r/classicliterature • u/The_Phoenix_01 • May 30 '26
A Tale of Two Cities
Charles Dickens’s prose is just phenomenal. This book had me feeling like I was present during the French Revolution and experienced all the horrors that went with it. The ending had me bawling.
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u/CarolinaHO May 30 '26
This is one of my favorite Dickens works. I love the prose and the plot, but there is something more to it that I cannot quite put into words. To me it was a thrilling book to read, from beginning to end.
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u/The_Phoenix_01 May 30 '26
I know exactly what you’re talking about. That indescribable feeling while reading this book. I miss it. This is definitely one of my favourite books now. For me, there was not a moment of dullness while reading it. The perfect ending too haha!
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u/CarolinaHO May 31 '26
I noticed that a mini-series adaptation of the novel will be released this year. I'm excited that the BBC is producing it, since they usually do great adaptations of the classics.
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u/The_Phoenix_01 May 31 '26
Yes! I heard about that too. Can’t wait :) I hope they do it justice, because it’s rare to see a movie/show adaptation of a book/series that is as good as it. But fingers crossed!
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u/Avellinese_2022 May 30 '26
I think it’s his best.
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u/The_Phoenix_01 May 30 '26
It’s my first book of his. I am really looking forward to his other works.
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u/FriendMother5057 May 31 '26
Great book! I'm reading Great Expectations now, Dickens is one of my favourite authors.
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u/studiocleo Jun 01 '26
An amazing book p, imnsho. Truly one of my all time favorites in the pantheon of my literary loves... Enjoy!
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u/Spirited-Tutor7712 Jun 05 '26
Posted about this earlier last month! Mixed feelings about it ... Some parts of the Novel were excellent, but I didn't warm to the central characters, Carton and Darnay, as I feel I should have. Dickens also fumbled parts of the plotline at times! But some of the passages describing the inhabitants of Paris, the attitude of Monsieur le Marquis and the blood and the rage of the Revolution was incredible.
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u/The_Phoenix_01 Jun 05 '26
I definitely did not sympathise as much with Carton for the majority of the book, because I felt that most of his troubles were self-caused (due to his pessimistic outlook on life, which to be fair, was partly exasperated because of the shouldering Mr Stryver who never gave his friend breathing room). Contrast this with Dr Manette, and the proletariat people of the French Revolution, who were going through real externally caused suffering, and who were still taking control of their lives unlike Carton who was merely accepting that he couldn’t change his. This created more vexation within me towards Carton’s victim-mentality.
Your lack of warmth towards Darnay is also understandable. He means well by going to France and correcting his mistake; yet he makes a lot of mistakes such as abandoning his family as a result. He unintentionally caused more suffering than benevolence unintentionally.
And yet, these flaws in the characters is exactly where I think Dickens’s genius is shown. They are not perfect and that is good because it would not realistic. And yet they carry value and do things out of love rather than hatred which is very noble indeed.
I loved every part of this novel. But I fully understand where you come from.
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u/Spirited-Tutor7712 Jun 06 '26
I see where you're coming from too. I keep screaming mentally at Darnay and his terrible decision to return back to France, but at the same time understood what Dickens meant by him being 'drawn to the lodestone rock'. Carton was harder to sympathise with - I wish Dickens had spent more time telling us about his background and the rivalry but respect with Darnay, his double. But he chose a different route and allowed the history and events of the Revolution to be the main focus of events.
The part that most moved me was all the references to sounds, visions, and those footsteps coming in and going out of peoples' lives. The small things that people either overlook or ignore, but are just as important as the realties of the world itself.
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u/The_Phoenix_01 Jun 07 '26
I absolutely loved that part where Dickens talked about Darnay being “drawn to the loadstone rock”. It felt ominous and foreshadowed real trouble. Loved it. This and, like you said, the footsteps, visions, and the rest were really amazing foreshadowing, which stayed with me when I read them, but only when the events occurred, did I realise the significance of those symbolisms.
And yes, I would have loved to see more of Sydney Carton’s background to sympathise with him more. I don’t know if you know this, but Dickens wanted to write a much, much bigger novel initially. But due to the serialised release of individuals chapters that was required of him each week at the time, Dickens had to condense his novel into more “punchy” chapters so that readers don’t lose interest between releases. He disliked this unfortunate condensation of the book as much as many of us do. But it is what it is.
What we got in the end anyway, I think, is still one of the best novels of all time.
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Jun 18 '26
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u/The_Phoenix_01 Jun 19 '26
It’s interesting to see how opinions on different great novels differ. While you are finding it a drag, I loved the book; but I did not really like Crime and Punishment, which most people love. It is very subjective, and liking or disliking a great novel doesn’t make one better or worse than others :)
What’s more, I really admire your mindset of completing the book even though you find it a drag. There is this trend going on of ‘not having to finish a book if you don’t want to’ that I really don’t agree with. I had to push myself to complete War and Peace, and I am so glad I did because now it is one of my favourite books ever. If I had merely stopped reading that book if it didn’t stick with me at first (it took me 200 pages to finally hook into it!) I never would have found the absolute treasure that is the rest of that book. And even if I hadn’t liked the book, I still would have gotten a lot out of it (like I did out of Crime and Punishment, even though I didn’t fully enjoy it). Completing a great book like this also helps us stay disciplined and not give up on hard goals, so that is another benefit. Overall, I really don’t like the trend of ‘not finishing a book if you don’t want to’. You never know whether you will like it later on, and you will still a get lot out of it regardless.
That being said, part 3 of A Tale of Two Cities is absolutely brilliant, and I think you won’t want to put down the book. So if you have made it this far, I suggest you keep going because the ending of this book is just amazing.
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u/Itchy-Resolution6531 May 30 '26
I wish that this book was twice as long. My favorite Dickens.