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Loading... A Tale of Two Cities (1859)by Charles Dickens
Work InformationA Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens (1859)
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I always think of this novel whenever I watch Casablanca. If you've seen it, you might notice a few similarities in their plots, with the striking part being the redeeming sacrifices in their endings, done on account of love. When Rick Blaine lets Isla Lund go off with Victor Laszlo, both proponents of a problematic love triangle, I see Sydney Carton being led to the guillotine to die instead of Charles Darnay, both of whom are in love with Lucy Manette. In both cases, you could easily argue that the former loves more than the latter, and that's why that one has to be the one to die for it, because it's the only way to save the girl. "Love is that condition in which the happiness of another person is essential to your own", as Heinlein put it in Stranger in a Strange Land, but I would go so far as to say that love is putting another's happiness above your own, in effect, eradicating your own happiness if necessary. Would a parent do any less for her or his child? Sure, it's unfair, but love often happens that way. ( ) 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, ...'. So begins Dickens' novel set in London and Paris at and around the time of the French Revolution. Dr. Alexandre Manette is released from his imprisonment in the Bastille and moves to London to get to know his daughter Lucie, whom he has never met. Manette has a hard time reintegrating into life outside of his prison cell, but finally manages because of the love of and to his daughter. Lucie has two suitors, Sidney Carton and Charles Darnay. The former is a London-based lawyer and the latter is a French aristocrat who comes to London under a different name to hide his relation to the French Marquis St. Evrémonde, who is not liked much in France. Both confess their love to Lucie and she ends up marrying and having a child with Darnay. Upon Darnay's return to France, the Terror is in full reign and he is arrested for emigrating to England and imprisoned immediately. The Manettes travel to France to help Darnay and get him out of prison. I will deliberately not go into further detail here so as not to spoil more of the plot than I have already done. Suffice it to say that as the plot progresses further relations between the characters are revealed and Dickens cleverly works with contrast, as the first sentence of the novel promises. Approaching A Tale of Two Cities I only knew the famous first sentence and that it is one of the most famous novels ever written. I read the Penguin Classics version with notes in the back and when I first started I was quite taken aback at the amount of notes for only the first few pages. This made it somewhat hard to get into the novel, but once I was a few pages in I was actually gripped with what was happening. Overall, I found the notes quite helpful as they provide interesting background information about certain conventions at the time and historical background about the French Revolution. What I liked most about the novel is how the characters are developed and how the web of entanglement among them is created. My plot summary does not even mention the Defarges, Mr. Lorry and Jerry Cruncher, who are also quite important to the story. I enjoyed this aspect of personal stories and individual fates set against the backdrop of life during the times of the French Revolution very much. 4.5 stars. Belongs to Publisher SeriesCollins Classics (35) — 44 more Dean's Classics (24) Doubleday Dolphin (C32) El País. Aventuras (31) Everyman's Library (102) Grandes Novelas de Aventuras (LVII) insel taschenbuch (1033) Penguin Clothbound Classics (2011) Penguin English Library, 2012 series (2012-04) Pocket Books (14) The Pocket Library (PL-22, PL-522) The World's Classics (38) Is contained inOliver Twist / A Christmas Carol / David Copperfield / A Tale of Two Cities / Great Expectations by Charles Dickens ContainsIs retold inHas the adaptationIs abridged inIs parodied inInspiredHas as a reference guide/companionHas as a studyHas as a commentary on the textHas as a student's study guideDistinctionsNotable Lists
Relates the adventures of a young Englishman who gives his life during the French Revolution to save the husband of the woman he loves. No library descriptions found. |
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Google Books — Loading... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)823.8Literature English & Old English literatures English fiction Victorian period 1837-1900LC ClassificationRatingAverage:
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