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| A Tale of Two Cities (Penguin Popular Classics) | 
 enlarge | Author: Charles Dickens
Publisher: Penguin Classics
Category: Book
List Price: £2.50
Buy Used: £0.01
You Save: £2.49 (100%)
New (36) Collectible (1) from £0.01
Avg. Customer Rating:  9 reviews
Sales Rank: 4434
Media: Paperback
Edition: New edition
Pages: 368
Shipping Weight (lbs): 0.4
Dimensions (in): 7 x 4.3 x 0.6
ISBN: 0140620788
EAN: 9780140620788
ASIN: 0140620788
Publication Date: January 25, 2007
Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days
Condition: All books have kindly been donated by our supporters and all profits will go to Cancer Research UK
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| Customer Reviews:
| Showing reviews 6-9 of 9 | | « PREV | | |
A Master Novel November 1, 2003
9 out of 10 found this review helpful
This Dickens novel, as his others, is written in a delightfully clever way. It makes the historic tale, mostly of France, come alive through the rich character and situation description; it makes the historic tale become interesting by the wit (and ocassional sardonic pokes) with which it is told; it makes the historic tale come alive by enticing you to laugh, suffer and rejoice with the characters. As all good novels, the end reveals surprising twists in the tale that create a great climax. A true masterpiece...the word recommendable just isn't strong enough!
The Most Amazing Gesture September 30, 2003
20 out of 21 found this review helpful
You can read this novel on so many levels. Historically, it is a novel based upo the time before and during the French revolution, as Dr. Manette is released from 19 years of incarceration for basically reporting the wicked crimes of some rich folk. Romantically it is a love story between Dr. manette's daughter, Lucy, and the son of the person who put Dr. manette is prison, Charles Darnay. But the story is so much more than that. It is a beautifully woven story wioth perhaps the strongest of all secondary characters in a Dickens novel - the leader of the uprising, madame Defarge. But this remains my favorite fictional novel of all time (alongside the Godfather, bizarrely enough) because of the character of Sydney Carlton. Never has a more gruesome and unlikeable character been drawn. Never has a person seemed less likely to be the hero. What he does at the end is just somehting that makes you think that the world isn't such a bad place. He makes the ultimate human sacrifice, but does it anonymously - he never tells people what he will do. It is a story of redemption, salvation and the courage of the human spirit. I have read this book six times in the last ten years, and each time I just turn the last page, read the last two sentences (perhaps the greatest in English literature)and just think - wow. This book really is that good. In a selfish kind ogf way, i envy those who haven't read this book yet because they are in for one of the greatest treats in literature - remember the name of Sydney Carlton!!!!
Incredible! October 14, 2001
13 out of 13 found this review helpful
In most of his novels, Charles Dickens sticks to one central theme - love. "A Tale of Two Cities" faithfully adheers to this principle, yet, as with every Dickens book, retains a certain individuality and freshness.The story is perhaps a little slow to start, but that matters little. Not only is it difficult to stop reading the novel after a while, given the many little mysteries Dickens hints at throughout, but it is next to impossible not to be absorbed into the lives of the central characters and feel a certain closeness to them. It also notable that the devoted love displayed by so many of the novels cast does not seem at all implausable or out of place, despite the cold and uncaring backdrop used - the French Revolution "A Tale Of Two Cities" leaves you feeling both thourghly happy and extremely sad, such is the skill with which Charles Dickens - beyond any doubt a master of his craft - tells this moving tale.
 Worth the brain power! January 13, 2001
4 out of 6 found this review helpful
Like all Dickens' books, this one took a long time for me to really get into. The long words and difficult sentence structure needed a lot of concentration and thought, but I found that after all the effort I put into reading it, I was rewarded with a truly touching story.The history in which the book is set was also increbibly interesting for me, being a self confessed history nerd! I give it 4 out of 5 stars because of the time and patience needed to truly appreciate the novel, but I wouldn't discourage anyone to read it and would certainly recomend it to anyone who is interested in the period in time, or just a touching story of both love and self sacrifice.
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