own faults and stories. 

The ending is satisfying, and one which finally gives meaning to Sydney Carton, who was the character that intrigued me most. 

I think I'm going to have to read this book again, now it's been done once. I think a reread would be good. I loved this book!!

Isabela H 

Ok, one of my favorite classics EVER

Dickens' masterful way of weaving the colorful lives of these characters struggling to survive and come out on top during a tumultuous time in France's history is simply AMAZING. 

I read this book for school but would so read it again for my own enjoyment simply because of how well it is written and how riveting the story is. The writing itself is beautiful and captivating. This is probably my favorite Dickens novel.

Callie Anna

This book is hard to explain. I liked it, especially the end, but it sure was hard getting there. You should read this book, but take your time with it. If you skim through it, as I kind of did, you WILL forget who certain people are, which will greatly confuse you later on! The symbolism is amazing, so don't let anyone tell you that you are "reading too much into it" (no pun intended)! I almost cried at the end!

Mary Rose Luksha

I am a firm believer that the book chooses you, and you shouldn't read a book before you're ready. My theory has been further proved with this book. This was my third attempt reading it. The other two times I couldn't get past page 40. But this time, I was looking at my bookshelf, and something just clicked and out of the blue I said, I'm going to read A Tale of Two Cities.

And it was phenomenal. This was my first Dickens novel, and I really enjoyed it. The other two times I didn't notice what a sarcastic bugger Dickens is, but this time I was laughing out loud. The observations he made over 200 years ago are still true today; that's why Dickens' novels are timeless. Even though the story was old, there were a lot of modern themes. A man being persecuted for his background; trying to do the right thing. And the most modern part of the book, and why it's not traditional, is that innocence does not win out. Innocence is shown to be useless and ignorant. Sidney Carton is the ultimate anti-hero, though he finally finds redemption - but he does it through lies and underhandedness.

The only qualm I had, and apparently a lot of people had it as well, is Dickens' portrayal of women. Lucy made me want to just gag. Miss Pross was an insane caricature probably meant to be funny, but by today's standard, just sad. And Madame Desarte is the only one who had promise of being interesting, but Dickens' managed to make her static as well.

In short, Dickens' had no clue about women, but he could write the hell out of men. It's a good read, and well-deserving of being called 'classic.'

Meredith Boster

This book took me SO LONG to read, but it was worth it. My neighbor gave me this book for Valentines Day because it was her favorite and she hoped I would enjoy it, saying, "You probably won't read this for 5 years." I then made it my goal to read this book this year, and boy was it worth it. In the beginning, it is a little hard to get started and a little difficult to understand what is happening, but I'm glad I kept reading because this was one of the best books I've ever read. I love Charles Dickens and I am DEFINITELY going to be reading this again.

Skye

It was difficult to get through the first half. After that it became much more interesting and quite a bit easier to follow.

hope

Ojalá saber hacer reiews para hacer una decente para este libro porque honestamente la merece pero COMO NO SÉ simplemente diré que estoy enamorada es BUENÍSIMO INCREÍBLE BRILLANTE!!!!!!!!!!!! Tenía las expectativas altas por culpa de los wessa nadie está sorprendido pero lo empecé y no entendía nada y yo por favor que está pasando pero me gustaba mucho como estaba escrito así que dije venga palante y seguí y ya fui entendiendo todo poco a poco y honestamente................ es bestial este libro es que estoy todavía en shock de lo mucho que me ha gustado le doy personalmente un 1000000
y solo diré una cosa más: wessa rights!!!!!

A Tale of Two Cities

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