A Tale of Two Cities by Charles DickensMy review
rating: 5 of 5 stars
Great, great, and great. For me, reading this book by choice and at my leisure was almost some sort of repentance for having watched a "Tale of Two Cities" cartoon in high school, rather than read it as assigned.
If there is any criticism of this book (as I'm sure there is), it would be a criticism that could be levied at most Dickens works; that many of his heroes are two virtuous and pure, and villains too treacherous. That said, Dickens masterfully uses the backdrop of the French Revolution to shift readers' sympathies from one side to the other over the course of the book; making a statement about perspective and shades of grey in any seemingly cut and dry political/historical event. In doing this, he does manage to add a layer of depth to many of the characters that start out somewhat caricaturish; and along the way, the development of the enigmatic Sidney Carton becomes quite compelling/
On top this profoundly historic setting - the real treat for me was to enjoy Dickens characteristic wry humor and skewering of the foibles of the human condition; in particular, mob mentality. Word by word, line by line, as I made my way through this book, I became more and more spellbound. I was in the hands of a master.
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7 comments:
I really want to read this book. Perhaps this spring.
It's a goodie, I think, as you gather from my post.
I didn't watch the cartoon - I read the whole thing...hmmm...and liked it a lot.
I've read it a couple times since though not since college.
I don't doubt that you read the book (twice, even). But, even so, you're not off the hook that easy, Green Shirt. I seem to remember you in the room with me when I watched that video.
I was not alone, in any event. And who else would have been with me for that?
One doesn't achieve green shirt status without going at least over and above the usual dodging of assignments.
You can take your ship of fools around the world with you.
Some of it comes down to me just being bad at shirking homework, but part of it was having a family that encouraged reading, watching old movies etc. I had a leg up in seeing that some of this stuff might be better than the average teenager expected. Old = stupid was the default response for many.
And how the Hylton worm has turned.
Yup - but, again, there you were, sitting in a corner, green shirt and all, watching along. Just as you were sitting there for at least 49 of the of 57 Star Trek episodes Gibbs & I watched over that one insane Christmas break. Your precious clan couldn't rescue you once you climbed aboard the Ship of Fools.
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