Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities

• ISBN-13: 9781593081386
• Publisher: Barnes & Noble
• Publication date: 8/1/2004
• Series: Barnes & Noble Classics Series
• Pages: 448

 "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." With these famous words, Charles Dickens plunges the reader into one of history's most explosive eras - the French Revolution. From the storming of the Bastille to the relentless drop of the guillotine, Dickens vividly captures the terror and upheaval of that tumultuous period. At the center is the novel's hero, Sydney Carton, a lazy, alcoholic - but honorable - attorney who is in love with Lucie Manette, a beautiful woman brought up in London. When Lucie marries a man condemned to death for his ties to the aristocratic Evrémonde family, Carton makes the supreme sacrifice on the blood-stained streets of Paris.
 One of Dicken's most exciting novels, A Tale of Two Cities is a stirring classic of love, revenge, and resurrection.
 
This book. Just...ugh. This book
 I suppose I've become jaded, or just have read too many books, but there are very few these days that make me stop and go, "Wow. That was incredible." When I started reading this book, I knew it was going to be well-written, but I didn't think I would like it too much. First of all, it's depressing, we know that from the get-go, and normally books that don't make happy...well, don't make me happy.
 However, this book made me cry, made me hate humanity, and helped me find my faith in them all over again.
 The story centers around the Manette family, Dr. Manette and his daughter, Lucie. They are reunited after nearly twenty years of separation, when the good doctor was wrongly imprisoned in the Bastille. They are at last brought together again by one Mr. Jarvis Lorry. Flash forward to the trial for treason of one Charles Darnay, assisted by one Sydney Carton. Both men in love with Lucie, both looking surprisingly similar; however, one is a French aristocrat who has forsaken his inheritance to make his own way as a tutor in England and the other a wastrel lawyer who has squandered his youth in booze.
 Aside from all these wonderful personal issues, there's a revolution on in France. Ah, yes, that spectacle of liberty, the French Revolution. Started off as a good idea and degenerated into mass violence, betrayal, and madness.
 The novel does a wonderful job of portraying the insanity of the times. I felt genuine terror for what it must have been like to live in those times, never knowing if you were going to be the next one sent to Madame Guillotine for an unknown crime. Along with that terror and disgust of the extravagancies of the uprisen poor, you are also made to feel how very bad their lives actually were, and so you're caught between horror and sympathy. Except for Madame Defarge. She can just go straight to hell and never return.
 Finally, the novel ends in a last act of ultimate sacrifice. A beautiful moment in the face of stark brutality. I don't mind telling you, I cried. It was a beautiful, sad cry.
 Overall: A+
 I am pretty sure that if someone asks, I'm going to say this is my favorite book from here on out. I recommend that everyone read this book. EVERYONE.