A Tale of Two Cities [Large Format Edition] Paperback – October 27, 2013

Why did I wait until I was 58 years old to read this!? Wow! Of course, I already knew the iconic closing line of the book. But I was not prepared for the impact it would have on me when I read in the context of the whole story. The journey through the story is captivating and immerses the reader into the period of the French Revolution. One cannot help but be drawn to and invested in the characters. Dickens' writing is masterful. Don't wait until you're 58 years old to read this classic!

Read this so long ago that I decided to read again. Knowing the story, having seen so many performances, I wondered how it would resonate with me now. Can’t believe how much I enjoyed it again. As I read, I remembered it, but I didn’t find it boring or old. Dickens is fantastic! Highly recommended, especially if you have not actually read the book. This was a Kindle ebook.

a beautiful depiction of substitutionary atonement , Sydney Carlton accepts the penalty for Charles Darnny, , though Sydney is innocent.

See above. The book was selected by one of the members of one of my book groups. I’d read it in school more than 50 years ago. It was a different experience reading it again.

In Today's Fast Paced World, We Like to Take Shortcuts. Please Don't Take a Shortcut. Read the Book. The Movie Does Not Do Justice to the Storyline. The Only Way to Impart the Feelings of This Book, is to Read This Book. If Charles Dickens Were a Playwright, I'm Sure He Would have Written Some Magnificent Plays, But His Works Were Meant to be Read Not Visualized on the Screen. A Great Deal is Lost. It Likens Me Back to When I Saw The Exorcist. Everyone Said how Horrifying the Movie Was and How it Would Change Your Entire Belief System. I Went and Saw it and Nothing. I Didn't Even Think it Was That Good of a Movie, not Even One I'd Want to Watch Twice. A Few Years Later, at a Friends Urging I Read the Book. A Damned Good Book. Goose Bumps Ran Up Me. The Book Was Completely Different From the Movie. The Book Made Sense. The Movie Was Hollywood. Lesson Learned. Always Read the Book First. You Might Avoid Some Unnecessary Disappointment.A Tale of Two Cities Was Written By English Author Charles Dickens (1812-1870. Dickens Received Most of the Background on the French Revolution From his Friend Thomas Carlyle. This is a Long Book, But Because it is So Gripping, it Does Hold Your Attention For Long Periods of Time. You'll Find Yourself Not Wanting To Put It Down. The Characters and Lives are All Intertwined and it Adds a Depth and Richness to the Book. This is a Historical Fiction that Spans nearly 20 Years From the Time Preceding and During the French Revolution. The Two Cities to Speak Of, Are London and Paris.The Main Storyline Characters Involve:Miss Lucie Manette (Main Character) "Spoiler Alert" (She Falls in Love and Marries Charles Darney)Doctor Alexandre Manette (Lucie's Father) "Spoiler Alert" "She Thought He Was Dead. Nope!!! He Was In Prison For 18 Years"Miss Pross (Lucie's Governess)Mr. Lorry (Dr. Manette’s Associate)Mr. Ernest Defarge (Dr. Manette's Former Servant)Mr. Charles Darney (Kidnapped French Aristocrat) "Spoiler Alert" "Abducted and Stashed on a Ship-Later Rescued, Charged With Murder, Marries Lucie Mannette."Mr. Stryver and Mr. Carton (Barristers Representing Charles Darney) "Spoiler Alert" "They Worked Tirelessly Trying To Get Charles Acquitted of Murder-And They Did"France Seems to Be Pretty Cold Blooded in this Era of Time, but I Guess History Backs That Up. There are a Lot of Hardships and Tragedies in the Book, but Triumphs Too. A Tale of Two Cities Has it's Share of Twists and Turns, but Sometimes Goes on More Than it Needs To. Still, This is a Must Read and Rightly So. It's One of the Classics and One of the Best Read and Most loved Books of All Time. I'm Just Sorry I Waited so Long to Read it After Watching The Movie. I Recommend the Book. I Don't Recommend the Movie.★ THANK YOU FOR READING MY REVIEW

I only gave it four stars because I actually haven’t begun reading it lol. But it came in great condition. The words are large enough and it’s easy to handle. My parents are fond of the classics and period films, and they recommended this book to me. Charles Dickens is a harder author to comprehend, so keep that in mind when purchasing.

