Classics

A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities

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  • Type：Epub+TxT+PDF+Mobi
  • Create Date：2021-07-23 05:51:57
  • Update Date：2025-09-06
  • Status：finish
  • Author：Charles Dickens
  • ISBN：0141199709
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Summary

'Liberty， equality， fraternity， or death; - the last， much the easiest to bestow， O Guillotine！'

Described by Dickens as 'the best story I have written'， A Tale of Two Cities interweaves thrilling historical drama with heartbreaking personal tragedy。 It vividly depicts a revolutionary Paris running red with blood， and a London where the poor starve。 In the midst of the chaos two men - an exiled French aristocrat and a dissolute English lawyer - are both redeemed and condemned by their love for the same woman， as the shadow of La Guillotine draws closer。。。

--penguin。co。uk

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Reviews

Adah B。 ，

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers。 To view it， click here。 A Tale of Two Cities is slow and somewhat hard to get into， but interesting enough that I didn’t dread picking it up。 But， the ENDING。 I stayed up late reading the last 20%， because I was so eager to see how it played out， and the last few pages were so bittersweet that I seriously got a little choked up。 The redemption of Sydney Carton！ That is what this book is really about。 As soon as he showed up after Darnay was rearrested， and had the conversation with Mr。 Lorry about childhood and death， A Tale of Two Cities is slow and somewhat hard to get into， but interesting enough that I didn’t dread picking it up。 But， the ENDING。 I stayed up late reading the last 20%， because I was so eager to see how it played out， and the last few pages were so bittersweet that I seriously got a little choked up。 The redemption of Sydney Carton！ That is what this book is really about。 As soon as he showed up after Darnay was rearrested， and had the conversation with Mr。 Lorry about childhood and death， I knew。 I knew what he was going to do， and I loved him for it， for sacrificing himself and his love for Lucie for the sake of her happiness and love for Darnay。 “‘I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name， a man winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine。 I see him winning it so well， that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his。 I see the blots I threw upon it， faded away。 I see him， fore-most of just judges and honoured men， bringing a boy of my name， with a forehead that I know and golden hair， to this place–then fair to look upon， with not a trace of this day's disfigurement–and I hear him tell the child my story， with a tender and a faltering voice。 ‘It is a far， far better thing that I do， than I have ever done; it is a far， far better rest that I go to than I have ever known。’” 。。。more

Phil ，

It took me a little while to get into this book， but then I was hooked。 It held me until the end， which was about as powerful and moving as any I've read。 A masterpiece。 It took me a little while to get into this book， but then I was hooked。 It held me until the end， which was about as powerful and moving as any I've read。 A masterpiece。 。。。more

Kelsey Leong ，

“It is a far， far better thing that I do， than I have ever done; it is a far， far better rest I go to than I have ever known。” 😭😭😭

Andreas Debel Christensen ，

In many respects a great book - great story and intriguing scenes。 At certain points though you wonder whether the passage is really relevant to the story。

Shannon ，

DNF

Ratih ，

3。5 bintang

aidan ，

snooze fest

Ket 🌙 ，

4。5

Marianne ，

I know Dickens is one of the greatest writers of all time， but OMG I hated this book

