Title: A Tale of Two Cities
Author: Charles Dickens
Published by e-artnow Editions
Edition Year: 2013
Format Read: Kindle
Pages: 474
Language: English
ASIN: B00GMIM9QC
First Published by Chapman & Hall, in 1859
Dates Read: 2023, February 2 to 24
People rave over this book! The only book I’ve read by Dickens in its entirety is Oliver Twist. I probably should have read more of his works by now, so I decided to give this one a shot. I wanted to watch the movie with Ronald Colman, but it was recommended to read the novel before watching any of the movie versions.
Something cool about this edition is that it has the original pictures from Phiz/H.K. Brown. After reading the famous first line, I struggled to follow some passages of text. I had to reread a few several times. Dialogue is easy to understand, but the narrator’s descriptions can be long and intense. I wonder if this is because I haven’t read 19th century literature in a few years, so I have to readjust to the writing style. Sometimes, I had issues with knowing which character the author was talking about. However, chapters tend to be short (about 10 to 20 minutes to read) which helps. Also, the narrator gradually introduces characters and only focuses on one to a few a chapter which is also helpful. It was interesting to read the descriptions of the miserable conditions with some humor sprinkled throughout the text.
The story’s suspense slowly builds; despite the difficulty reading some sentences, I wanted to continue reading. The story gradually becomes easier and more intriguing to read. The story ends with another famous quote that I would hear, but I had no idea that it was from this book. There were a few side characters that I wish had more of an ending. I liked this novel better than Oliver Twist, but it’s not my favorite novel ever. I look forward to reading other works by Dickens.
A Love So Wordy 