by Charles Dickens
This is, so far, my favorite of Dickens' novels. (Save perhaps for A Christmas Carol, which is short and sweet.) I'm guessing you're wondering what the two cities are. What do you think?
I'll give you two hints: British lawyers and the French Revolution.
Forgive me, but I have generally found Mr. Dickens' books to be rather slow in plot and not always capable of holding my interest. (Although it is too a possibility that I possess the attention span of highly caffeinated chipmunk). Neither do I regard most of Dickens' characters as the brightest bulbs on the string.
Not so with this book.
This isn't to say that the plot moves along with a tenth the speed of, say, a James Patterson novel, but for Dickens I really can't complain. It's highly interesting, too, no classic orphan-boy theme here. The cast of characters includes a bunch of British lawyers, a prisoner and his daughter, some French aristocracy, and a whole lot of irritated Frenchmen and women. On the whole, they provide a more intriguing and entertaining plot than you could generally trust any number of British lawyers to do.
As the story opens, one of the lawyers accompanies a young lady to France to rescue her father from delirium, following his release from a long imprisonment. Here, the stage is already being set for a good revolution, as the aristocrats treat the commoners like dirt and the peasants mutter ominously amongst themselves. The young lady, Miss Manette, effectively calls her father back to life. Later, living in London, the two make the acquaintance of the handsome Charles Darnay, who does his best to put his mysterious past behind him. They also meet the talented but miserable, directionless Sydney Carton, who has a curious connection to Darnay. And with this cast of characters (did I mention the British lawyers?) Dickens leads us from peaceful London into war-torn, bloody Paris, and hopefully out again.
As well providing an excellent storyline, this book captures very well the savage passions surrounding the French Revolution. Someday, I hope that someone will explain to me why those people were so proud of their revolution. It seems to me that they made a terrible mess of it, and unfortunately I mean that in a literal sense. Nevertheless, I liked this book a lot. Read it.
for: adults and teens
Content rating: I'm gonna say 4/5. Plenty of violence pertaining to the revolution, but I don't recall anything else objectionable.
My enjoyment: 4/5
This is, so far, my favorite of Dickens' novels. (Save perhaps for A Christmas Carol, which is short and sweet.) I'm guessing you're wondering what the two cities are. What do you think?
I'll give you two hints: British lawyers and the French Revolution.
Forgive me, but I have generally found Mr. Dickens' books to be rather slow in plot and not always capable of holding my interest. (Although it is too a possibility that I possess the attention span of highly caffeinated chipmunk). Neither do I regard most of Dickens' characters as the brightest bulbs on the string.
Not so with this book.
This isn't to say that the plot moves along with a tenth the speed of, say, a James Patterson novel, but for Dickens I really can't complain. It's highly interesting, too, no classic orphan-boy theme here. The cast of characters includes a bunch of British lawyers, a prisoner and his daughter, some French aristocracy, and a whole lot of irritated Frenchmen and women. On the whole, they provide a more intriguing and entertaining plot than you could generally trust any number of British lawyers to do.
As the story opens, one of the lawyers accompanies a young lady to France to rescue her father from delirium, following his release from a long imprisonment. Here, the stage is already being set for a good revolution, as the aristocrats treat the commoners like dirt and the peasants mutter ominously amongst themselves. The young lady, Miss Manette, effectively calls her father back to life. Later, living in London, the two make the acquaintance of the handsome Charles Darnay, who does his best to put his mysterious past behind him. They also meet the talented but miserable, directionless Sydney Carton, who has a curious connection to Darnay. And with this cast of characters (did I mention the British lawyers?) Dickens leads us from peaceful London into war-torn, bloody Paris, and hopefully out again.
As well providing an excellent storyline, this book captures very well the savage passions surrounding the French Revolution. Someday, I hope that someone will explain to me why those people were so proud of their revolution. It seems to me that they made a terrible mess of it, and unfortunately I mean that in a literal sense. Nevertheless, I liked this book a lot. Read it.
for: adults and teens
Content rating: I'm gonna say 4/5. Plenty of violence pertaining to the revolution, but I don't recall anything else objectionable.
My enjoyment: 4/5
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