نجد ，

لعشقي للتاريخ وللسمعة الشهيرة التي يتمتع بها ديكنزحرصت على قراءة هذه الرواية، وأيضاً لرغبتي بالولوج في عالم الأدب الإنجليزي، ولم أندم على قرائتها إطلاقاً :） 。الجميل أن الرواية عُمِل لها فيلم سينمائي فكنت أشاهده وأقرأ المشهد في الرواية وأقارن بينهما :） 。بطبيعة الحال الرواية تتكلم عن همجية الثورة الفرنسية والظروف المشاكل التي تصيب شخصيات القصة رغم كونهم أشخاصاً جيدين، لكن بطبيعة الحال دائماً كما يُقال البريء هو من يناله كل شيء، إذ أن ثوار الثورة الفرنسية أعمى عيونهم الحقد إلى درجة أنهم حكموا بالإر لعشقي للتاريخ وللسمعة الشهيرة التي يتمتع بها ديكنزحرصت على قراءة هذه الرواية، وأيضاً لرغبتي بالولوج في عالم الأدب الإنجليزي، ولم أندم على قرائتها إطلاقاً :） 。الجميل أن الرواية عُمِل لها فيلم سينمائي فكنت أشاهده وأقرأ المشهد في الرواية وأقارن بينهما :） 。بطبيعة الحال الرواية تتكلم عن همجية الثورة الفرنسية والظروف المشاكل التي تصيب شخصيات القصة رغم كونهم أشخاصاً جيدين، لكن بطبيعة الحال دائماً كما يُقال البريء هو من يناله كل شيء، إذ أن ثوار الثورة الفرنسية أعمى عيونهم الحقد إلى درجة أنهم حكموا بالإرهاب واستلذوا بإرسال النبلاء للمقصلة نساءً ورجالاً ولو لم يكن الفرد قد عمل شيئاً، بل بجريرة اسمه وطبقته الاجتماعية فقط ！وهذا الحقد يكثر في الجماعات والفلسفات الثورية، فما حصل من الفرنسيين هنا والقتل بالإسم بدعواهم أن هذا لمصلحة "الجمهورية" الوليدة يمكن لنا ملاحظته في فلسفات أخرى نالت سلطةً على أرض الواقع كالشيوعية والنسوية وكل فلسفة يتكون لديها حقد وهذا الحقد دافعها الأكبر ضد مجموعة بعينها، ويغلفون هذا الحقد بأهداف سامية "كمصلحة البروليتاريا" و "مصلحة النساء" إلخ。。 طبعاً هذا تحليلي الشخصي。لا أنسى أن أذكر أنه لفتني "الرومنسية المؤدبة الراقية" إن صح التعبير في الرواية والفلم، إذ لا توجد فيهما الخلاعة التي نجدها في كثير من روايات هذه الأيام ！ربما لأجل ذلك أيضاً أنا مغرمة بالتاريخ والجيل القديم الأنيق والراقي 。。 :）سأرفق اقتباساتٍ أعجبتني من الرواية:1- "كانت تلك الأيام تدفع جميع الرجال تقريباً إلى الإدمان على الخمر"。2- " كانت المحاصيل في الحقول ضئيلةً هزيلةً كالفلاحين الذين يحاولون حصادها، وكأنما أبت الطبيعة إلا أن تشارك الناس في البؤس والحرمان"3- "أعتقد أن سعادة الرجل الحقيقية في أن يجد بيتاً منظّماً يأوي إليه كلما أراد"。4- "إنني على أتم الاستعداد لأن افعل أي شيء من أجلك ومن أجل من تحبين ، إنني لا أتردد في الإقبال على أية تضحية من أجلك، ومن أجل من أحببتِ، وتذكري دائماً خلال الأيام السعيدة المقبلة أمامك أن هناك رجلاً على استعداد للتضحية بحياته لكي يبقي على حياة من يحب"。5- "هؤلاء الأغبياء يعتقدون بأن الدنيا ستبتسم لهم إلى الأبد ولهذا فإن مهمتنا ستغدو أكثر سهولةً ويسراً، إن الأغنياء لا يعلمون شيئاً إنهم يحتقرونك ويفكرون في جيادهم وكلابهم أكثر مما يفكرون فيك، فدعنا نضللهم ونخدعهم أطول وقتٍ ممكن، ولكن سيأتي يومنا حتماً وهذا لا ريب فيه"。6- "لم تكن الجماهير تحس أية شفقة أو عطف لأنها قاست من البؤس والحرمان والتعسّف الكثير، ولم تكن عبارات الألم والشفقة تؤثر في عزيمتها"。7-"أنا لست خائفةً من الموت لأنني لم أقترف إثماً، فإذا كانت الجمهورية التي ستصنع الكثير من أجل الفقراء، إذا كانت الجمهورية تستفيد من موتي فإنني أموت عن طيب خاطر ！ ولكن على أي وجه يفيدها موتي ؟ أنا الإنسانة الضعيفة المسكينة 。"8- "كانت الدقائق ثمينة، وكل دقيقة قد تكون فاصلاً بين الحياة والموت ！ "9- "كانت كل منهما صادقة العزم فيما تريد 。。فالفرنسية يحدوها الحقد ويملأ قلبها جرأةوالإنجليزية يعمر الأمل قلبها ويملأه شجاعة ！ " 。。。more

Karl Goerz ，

I happened to have picked up this book directly after reading Les Miserables not knowing the similarities， weird coincidence。 Perhaps I myself am to blame， but I just could not focus while reading this novel。 The characters were hard to follow， the plot was confusing， I think I was not in the right frame of mind。 Nevertheless I of course still found pockets of genius， and was able to cheat a little with on-line plot summaries。

