It may not mean much to a lot of you, but I adore classic English literature. I’ve read most of the biggies: Vanity Fair, Pride & Prejudice, Oliver Twist (and most of the other novels written by the authors of these books), etc. Since the supply of the old stuff is finite, the pickings are getting thin.
Therefore, I am extremely jazzed at age 43 to be reading A TALE OF TWO CITIES for the first time. I don’t know how I missed it all these years. I’m halfway through, and taking it slow to prolong the experience. The style of this novel is much more modern in feel than other Dickens classics I’ve read; it’s more mature and stylized. In addition, he preserves and even perfects that ability to paint a scene so vividly that it sticks with you for the rest of your life.
It is an astounding book. For anyone else who hasn’t gotten around to this classic, what are you waiting for?
I had to read Two Cities for school several years ago. It took me ages to get past the first chapter. I kept on falling asleep and waking up with notebook imprint on my face. What can I say, it was summer… anyway.
I didn’t care for the first half, really. But I’m not such a fan of Dickens. I find him too formula. Descriptions are great, but the plotline itself is very contrived. (I won’t go into details, but when you finish it you might see what I mean.) For classics, I like Candide and the philosophers. I just started reading Another Country, and that’s a good one, too.
If you’re enjoying it, though, happy reading.
the literary andygirl
Oh Puglvr, this is my most favorite Dickens book! I love A Tale of Two Cities. I had to read it in 8th grade lit and finished it in two days, it was that awesome. The ending is so absolutely breathtaking, the plot incredible, the characters real and haunting.
I love the part where the barrel of wine breaks and the poor devour it in the streets, and the ending…I love how all the time passes, how the different strings of the plot (Sidney and Lucy’s husband’s resemblence, Mme. Defarge, the joker who writes on the walls in blood) come together at the very end. I love the part where Dicken’s describes the hunger that was everywhere.
God, wait till you get to the end! I still re-read it occassionally just to remind myself what flawless writing really is.
Have fun! Make sure you post what you think of the ending!!
I have never read A Tale of Two Cities. I enlisted in the Air Force right out of high school, then went to a technical college when I got out, so I never even had to read literature for school (except that high school crap they make you read, the only one I liked reading in high school was To Kill a Mockingbird.) Since I missed out on a formal education, I often read classics on my own. (I Claudius, Beowulf, The Iliad, etc). I read so much now, I’ve gotten to where I have trouble falling asleep unless a read a chapter or two first, so I am constantly planning out what the next book will be when I finish my current book.
Right now I am reading a biography of Peter the Great by Robert K. Massie. (highly recommend it too, if you like biographies) I’ve never read Dickens, but this thread has directed me to which book I’ll be reading next. Thanks.
I must confess that, although I was an English major for two semesters, I have not yet read Moby Dick. It just seemed like a book to avoid, like A Catcher in the Rye. (Before anybody writes to say how Catcher is the “greatest book ever written” and how I MUST read it, please remember that I am no longer a teenager and would view the probably-insufferable Mr Caufield’s misadventures through the jaundiced eye of a parent. He sounded annoying enough when I was a teenager.)
I have enjoyed some of Melville’s short stories, though, and I’ve worked with “Bartleby the Scrivener.” (I might have BEEN him at one time.) So a copy of Moby Dick sits next to my monitor, taunting me.
Tale of Two Cities is my favorite Dickens! It just gives me chills to think of living through that. I won’t spoil the ending, but God, did I CRY! I hope you enjoy it as much as I did.
Hmm, I remember reading A Tale of Two Cities, and I remember rather liking it, but I don’t remember what it was about… Maybe I ought to put it on my reading list (right there under about 5,000 other books… My idea of Heaven starts with a chance to catch up on my reading). Of course, my favorite Dickens will always be A Christmas Carol, but that’s mostly because Ebeneezer was the first part I ever acted, way back in seventh grade.
Yes, A Tale of Two Cities is a must-read. And don’t miss the video A Sale of Two Titties. Sorry, couldn’t resist.
And give Catcher In The Rye a chance…it may
not be “the greatest blah, blah, blah…” but it is a fun read.
Call me Fishsmell, but Moby Dick bored the crap out of me. Then again, I was young, so maybe I’ll give it another shot.
Peace,
TN*hippie
“A Classic: a book that everyone praises but nobody has read.” Mark Twain