Product Description

Dr Manette has been confined for 18 years in the Bastille because he found out the Marquis de Evremonde and his brother had ill treated a girl and mortally wounded a young boy. He has just been released and brought to England.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #1761987 in Books
• Published on: 2000-03-30
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 1
• Binding: Paperback
• 528 pages

About the Author
Andrew Sanders is a lecturer in English at Birkbeck College, London. He is Honorary Editor of The Dickensian, and editor of Barry Lyndon by William Makepeace Thackerary, and Sylvia's Lovers by Mrs Gaskell, both in The World's Classics series.

Customer Reviews

A Stunning Read
I had to read this for a course on Dickens at University and I found it an absolutely wonderful read. The start may seem slow but Dickens inevitably and necessarily takes time to paint his characters in intricate detail. The story progresses with Dickens' inimitable style and the ending moved me to tears. A must for any Dickens fan but perhaps not an ideal first read for a new-comer to Dickens (I would suggest Nicholas Nickleby for that).

Depth required to set up brilliant ending
A few reviews here have said the majority of the book is needlessly detailled and long and drawn out. I whole heartedly disagree with them.

Yes, the first two thirds of the book are detailled and cover the events and characters thoroughly but this is essential in setting up the magnificent finale. Without the in-depth back story, the ending would lose all of its power. Granted, while reading this detail you do not realise it is so important (hence maybe the feelings of indifference towards this part of the book) but without it you would not be so invested in the characters. You would not care about what happens to them and would not understand why the events of the past impact so heavily on what is happening to them. I'm not saying I did not require patience to get to the end, i did, but it was thoroughly worth it, and Dickens masterful writing keeps you engaged all the way through, especially in his description of the condition of France during the Revolution, which was a real eye-opener.

This was the first Dickens book I had read and will most definitely be reading every other novel he wrote! Highly recommended.

A book for all to enjoy
I just read 'A Tale of Two Cities' in my high school gifted English class. I must say that I loved it! Not only did Dickens capture the "truth" of the French Revolution, but also the culture of the time. How Lucie faints(which "ladies" of the time did), the horrible judicial conditions, etc. It was also interesting that Dickens separated the book into 3 different parts. Some authors do that to symbolize past, present, and future. Also the fact that most of the characters have a twin(Carton and Darnay, Lucie and her mother, etc). The many references to religion and the bible[Jerry Cruncher compared to Jesus Christ(JC)-not a coincidence]. I do agree though that the beginning of the story was a bit slow, but so was the beginning of the revolution. After the first few chapters of the book, the story started to become clear:)