A Tale Of Two Cities
by Charles DickensReviews
meera73 said:
"It was the best of Dickens"Throughout the novel, the contrasts between the various characters is beautifully projected. On the one hand you have the almost perfect Darnay, and on the other, Carton. you have Lucy, who is all love, and Madame Defarge, who shows a uniquely hard disposition. You have the heartless nobles, the poor who suffer; and then by a twist of fate - heartless poor and the trapped and helpless noblemen.
All know how bloody the Revolution turned. This book particularly places these developments in true light with no fuzzing over.
Amazon.com:
They fled to London, seeking safety, and found each other--Dr. Manette, falsely imprisoned for decades; his daughter, Lucie, whose stunning beauty was matched by her loyalty and grace; and Charles Darnay, who abandoned a royal title he hated to risk being called a traitor in France, a spy in England. Together, their love touched the hearts of even stodgy banker Mr. Lorry and cynical, jaded lawyer Sydney Carton...But in Paris, the fires of revolution exploded in uncontrollable fury. The noble goals of freedom fighters became the crazed bloodbath called the Reign of Terror. And when three exiles returned home on an errand of mercy, they were trapped in a nightmare of mock trials and made rage. Once in Paris, nothing could save Darnay, Lucie, or Manette...
Except a miracle.
nto62 (Corona, CA USA) said:
19th-century literature was less concerned with plausibility than literature of a later day. Thus, as characters are unmasked and their secret connections laid bare, the 21st-century reader may find the plot too convenient. A Tale of Two Cities is no different. Should one possess the capacity to look beyond this, however, one would find that Dickens has masterfully captured the bloodlust of the French Revolution from the both the bourgeoisie and plebeian views.One family must face the barbarous, slaughtering revolutionary mob to save a former aristocrat. The villains are supremely villainous, the hero supremely heroic. Dickens captures the squalor of backstreet Paris, the murderous obsession of its citizens, and the utter helplessness of it's erstwhile elite. It is all tied in a bundle too convenient, but suspension of belief is no hardship given the strength of the story told. A Tale of Two Cities is at one time a history lesson and a powerful literary achievement. It is, as such, required reading and easily merits 5 stars.
First Sentence:
IT WAS the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way-in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.Where to get the book
Amazon
Written by: Charles Dickens
15 December 2005
