Product Description

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.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #17812 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

About the Author
Charles Dickens (1812-70) was a political reporter and journalist whose popularity was established by the phenomenally successful Pickwick Papers (1836-7). His novels captured and held the public imagination over a period of more than thirty years. Richard Maxwell teaches in the Comparative Literature & English departments at Yale.

Customer Reviews

'Orderly Chaos' in A Tale of Two Cities
"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" so Dickens says, but 'A Tale of Two Cities' is certainly the best of books. Moving between the public life and the personal life, Dicken's once again presents us with more unforgettable characters of which he seems to have an endless supply. The touching story of Dr Manette and his daughter Lucille is starkly juxtaposed against the horror of the French Revolution allowing Dickens to project his view on the society of the time. At times comic, at other times moving, 'A Tale Two Cities', as the title suggests, is full of contrasts and opposing ideas: the calm security of London with the terrifying uncertainty of revolutionary Paris; the two suitors Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton; and those of the aristocracy with those of the revolution, through which Dickens conveys a sense of 'orderly chaos'. This novel not only deserves to be recognised not only as one of Dickens' finest works, but also as one of the finest by any author; it is a grand yet intimate portrait of human suffering and redemption that repays many readings.

Awesome
In my opinion Dickens is the master craftsman of English literature. The ultimate storyteller, he didn't just write these tales he, as we know, acted the parts as well. Dickens has the exceptional ability to conjure up a feast of colourful characters, served on platters of sublime emotional intensity and gorged on by generations of readers. A Tale of Two Cities is just such a banquet. Its opening sentence being one of the most well known in English literature which, for me, conveys what it means to be human: striving for a life of peaceful security and happiness, but occasionally tainted by uncontrollable forces of darkness. And Dicken's historical context (the butchery and appalling vengeance of the French Revolution) acts as a dramatic contrast to his themes of love, friendship and loyalty. Parisian chaos and the implied serenity of London provide a captivating medium for the story's principle protagonists and their interweaving lives: the undying love of a daughter for a lost father; Ancien Regime injustice and abuse; the ever present danger of arrest and incarceration; and, ultimately, heroic self sacrifice. The `twin town' setting provides a remarkable mix of urban texture, filtering through the narrative and providing the reader with moments of humour, humanity and respite (Tellson's Bank, Mr Cruncher, a quite corner in Soho) from the hatred of the mob and the menace of the Guillotine. As with the opening the last sentence is sure to remain in the mind of the reader for a long time.

A Great Work of Art
This is great art at its best, offering a profoundly moving spectacle even though you may disagree with the specific contents of the work. The slow, logical build-up brings you to the climax with such finality that it could not have ended otherwise, and Dickens' prose delivers unforgettable images. Never was the life of wastrel better portrayed, nor his final attempt to redeem himself. It seems indeed that the theme of the novel is redemption or justice, for Dickens portrays the horrors of The Terror as the unavoidable cleansing bloodbath French society had to go through in order to make good its former inequities. Here one must disagree, of course. Nevertheless, A Tale of Two Cities is a timeless piece of great art, whatever your own opinion on that matter may be.