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: #18115 in Books
• Published on: 2007-01-25
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 368 pages

About the Author
Charles Dickens was born at Portsmouth on 7 February 1812. He received little formal education, but taught himself shorthand and became a reporter of parliamentary debates for the <I>Morning Chronicle</I>. He began to publish sketches in various periodicals, which were subsequently republished as Sketches by Boz. <I>The Pickwick Papers</I> were published in 1836–7 and after a slow start became a publishing phenomenon and Dickens's characters the centre of a popular cult. He began <I>Oliver Twist</I> in 1837, followed by <I>Nicholas Nickleby</I> (1838) and <I>The Old Curiosity Shop</I> (1840–41).After finishing <I>Barnaby Rudge</I> (1841) Dickens set off for America; he went full of enthusiasm for the young republic but, in spite of a triumphant reception, he returned disillusioned. His experiences are recorded in <I>American Notes</I> (1842). <I>Martin Chuzzlewit</I> (1843–4) did not repeat its predecessors' success but this was quickly redressed by the huge popularity of the Christmas Books, of which the first, <I>A Christmas Carol</I>, appeared in 1843. During 1844–6 Dickens travelled abroad and he began <I>Dombey and Son</I> while in Switzerland. This and <I>David Copperfield</I> (1849–50) were more serious in theme and more carefully planned than his early novels. In later works, such as <I>Bleak House</I> (1853) and <I>Little Dorrit</I> (1857), Dickens's social criticism became more radical and his comedy more savage. Charles Dickens died on 9 June 1870.

Customer Reviews

Turbulent times in London and Paris
The period from 1775 - the outbreak of the American Revolution - to 1789 - the storming of the Bastille - is the turbulent setting of this uncharacteristic Dickens novel. It is his only novel that lacks comic relief, is one of only two that are not set in nineteenth-century England and is also unusual in lacking a primary central character. London and Paris are the real protagonists in this tale, much as the cathedral was the 'hero' of Hugo's Notre Dame de Paris. Dickens was writing at a time of great turmoil in his personal life, having just separated from his wife, and no doubt the revolutionary theme was in tune with his mental state.

The result is a complex, involving plot with some of the best narrative writing to be found anywhere, and the recreation of revolutionary Paris is very convincing. The device of having two characters that look identical may seem hackneyed to modern readers, but it is here employed with greater plausibility than in Twain's Pudd'nhead Wilson or Collins's The Woman in White.

Dickens was inspired to write this story by reading Carlyle's newly published history of the French Revolution. Those events and their aftermath stood in relation to their time much as World Wars I and II do to ours, that is, fading from living memory into history, yet their legacy still very much with us. In many nineteenth-century novels, especially Russian and British works, you get a sense of unease among the aristocracy that the revolution will spread to their own back yard. In the case of Russia, of course, it eventually did.

I have often recommended A Tale of Two Cities as a good introduction to Dickens for younger readers. This is based on my own experiences, because it was a set book in my English Literature class when I was 15 and I remember thoroughly enjoying it. Yes, it is challenging, with its somewhat archaic language and its slow development, but you cannot progress to an enjoyment of great literature without being challenged.

Incredible!
In most of his novels, Charles Dickens sticks to one central theme - love. "A Tale of Two Cities" faithfully adheers to this principle, yet, as with every Dickens book, retains a certain individuality and freshness.

The story is perhaps a little slow to start, but that matters little. Not only is it difficult to stop reading the novel after a while, given the many little mysteries Dickens hints at throughout, but it is next to impossible not to be absorbed into the lives of the central characters and feel a certain closeness to them. It also notable that the devoted love displayed by so many of the novels cast does not seem at all implausable or out of place, despite the cold and uncaring backdrop used - the French Revolution

"A Tale Of Two Cities" leaves you feeling both thourghly happy and extremely sad, such is the skill with which Charles Dickens - beyond any doubt a master of his craft - tells this moving tale.

The Most Amazing Gesture
You can read this novel on so many levels. Historically, it is a novel based upo the time before and during the French revolution, as Dr. Manette is released from 19 years of incarceration for basically reporting the wicked crimes of some rich folk. Romantically it is a love story between Dr. manette's daughter, Lucy, and the son of the person who put Dr. manette is prison, Charles Darnay. But the story is so much more than that. It is a beautifully woven story wioth perhaps the strongest of all secondary characters in a Dickens novel - the leader of the uprising, madame Defarge. But this remains my favorite fictional novel of all time (alongside the Godfather, bizarrely enough) because of the character of Sydney Carlton. Never has a more gruesome and unlikeable character been drawn. Never has a person seemed less likely to be the hero. What he does at the end is just somehting that makes you think that the world isn't such a bad place. He makes the ultimate human sacrifice, but does it anonymously - he never tells people what he will do. It is a story of redemption, salvation and the courage of the human spirit. I have read this book six times in the last ten years, and each time I just turn the last page, read the last two sentences (perhaps the greatest in English literature)and just think - wow. This book really is that good. In a selfish kind ogf way, i envy those who haven't read this book yet because they are in for one of the greatest treats in literature - remember the name of Sydney Carlton!!!!