I dunno why I bought this. I've had 40 years to read it and haven't. Maybe to impress myself, like I'm the type of guy that really appreciates classic literature. I'm not... I did however, read a five sentence synopsis of this book that seemed very interesting. So... Five stars!!!

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.

Phew, I didn't think I would make it to the end. Classic novels, in general, require concentration and a clear head. In my opinion, reading Dickens needs these qualities and a large dose of dedication. 'A Tale of Two Cities' needs even more - the historical element means there is a lot of take in which even pushed and challenged me to muddy my enjoyment. As such, I often found I had to unwillingly put this book down - eye-strain and a novel-inducing headache from the intensity of Dickens work.If you haven't come across this novel before, it's the one that famously begins: 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'. Yes, there's your small fact for a pub quiz. Set in the time of eighteenth century London and France, there is a lot of history as Dickens describes the bloodied and violent streets of Paris. With the guillotine ominously hanging over society, (pun definitely intended!), many innocent civilians are somewhat slaughtered as the spies close in. There's a fair bit of fighting in this novel, a lot of chat and even more description. Lacking the humour of say, Austin, Dickens grimly portrays a social mess that I found confusing and difficult to properly appreciate. In honesty, it was the final part of the novel that I enjoyed the most and one where I really understood what was going on!There are plenty of  classic novels out there and a range of Dickens to encounter. I won't read this again; I am glad I did but would try a different one to see if I enjoyed it more.

**Contains mild spoilers/quotesI cannot begin to express how much I love this book. I first read it in 1986 before my 'O' Levels the following summer (it was part of the English Lit syllabus) and I reckon I have read it upwards of 20 times since.In many respects, this is different to Dickens' other works. It is much shorter for one thing and unlike novels such as Bleak House, all the various strands are brought together by the end, with no dead-ends or red herrings. Additionally, not a word in this is wasted. There is much use of foreshadowing, for example spilled wine foretells of the spilling of blood come the revolution: The time was to come when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones and when the stain of it would be red upon many there.The sun is used in a similar way: The sunset struck so brilliantly into the travelling carriage that the occupant was steeped in crimson. "It will die out" said Monsieur the Marquis, glancing at his hands...There are great characters, too. Jerry Cruncher is a favourite and the source of humour, some of it quite dark . Errand 'boy' for Tellson's Bank by day, 'fisherman' (i.e.grave robber) by night. He goes to bed with clean boots and gets up with muddy boots, much to the consternation of his son.The best character for me has to be the malevolent, vengeful and implacable Thérèse Defarge: "Tell wind and fire when to stop" returned Madame "but don't tell me"Wonderful book!

Dickens spins a good yarn; this is a story full of sub-plots and some interesting one-dimensional characters. What kept me hooked right to the end was the tension and how the characters and scenes came to life, I particularly enjoyed the comical vignettes, a nice touch to lighten the ominous moments.ASIN: B002RI9IOM is edited and has an intro by Richard Maxwell. This Penguin edition also includes: Acknowledgements; Introduction; A Dickens Chronology; A Timeline; Further Reading; A Note on the Text; Appendix I On the Illustrations; Appendix II Dedication and Preface to First Volume Edition; Appendix III Dickens and His Sources; Appendix IV Running Titles Added in 1867– 8; and Notes.I enjoyed reading this on kindle, a click took me to footnotes, the search facility came in handy and I could enlarge the wonderful illustrations by Phiz.

Had a spell of wanting to read a load of the classic books, anything from To KIll a Mockingbird, to Animal Farm and 1984, to War of the Worlds, the old Dickens books, Lord of the Flies and much else. Very varied and not genre specific and generally enjoyed them. Not this one though. This is dull, with awkward writing and no great appealing elements. I would avoid, not even suggesting its worth a try.

I'm working my way though all the Dickens works in order. I actually started this a few years back and couldn't get on with it but coming back to it after reading the preceeding books I was gripped. I found it a really enthralling read and dark as the subject matter is I thoroughly enjoyed it, not something I ever expected to say of a Dickens novel. I suppose having an interest in the French Revolution helped but regardless of that it became a book I hurried to read each day. I have Great Expectations of my next Dickens book.