“It was the best of times,
It was the worst of times,
It was the age of wisdom,
It was the age of foolishness,
It was the epoch of belief,
It was the epoch of incredulity,
It was the season of Light,
It was the season of Darkness,
It was the spring of hope,
It was the winter of despair.”
-Charles Dickens, A Tale of Two Cities
I recently finished A Tale of Two Cities for the first time.
It was one of the most incredible books I’ve ever read.
By the end of the book I was crying, and crying hard. I’m not a cryer, and it takes quite a bit in a story or film to move me to tears. This book, however, did it. In truth, it is one of the most beautiful and touching books I have ever read. I knew before the book had come to a close that it would be one of my favorite novels.
I haven’t read much of Dickens besides A Christmas Carol, which has been assigned for me to read in school about five times (I don’t know why the school literature books insist on being so repetitive). I was bored and looking for an interesting read. After recalling that several people had recommended A Tale of Two Cities I promptly checked it out on audio and finished it soon after.
The plot, characters, and theme was excellent, but especially the characters. The character arcs, particularly for a character called Sydney Carton, were amazing, and very relatable. For me personally, Sydney Carton is probably one of the most relatable characters I’ve ever read about. Dickens harnessed his message in powerful, meaningful ways, and made the truth appealing, showing it in its true power.
A deep book about cities, Sydney, and sacrifice, if you have not read A Tale of Two Cities then you should. I highly, highly recommend it.
Yes, I loved this book, the end was so great!
I totally agree!
YES. We read this for school and I was sobbing. Dickens is underrated by today's readers.