#262 A Tale of Two Cities (1859)

Author: Charles Dickens
Title: A Tale of Two Cities
Genre: Novel
Year: 1859
Pages: 300
Origin: read on the Kindle
Nod Rating: 5 nods out of 5

 

‘It was the best of times, it was the worst of times.’ A few simple words, and yet they remain enduringly famous as one of the most memorable opening lines to a novel:

‘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 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.’

 

These very words – as well as the French Revolution historical setting – drew the Worm back to another foray into the world of Dickens. Recent reads in the past five book reading seasons have included the equally excellent Hard Times and David Copperfield. What would A Tale of Two Cities have to offer?

Set over a period of years, the book is set during the French Revolution era; the two cities under consideration are that of London and Paris. In London Lucie Manette is reintroduced to her father, Dr Manette, and in time she marries the son of a French aristocrat, Charles Darnay. Also in love with Lucie is the cad Sydney Carton, who remains distant despite becoming a family friend. The novel gathers pace and shape after the fall of the Bastille in 1789; as Carton states: ‘this is a desperate time, when desperate games are played for desperate stakes.’ Darnay returns to his homeland in order to help a former servant, and in doing so he is imprisoned as an enemy of the people. The Manettes attempt to help Darnay, yet their attempts are not entirely successful, with Darnay facing the guillotine. In an attempt to help the Manettes, Carton nobly changes places with Darnay and faces death at the novel’s end.

Dickens focuses on a couple of key themes: death and resurrection (particularly with the first book being named ‘Recalled to Life’), the right and wrong of the law, as well as the idea of love conquering all. Due to the weighty themes there is a noticeable lack of humour, however, the usual Dickensian wit is present: ‘Tellson’s was the triumphant perfection of inconvenience’, and regarding the guillotine: ‘it was the best cure for a headache.’

The novel reaches a dramatic highpoint which differentiates it from other reads, principally that of David Copperfield. Rather than drawing out a meandering plot for hundreds of (unneeded) pages, A Tale of Two Cities is precise in its intentions and execution. Plot is of higher importance, rather than the characters of which Dickens is so well – and justly – famed. Perhaps it is because of this, rather than the “serious” nature of the novel, as to why A Tale of Two Cities stands out in the back catalogue of Dickens’ works. It obtains the maximum 5 nods from this reviewer, the same reviewer who now doubts that it will be bettered when he next returns to Dickens in the year ahead.

 

Read it here