It was the best of times...
"A Tale of Two Cities" was an interesting book that is almost like reading three different stories. It is almost impossible to predict the ending from reading the beginning or even up to the middle of the book. It keeps one engaged throughout with the always changing story line. Along with a great story, the characters are all very interesting. My favorite character is by far Madame Defarge. She is crazy to say the least. She is constantly out for revenge and any section with her involved was an easy read. My favorite section with Madame Defarge is when she is talking to Jacques Three. She is discussing her plans which are so radical she dares not tells her husband (723). She is too radical for the radical revolutionaries it seems.
Perhaps my favorite thing about "A Tale of Two Cities", was the descriptions used by Dickens. He has an amazing way with words. A few descriptions he writes that are really enjoyed are as follows:
"These had been oiled and oiled, until the two tall candles on the table in the middle of the room were gloomily reflected on every leaf; as if they were buried, in deep graves of black mahogany, and no light to speak of could be expected from them until they were dug out."(38)
“The wine was red wine, and had stained the ground of the narrow street in the suburb of Saint Antoine, in Paris, where it was spilled. It had stained many hands, too, and many faces, and many naked feet, and many wooden shoes. The hands of the man who sawed the wood, left red marks on the billets; and the forehead of the woman who nursed her baby, was stained with the stain of the old rag she wound about her head again. Those who had been greedy with the staves of the cask, had acquired a tigerish smear about the mouth; and one tall joker so besmirched, his head more out of a long squalid bag of a nightcap than in it, scrawled upon a wall with his finger dipped in muddy wine-lees—BLOOD.”(56-57)
“ Simple as the furniture was, it was set off by so many little adornments, of no value but for their taste and fancy, that its effect was delightful. The disposition of everything in the rooms, from the largest object to the least; the arrangement of colours, the elegant variety and contrast obtained by thrift in trifles, by delicate hands, clear eyes, and good sense; were at once so pleasant in themselves, and so expressive of their originator,”(183)
The book only improves as one reads it. As more characters are introduce the story begins to solidify but still holds surprises. It has a bit of everything. There is action, adventure, drama, love, death, sadness and happiness. It would be hard to read "A Tale of Two Cities" without finding a section or potion that was enjoyable.
Perhaps my favorite thing about "A Tale of Two Cities", was the descriptions used by Dickens. He has an amazing way with words. A few descriptions he writes that are really enjoyed are as follows:
"These had been oiled and oiled, until the two tall candles on the table in the middle of the room were gloomily reflected on every leaf; as if they were buried, in deep graves of black mahogany, and no light to speak of could be expected from them until they were dug out."(38)
“The wine was red wine, and had stained the ground of the narrow street in the suburb of Saint Antoine, in Paris, where it was spilled. It had stained many hands, too, and many faces, and many naked feet, and many wooden shoes. The hands of the man who sawed the wood, left red marks on the billets; and the forehead of the woman who nursed her baby, was stained with the stain of the old rag she wound about her head again. Those who had been greedy with the staves of the cask, had acquired a tigerish smear about the mouth; and one tall joker so besmirched, his head more out of a long squalid bag of a nightcap than in it, scrawled upon a wall with his finger dipped in muddy wine-lees—BLOOD.”(56-57)
“ Simple as the furniture was, it was set off by so many little adornments, of no value but for their taste and fancy, that its effect was delightful. The disposition of everything in the rooms, from the largest object to the least; the arrangement of colours, the elegant variety and contrast obtained by thrift in trifles, by delicate hands, clear eyes, and good sense; were at once so pleasant in themselves, and so expressive of their originator,”(183)
The book only improves as one reads it. As more characters are introduce the story begins to solidify but still holds surprises. It has a bit of everything. There is action, adventure, drama, love, death, sadness and happiness. It would be hard to read "A Tale of Two Cities" without finding a section or potion that was enjoyable.