Noémie MV ，

My grandma keeps singing whenever I sit down to read this because she wants my attention so I have to admit I lost track of the plot （p。 158？） and I'm not into it anymore - I think I'm gonna give up on it， sorry Charles loved Oliver twist but this one isn't doing the trick for me My grandma keeps singing whenever I sit down to read this because she wants my attention so I have to admit I lost track of the plot （p。 158？） and I'm not into it anymore - I think I'm gonna give up on it， sorry Charles loved Oliver twist but this one isn't doing the trick for me 。。。more

Mike Mutschelknaus ，

Great book。 A lot of weird parallels to books I've read on the Rwandan genocide。 Great book。 A lot of weird parallels to books I've read on the Rwandan genocide。 。。。more

pinned_pages ，

Review coming soon

Tome Trinket ，

I'm not sure whether it was a mistake on my part that I chose the audiobook version cos the specific narrator on Aubible version， he did a several different voices and was quite brilliant but in some of the voices the accent was so thick that I couldn't understand a word。 Not the fault of the narrator， I'm just really bad with some accents and English being my third language。 I enjoyed some parts of them， like some specific scenes。 And it was all so very grand and epic， the duality of the story。 I'm not sure whether it was a mistake on my part that I chose the audiobook version cos the specific narrator on Aubible version， he did a several different voices and was quite brilliant but in some of the voices the accent was so thick that I couldn't understand a word。 Not the fault of the narrator， I'm just really bad with some accents and English being my third language。 I enjoyed some parts of them， like some specific scenes。 And it was all so very grand and epic， the duality of the story。 But especially as an audiobook， I found it very hard to get into and dare I say a little boring。 It's okay， I don't have to love all the classics， as I seem to enjoy female writers more。 They are less grand in story-telling but I enjoy the little tidbits of the time and details of customs and such。 While Dickens concentrated on larger themes and grander ideas of responsibility we all have to take of our actions。 The moral of the story is a strong one， but I'm not sure I enjoyed the process of learning that said lesson。 。。。more

Tiernan Wright ，

‘。。。it was the worst of times’ about sums up my experience with this book。

Ashlyn ，

I love the passionate love the two have for eachother。 And an amazing friendship

Maddie ，

2。75 stars。 I’ve read A Christmas Carol and the Chimes and I really enjoyed both but I didn’t like this one very much。 I thought that most parts were too long and drawn out。 However， I really enjoyed the ending and I loved getting to read about the French Revolution from a book that’s not a textbook lol :）

Nahid ，

Like all great stories， the brilliance of this tale is its ability to not only intimately draw us into the tangled lives of these characters， battered by the historical tyrannies of their time， but to use their story as a parable to understand the human narrative as a whole。

Aaryan Parikh ，

A good story。 Simple yet interesting。

Annie Loveday ，

To be honest I thought this was really boring all the way through and though it is short， this means the characters are not developed in sufficient depth （one of the fascinating things about Great Expectations and David Copperfield， in my opinion， is how convincing Dickens’ characters are in these）。 Not is the relationship between France and Britain explored in any interesting way， which is what I was hoping for。 Equally， if it was longer， it would just be a less good version of Les Miserables （ To be honest I thought this was really boring all the way through and though it is short， this means the characters are not developed in sufficient depth （one of the fascinating things about Great Expectations and David Copperfield， in my opinion， is how convincing Dickens’ characters are in these）。 Not is the relationship between France and Britain explored in any interesting way， which is what I was hoping for。 Equally， if it was longer， it would just be a less good version of Les Miserables （and be based on the 1789， rather than the 1832 Revolution， obvs） 。。。more

Sylvie ，

My first novels that I read in English were the classics （not mentioning fairytales）， even though I don't read them as much anymore， I always look for a reason to pick one up。'A Tale of Two Cities' is one of the few famous classic literatures that I've never found either in a library nor in a bookstore。 Some time ago I've talked to a friend of mine about books （just a normal conversation about classic literatures） and I very briefly mentioned about this book。Back to yesterday - when my friend re My first novels that I read in English were the classics （not mentioning fairytales）， even though I don't read them as much anymore， I always look for a reason to pick one up。'A Tale of Two Cities' is one of the few famous classic literatures that I've never found either in a library nor in a bookstore。 Some time ago I've talked to a friend of mine about books （just a normal conversation about classic literatures） and I very briefly mentioned about this book。Back to yesterday - when my friend remembered me talking about this book and never having it read， they got me as a Birthday present。I'm beyond excited to finally read this book after years of having wanted to。 。。。more

Ana Burmeister ，

It's definitely slow at first， but the ending is quite selfless and tragic！ It was also cool to read something not regarding Christmas by Charles Dickens。 This is， overall， quite a work of art！ It's definitely slow at first， but the ending is quite selfless and tragic！ It was also cool to read something not regarding Christmas by Charles Dickens。 This is， overall， quite a work of art！ 。。。more

