Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #22311 in Books
• Published on: 2003-01-30
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 544 pages

Synopsis
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.

Customer Reviews

Had its moments but not for me
I found this a very difficult read.
Perhaps it was the subject matter, I must admit to never having had an interest in the french revolution and its consequences, but I genuinely struggled to get through this. Indeed, I find it hard to comprehend why this is more highly regarded than his other historical novel the excellent Barnaby Rudge.
That said there is no denying that both the opening paragraph and closing sentence deserve their place in the upper echelons of literature!

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.

The most unforgettable opening and closing sentences ever found in a book!
I will never, the rest of my life forget these two sentences. "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness...." and at closing "It is a far, far, better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known."

Wow, this is not your usual Dickens. No quirky characters with strange names and laugh out loud moments, just a darn good story -- the story of two cities, London and Paris. It is difficult to put the plot into words, but when the book begins you are in London at the time of the American revolution and spies (or suspected spies) abound, and the story eventually switches to France prior to and during the French revolution.

Dickens does a marvelous job (as always) of building his story one step at a time and slowly peeling back the layers one at a time. This is not a put down and pick it up a week later kind of a book, it is very intense and complicated and you have to pay close attention. I was just floored at how he sucked me in with his descriptions of the mobs, terror and the madness of the revolution leading you to a nail biting finish. I admit to holding my breath during those last few pages!

Highly recommended, and well worth the time to discover (or rediscover) an old classic.