A Tale of Two Cities (Penguin Classics)
by Charles Dickens
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Book Summary Information
Author: Charles DickensEditor: Richard Maxwell
Edition: Paperback
Audio: English (Unknown); English (Original Language); English (Published)
Published: 2003-05-27
ISBN: 0141439602
Number of pages: 544
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Product features:
- ISBN13: 9780141439600
- Condition: New
- Notes: BRAND NEW FROM PUBLISHER! 100% Satisfaction Guarantee. Tracking provided on most orders. Buy with Confidence! Millions of books sold!
Book Reviews of A Tale of Two Cities (Penguin Classics)
Book Review: "He is Recalled to Life..."
Summary: 5 Stars
Everyone knows the opening line of this novel: "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," but have you ever stopped to think about what it actually means? Putting a context on famous lines of literature is (for me at least) one of the best parts about reading classic novels, something that everyone should attempt to do at some stage during their lifetimes. "A Tale of Two Cities" definitely falls into that category, as it contains some of Dickens's best and most complex work. The title stems from the fact that it is London and Paris - rather than any individual character - which make up the central character of the novel, and the way in which these two cities guide the fates of their inhabitants.
This is certainly one of Charles Dickens's more unique novels, being one of only two of his works (the other being Barnaby Rudge (Penguin Classics)) that is best described as historical fiction. Incorporating events of the French Revolution such as the storming of the Bastille, the September massacres and the infamous Revolutionary tribunals that sent thousands to their deaths at the gulliotine, the novel is set against a wide sweep of history that provides the context for the intrigues of his characters. As Dickens himself articulated, characters are not as developed as they are in his other works, and are revealed through action rather than dialogue or exposition. Thus, "A Tale of Two Cities" is far from a character study, though Dickens provides several vivid scenes that give us insight into the players, whether it be the monotonous shoe-making of Doctor Manette, the lethargic leaning of Sydney Carton or the frantic knitting of Madame Defarge.
Pulling together a complex story of betrayal, intrigue, danger, hidden identities and past secrets, Dickens weaves his three protagonists (insofar as you could say this novel *has* protagonists) into a complicated tale set against the dangers of the French Revolution: Doctor Manette, a freed prisoner of the old aristocratic regime, Charles Darnay, an exiled French aristocrat who has denounced his heritage, and Sydney Carton, a brilliant English lawyer with a wastrel lifestyle (who is also the most vivid character in the novel). Each man becomes swept up in the events of the Revolution, each facing their inner demons and the secrets of the past that rise up to threaten their lives and the lives of their loved ones.
As is to be expected, at the centre of this maelstrom is a young woman, with whom all males are besotted. She is a typical Dickensian heroine: meek, virtuous, beautiful, tearful, and the object of everyone's dearest affections. As someone who has read several Dickens books, she is a somewhat frustrating character - is there really a difference between Lucie Manette and say, Rose of Oliver Twist (Penguin Classics) or Agnes of David Copperfield (Penguin Classics) or Biddy of Great Expectations (Penguin Classics)? Lucie is the paragon of Victorian expectations in a woman, the domestic goddess, the angel of the house, the damsel in distress (in fact, the most memorable aspect to her character is Dickens's mention of her talent at arranging furniture. I'm not kidding). Yes, she is a product of the time, and no doubt a reflection of Dickens's own longings (considering his own domestic lifestyle was far from ideal), but you can't help but wish that Dickens had taken the time to explain why Lucie had such an extraordinary effect on the men around her, rather than just tell us that such a thing was so.
Despite this, Dickens has a tightly plotted novel, which gradually reveals the intricate connections between each character as the story progresses. By any other author, these connections would seem melodramatic or too coincidental, in Dickens's hands, they take on the sense of an inevitable pattern taking shape, almost a fateful air. Juggling the intimate details of the inner turmoil relationships of the characters with the grander scale of the political upheaval, Dickens strikes the perfect balance between the two, personified in the cities themselves. London becomes the place of peace and security, but also dignified secrecy and disclosure (as Dickens famously ponders in the opening chapters, pointing out that we - as human beings - are all mysteries to each other), whereas Paris is swept up in violence, blood-lust and a witch hunt for enemies of the new order. Yet as Richard Maxwell points out in his enlightening introduction to this edition, the two cities exist together in the course of the novel - without Paris, Carton's melancholic and wasteful life was in vain; without London, there is no safe haven for the Darnay family to flee to.
Dickens also has room for his own commentary on the Revolution, and is careful in his portrayal of those involved, making none of them totally evil, nor completely virtueous. Everyone involved is painted in shades of grey, making the Revolution itself a complicated process of upheaval, cruelty, justice, madness, victory and tragedy. Just as the revolt of the people is perceived as justified against the tyranny of the aristocracy that abuses their position so appallingly, the madness that follows becomes just as horrifying as the rule of that which preceded it. As it stands, Dickens ends the novel by alluding to the execution of Madame Roland, who was said to have cried out just before her death: "O Liberty, what crimes are committed in thy name!" This is one of my favourite Dickens's novels, and leaves you with plenty to mull over long after you've finished reading.
Summary of A Tale of Two Cities (Penguin Classics)
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.
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