Marshall Hess ，

I'm ashamed to say， this is the first unabridged Dicken's novel that I've read in full。 Where have I been。 I was completely enraptured by this tale and highly recommend it。 One of the biggest take-aways from the book for me is that the rat-like condition of the people oppressed by the French nobility transferred directly into the rat-likeness of the rabble after they revolted。 There is something so horrible， so tragic， and so true about that socio-political observation。 The deprivation of the hu I'm ashamed to say， this is the first unabridged Dicken's novel that I've read in full。 Where have I been。 I was completely enraptured by this tale and highly recommend it。 One of the biggest take-aways from the book for me is that the rat-like condition of the people oppressed by the French nobility transferred directly into the rat-likeness of the rabble after they revolted。 There is something so horrible， so tragic， and so true about that socio-political observation。 The deprivation of the human person by oppression is not automatically undone when the oppressor is removed。 I don't know what to make of it entirely， but it seems to have a lot of parallels with the stories of many churches。 It makes me want to be very careful what I tear down， because I may not be able to replace it with anything better。 。。。more

Joel Everett ，

Historical Fiction set during the Terror of the French Revolution by Charles Dickens; although starting at a slow pace， and sometimes exhibiting a confusing change of time and setting， by the time you reach Book III it really takes off and beats out any modern Hollywood action drama film by far。 Aside from having perhaps two of the most well known literary quotations at the beginning and end of the book， it is a classic in how it deals with the nature of human perseverance during the darkness of Historical Fiction set during the Terror of the French Revolution by Charles Dickens; although starting at a slow pace， and sometimes exhibiting a confusing change of time and setting， by the time you reach Book III it really takes off and beats out any modern Hollywood action drama film by far。 Aside from having perhaps two of the most well known literary quotations at the beginning and end of the book， it is a classic in how it deals with the nature of human perseverance during the darkness of times， the nature of sacrifice， and fickleness of the mob versus the solidity of individual principle。 A book more relevant for our time than I'd like。 A must read。 。。。more

natalia ，

O wiele bardziej podobało mi się niż Samotnia。 Myślę， że Opowieść o dwóch miastach była bardziej smutna i przez dla mnie bardziej realistyczna。 Zainteresował mnie też temat rewolucji francuskiej bardziej， a nic poza tym co było w szkole o niej nie wiem。 Myślę， że za x lat wrócę do tej książki。

Marlen JG ，

3，75

Bill Kupersmith ，

At age 12， I read this book， the first adult classic in my life， with a dictionary beside me to look up every new word; I still recall ‘sanguine’ though I couldn’t divine how it could mean both ‘bloody’ and ‘cheerful’。 Also struck by Jeremy’s ‘resurrection’ trade and mystified by the ‘Cock Lane ghost’ in the famous opening。 Later as an English major I found that Dickensians excluded it from their canon， unlike Bleak House， which we were supposed to adore。 How pleasing to revisit Tale of Two Citi At age 12， I read this book， the first adult classic in my life， with a dictionary beside me to look up every new word; I still recall ‘sanguine’ though I couldn’t divine how it could mean both ‘bloody’ and ‘cheerful’。 Also struck by Jeremy’s ‘resurrection’ trade and mystified by the ‘Cock Lane ghost’ in the famous opening。 Later as an English major I found that Dickensians excluded it from their canon， unlike Bleak House， which we were supposed to adore。 How pleasing to revisit Tale of Two Cities and still love it。 I so admire Dickens’s balance， depicting the misery of peasant life under the ancien regime so movingly， and also the frenzied blood thirst of the Terror in its full fury。 How fortunate are we to be British， I can imagine Dickens thinking， to accomplish reform without such hideous atrocities。 I remain a Trollopean， but here ‘Mr Popular Sentiment’ is triumphant。 。。。more

Sundram ，

Nice book。

Dedmanshootn dedmanshootn ，

very nice this classic is available in electronic form now

Reference

google book https://www.google.com/search?tbm=bks&q=A Tale of Two Cities

hathitrust digital library https://babel.hathitrust.org/cgi/ls?q1=A Tale of Two Cities&field1=ocr&a=srchls&ft=ft&lmt=ft

The British Library https://bll01.primo.exlibrisgroup.com/discovery/search?query=any,contains,A Tale of Two Cities&tab=LibraryCatalog&search_scope=Not_BL_Suppress&vid=44BL_INST:BLL01&lang=en&offset=0