Review of A Tale of Two Cities

I've been reading this book for quite a while now as some of you may know (it was getting quite stale on my Goodreads shelf) and today I will tell you why, also why I will reread this at some point in the future.

Reading at the beach. I am a nerd.

A Tale of Two Cities has a small cast of characters, the most famous of which you clockwork princess fans out there will recognize as Sydney Carton. Pretty much, it starts with a slightly mentally ill prisoner known as Doctor Manette who has been imprisoned in the Bastille for political reasons. He is released by the caretaker of his estate, Mr Lorry the banker and his young daughter Lucie. A few years later these three are witnesses to a political conspiracy with a man called Charles Darnay. His lawyer is Sydney Carton. During the trial, everyone falls in love with Lucie- as you would expect- and she ends up getting married *no spoilers as to who.* They live a quiet life until the French Revolution when Charles Darnay is again accused of treason, this time to the new Republic of France and the doctor's mental trauma from his years in the Bastille begins to resurface.

Previously I hadn't flirted with Dickens although I had assumed he was an amazing writer, why else would he have lasted so long? I was blown away by the rhythm and movement of his work. There was a beautiful line on every second page. The imagery of for instance Madame Defarge and the Vengeance strangling enemies with their knitting lingered. Closer to the end when we see all the ladies in court knitting during the beheadings, Dickens paired the knitting with the horror. A row of stitches. 52 heads.

I really struggled getting through this book not only because of the subject matter -tragic and bloody- but also because of the length. Not much seemed to happen in each chapter and each were quite long. Also, I never really connected with Lucie or Charles nor with their love story. The character formation was lacking for me especially as I am so used to seeing much stronger and central female characters.

The satisfaction I got from finishing this book though was monumental. This has taken me almost as long as Game of Thrones, I feel like my vocabulary and reading skills have really been developed and I really challenged myself to read something outside my comfort zone. Additionally, the ending was absolutely incredibly done. I take my hat off to Dickens for tying up all the loose ends, even some introduced pretty late in the plot. It was like he had been painting something bit by bit and only at the end did he show you the big picture. Storytelling at its best. Bravo good sir.


Favourite quote:
"O you will let me hold your brave hand, stranger?"

Let me know what you think of Dickens and any other book recommendations. Ciao!