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A Tale of Two Cities (Signet classics)
by Charles Dickens (Afterword: Edgar Johnson)
Product Group: Book
Publisher: Signet Classics (1960-02-01)
ISBN: 0451524411
EAN: 9780451524416
Dewey Decimal #: 823.8
Binding/Media: Paperback - 314 pages
SKU: P0089-0451524411
Condition: Used: Acceptable
Comments: Tight spine, clean pages, minor edgewear.
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Editorial Reviews
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Product Description
It's time to rediscover the wonderful books we all cherish. First published in 1859, A Tale of Two Cities is one of Dickens's most famous and popular novels. This stirring tale, set in the late eighteenth century against the backdrop of the French Revolution, is a novel for all generations. Filled with adventure and love, revolution and terror, it transports the reader to a time of political upheaval and solutions by guillotine.
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Customer Reviews
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A good novel if you can understand what is going on
Rating  (4)
Date: 2010-04-25
This novel is pretty historically accurate on its portrayal of the revolution and plays out well. The bad thing is the language is kind of outdated, as well as hard to follow at parts. I like the storyline, and it is pretty intense, as well as shows how people were punished for going against the revolution. The history is interesting and makes this book worth reading, as well as the well developed characters and dramatic story.
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A True Classic
Rating  (5)
Date: 2010-04-20
As a high school curriculum, my teacher required my class to read A Tale of Two Cities. This book caught my attention starting from the opening sentence "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" and kept me equally engaged till the last sentence "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." Although, in the beginning, I found the book's language challenging that required me to read some passages more than once to draw essence, but after few chapters I fell in love with the book. This book contains multiple heart throbbing events that left me awestruck, such as the tragic peasants' sufferings, fierce mob scenes; brutality at guillotine etc. Dickens infuses the story with a variety of emotions, ranging from love to hatred, sacrifice to selfishness, kindness to brutality, nurturing to killing, joy to tragedy, generosity to greed, as well as romance and suspense. Dickens fully makes use of several literary devices, such as allusions and imageries to embellish the script. Not only that I enjoyed the book's fictitious story, but also the book enhanced my knowledge of the history related to French Revolution and England. In the book, Dickens exhibits the social and political condition of 18th century England and France; the story of A Tale of Two Cities takes place in two major cities of these countries, London and Paris. In particular, Sydney Carton, the most complex and dynamic character of the novel, touched me the most. He emerges from a weak and sensual character, initially described as a "man of good abilities and good emotions, incapable of their directed exercise, incapable of his own help and his own happiness, sensible of the blight on him, and resigning himself to let it eat him away" to a powerful character capable of making the ultimate sacrifice by giving up his life for the woman he loves. Dickens' illustration of Carton's death scene; his recital of the words "I am the Resurrection and the Life, saith the Lord: he that believeth in me, though he were dead, yet shall he live: and whosoever liveth and believeth in me shall never die, "and the words "Twenty-three" impact me the most, causing me to shed few tears. The book possesses many other attractions such as duality of characters. Specifically, the duality of Lucie Manette and Madame Defarge permeates throughout the novel. Dickens portrays Lucie as a nurturing character who "ever busily [winds] the golden thread that bound them all together, weaving the service of her happy influence through the tissue of all their lives." In contrast, Dickens describes Madame Defarge as a "ruthless woman, a strong and fearless character, of shrewd sense" who "was absolutely without pity." A Tale of Two Cities provides both education and entertainment; I highly recommend this book to any avid reader who seeks a book filled with humor, emotions, romance, and tragedy.
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A Freshman Take on "A Tale of Two Cities"
Rating (4)
Date: 2010-04-18
Charles Dickens' "A Tale of Two Cities" is a novel filled with luscious detail, deep plot and intriguing characters. The plot centers around Lucie Manette and her love Charles Darnay, who attempt to avoid the wrath of the French Revolution. Initially, it seems that there are too many characters and the plot is complex as well, but as the novel progresses the readers learns how everything is actually connected. All of the peasants help depict the wretched conditions of France before and during the French Revolution era, and Madame Defarge represents how truly vicious they are. Sydney Carton is one of the most interesting and dynamic characters in the novel, changing from an alcohol induced good for nothing to a heroic, Christ-like figure. Dickens tone towards the French Revolution makes it an interesting read, as at first he seems to support the French citizens and their cause, yet later shows them to be bloodthirsty animals. All of the themes he expands upon really make the reader think of human nature and how ruthless a person can be, in addition to how loving and caring a person can be. His use of imagery and various literary devices aid the novel in being memorable and fascinating. Even though Dickens writing style is rather wordy, it is a truly action-filled and exciting novel, as long as you take the time to truly read it and not just skim through; do that and you will be lost within the first chapter.
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Operatic
Rating (5)
Date: 2010-02-08
Reading this novel is about a good as an unforgettable night at the opera.
What's curious is that, other than the French Revolution, the novel focused on the crisis in which Charles Darney was involved. But Charles only made a few sporadic appearances throughout the novel.
What Dickens excelled at was that he put a face on the French Revolution. Often times when you read "war novels," the novel starts off great, but when it heads into the war section, the narrative almost stops and the peoples' lives that attracted you to the novel in the first place cease to be mentioned for 200 pages or so. That didn't happen here, thank goodness. Dickens weaved the story, of people we care about, in and out of the trials and tribulations of the French Revolution. Not only did I find it easier to deal with the gory aspects of war, but the historic information stuck with me; like how if you were caught mourning the death of prisoners who had been beheaded under the guillotine, then you too could be imprisoned and later beheaded.
Madame Defarge is a great villain.
On of the highlights is the showdown between Madame Defarge and Ms. Pross. "The vigorous tenacity of love, always so much stronger than hate." Great line!
You do need to be patient with the prose. It can be convoluted. I had to turn to SparksNotes for a few chapters, just to make sure I understood what was happening.
The novel is very rich, and from what I hear, his other novels get even better.
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Great Kindle Crossover
Rating (5)
Date: 2009-10-15
Unlike other novels that have been ported over to Kindle, this version has everything a Kindle reader requires to fully enjoy the story: a table of contents that is easy to navigate, footnotes that help explain the customs of 18th century France and England, and great formatting no matter what size font the reader chooses to use. Nice job.
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