I have a hangover.
A Bleak House hangover to be precise and fearing it was still too soon to down another Dickens it was with reluctance I picked up A Tale of Two Cities from my book shelf. In its favour, it was a mere 300 or so pages, it is widely considered the 'best' of Dickens works and it starts with THAT opening line (I'm not going to quote it, you're just going to have to read it but it is one of my favourite opening paragraphs).
Following the lives of a group of people caught up in the French Revolution, the book is divided between 1770s Paris and London (that would be the two cities then)
As with most Dickens that I have read, poverty is a prevalent theme and essential in a book based around the Revolution however there were numerous themes running throughout the book from Dickens use of water to his contrasting between light and darkness, illustrated perfectly in Lucie Manette (the golden haired, compassionate, unfailingly loyal and kind daughter of Doctor Manette) and Madame Defarge (the back street wine keepers wife, always lurking in the shadows, seeing all but saying nothing whose true character is shockingly revealed in the final chapters).
My favourite theme however was that of being recalled to life - the title of one of the chapters it is supposedly the name Dickens wanted for the book. Doctor Manette was brought back from the dead via his release from imprisonment, physical bodies were removed from graves (or perhaps never put there in the first place), and of course the final twist allowing a character to cheat death.
I am trying not to give the ending away as why should a reader be familiar with the story beforehand? I didn't read the introduction deliberately for this purpose as too many times I find it spoils plot by presuming because the book is of a certain age the ending will be known. I loved the twists and this was the first Dickens that I have genuinely gasped out loud at.
It was witty:
"the owl made a noise with very little resemblance in it to the noise conventionally assigned to the owl by men-poets"
Dickens captured the times beautifully (read his description of Tellson's Bank, Chapter One of the Golden Thread), and his descriptions were sublime:
"When they took a young man into Tellson's London house, they hid him somewhere till he was old. They kept him in a dark place, like a cheese, until he had the full Tellson flavour and blue-mould upon him."
I have to confess I didn't always know what was going on (why was Sydney Carlton applying wet towels to his head?) but in general I loved it. It ended as brilliantly worded as it started (is there a book with a better first and last paragraph? It was the perfect hair of the dog becoming one, if not my favourite Dickens novel.
If you liked A Tale of Two Cities, try George III A Personal History by Christopher Hibbert. A non fiction account of this fascinating King who ruled right through the French Revolution, prompted the Declaration of Independence and was of course grandfather to the majestic Queen Victoria.
The link for a Tale of Two Cities takes you to Drake The Bookshop in Stockton. 2018 regional winner of the independent book shop of the year award at the British Book Awards.
A Bleak House hangover to be precise and fearing it was still too soon to down another Dickens it was with reluctance I picked up A Tale of Two Cities from my book shelf. In its favour, it was a mere 300 or so pages, it is widely considered the 'best' of Dickens works and it starts with THAT opening line (I'm not going to quote it, you're just going to have to read it but it is one of my favourite opening paragraphs).
Following the lives of a group of people caught up in the French Revolution, the book is divided between 1770s Paris and London (that would be the two cities then)
As with most Dickens that I have read, poverty is a prevalent theme and essential in a book based around the Revolution however there were numerous themes running throughout the book from Dickens use of water to his contrasting between light and darkness, illustrated perfectly in Lucie Manette (the golden haired, compassionate, unfailingly loyal and kind daughter of Doctor Manette) and Madame Defarge (the back street wine keepers wife, always lurking in the shadows, seeing all but saying nothing whose true character is shockingly revealed in the final chapters).
My favourite theme however was that of being recalled to life - the title of one of the chapters it is supposedly the name Dickens wanted for the book. Doctor Manette was brought back from the dead via his release from imprisonment, physical bodies were removed from graves (or perhaps never put there in the first place), and of course the final twist allowing a character to cheat death.
I am trying not to give the ending away as why should a reader be familiar with the story beforehand? I didn't read the introduction deliberately for this purpose as too many times I find it spoils plot by presuming because the book is of a certain age the ending will be known. I loved the twists and this was the first Dickens that I have genuinely gasped out loud at.
It was witty:
"the owl made a noise with very little resemblance in it to the noise conventionally assigned to the owl by men-poets"
Dickens captured the times beautifully (read his description of Tellson's Bank, Chapter One of the Golden Thread), and his descriptions were sublime:
"When they took a young man into Tellson's London house, they hid him somewhere till he was old. They kept him in a dark place, like a cheese, until he had the full Tellson flavour and blue-mould upon him."
I have to confess I didn't always know what was going on (why was Sydney Carlton applying wet towels to his head?) but in general I loved it. It ended as brilliantly worded as it started (is there a book with a better first and last paragraph? It was the perfect hair of the dog becoming one, if not my favourite Dickens novel.
If you liked A Tale of Two Cities, try George III A Personal History by Christopher Hibbert. A non fiction account of this fascinating King who ruled right through the French Revolution, prompted the Declaration of Independence and was of course grandfather to the majestic Queen Victoria.
The link for a Tale of Two Cities takes you to Drake The Bookshop in Stockton. 2018 regional winner of the independent book shop of the year award at the British Book Awards.
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