Introducing A Tale of Two Cities | Mega Dickens Readalong

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#Dickensalong
In which I introduce A Tale of Two Cities . . .
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens: / 1953.a_tale_of_two_cities
The audiobook I’m listening to is narrated by Simon Callow: www.audible.co.uk/pd/A-Tale-o...
More about the Mega Dickens Readalong
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The Schedule
The Pickwick Papers, 1837: October and November 2022
Oliver Twist, 1838: December 2022
Nicholas Nickleby, 1839: January and February 2023
The Old Curiosity Shop, 1841: March 2023
Barnaby Rudge, 1841: April and May 2023
Martin Chuzzlewit, 1844: June and July 2023
Dombey and Son, 1848: August and September 2023
David Copperfield, 1850: October and November 2023
Bleak House, 1853: December 2023 and January 2024
Hard Times, 1854: February 2024
Little Dorrit, 1855: March and April 2024
A Tale of Two Cities, 1859: May 2024
Great Expectations, 1861: June 2024
Our Mutual Friend, 1865: July and August 2024
The Mystery of Edwin Drood, 1870: September 2024
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Опубликовано:

4 май 2024

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Комментарии : 32

@NadineTouzet Месяц назад

I’ve started listening to the book, a different version from yours, in a way so far I’ve found it more « modern ». I must admit I started this readalong with a view to identifying one or two of Dickens’s books I would want to re-read before I die, but after a few, I found that I now feel compelled to re-read all of them because they are so rich in their different ways, that it would be hard to pick any. I’m glad I found your videos shortly after you started so I was able quickly to catch up and Charles Dickens has now truly become part of my reading life 😊!

@reginacho7893 Месяц назад

I absolutely love Tale of Two Cities!!! From beginning to end, every sentence Dickens writes is beautiful. And every sentence has a purpose. Maybe this is why it’s one of his shortest novel. Out of all Dickens’ book I’ve read, this is the one I could not put down. It is suspenseful and much more plot oriented. Such extremes in circumstances but not so much in characters. At least not compare to other characters in his other books in my opinion. It is truly a masterpiece!

@betinaceciliafeld9854 Месяц назад

Finally a Dickens novel I've read! 😅 I've read A Tale of Two Cities around November 2023 and absolutely loved it 🤩 I love Sidney with all my heart.

@bgreer6584 Месяц назад

Can’t wait to see your Little Dorrit video! And thanks for the excellent video on ATOTC.

@PersonallyOptimistic Месяц назад

I had just been thinking about reading exactly this book and, lo and behold, this appears in my suggestions! RU-vid casually reading my thoughts now it seems. Very enjoyable video, I'll be giving it a go. I've actually only ever read one Dickens and it was a tad on the shorter side...(A Christmas Carol!) Not sure how I've somehow avoided Dickens all this time as I love Wilkie Collins. Lastly, the historical context was appreciated! (Think I may have watched this video seconds after it uploaded! )

@spreadbookjoy Месяц назад

I’ve been considering this book for the historical fiction Austen prompt for a while now!

@kevinrussell1144 Месяц назад

Right so, your ten items were spot on. It just so happens I finally read ATOTC last year. All my experience with BookTube must be rubbing off, as before I never would have considered whether it was contemporary or historical, but I WAS awake to the difference. Perhaps this status mostly explains the oddity of the book? For "A Tale..." is an outlier; it's quite unlike any other Dickens I've read. I recall reading in the introduction (I read a Folio volume with all the weird illustrations) that Chuck stacked up bundles of books for research but mostly settled on Carlyle because that one contained all that he needed for his book. And it's true, Carlyle's work, although ancient in terms of modern scholarship, still punches well above its weight. You're correct about Madame D., too. She dominates and broods over the book and is proof Dickens at least understood some sides of the female psyche. She is comparable to (and is a reaction to) rats and vermin that demonstrate the house is in an uproar. Miss Pross is proof that the housekeeper is aware of what's going on and will not stand for chaos. After THE event, all is silence for the latter. I picked up ATOTC because anyone paying attention in the West (whether Europe or the US) can sense that something bad is coming, perhaps even this year. The migrations, the violent levels of discourse and the actual violence, the collapse of social norms, the growing divide between haves and have nots and the rigged monetary system, and the despair they foster..........can't you just hear the feint rumbling of the tumbrils clattering over the cobblestones?

@thelifeandtimesofjames4273 Месяц назад

I loved this book. A fascinating if potentially OTT look at the French Revolution. But the whole thing is about the ending. The whole book revolves purposefully towards the ending. The ending is superb!

@theresas709 Месяц назад

Since I read this less than 2 years ago, I am not ready to read it again. I was very confused in the beginning but I do agree that it may be one of the best endings.

@thaiziono96 Месяц назад

Looking forward to read this book 😊 I was very interested about the pacing, seems very different from "David Cooperfield". And next month (June 2024), it will be "Great Expectations". This book holds a special place in my heart ❤, it was my first Charles Dickens' book and it was the first time I thought "A classic book can be accessible and nice to read."

@launchedathousand Месяц назад

Excited to finally get to this book as I think its the most popular Dickens. Can't believe its been almost 2 years already since this was started.

@katiejlumsden Месяц назад

The time has flown!

@JulianTheRanger Месяц назад

I read A Tale of Two Cities about 11 years ago, I think? I can remember that the mob scenes are seemed to use very abstract descriptions and I found them quite confusing, so I'm curious to see how I perceive them this time. Sydney was definitely my favourite character and I'm glad to hear that he will most likely live up to my memories!

@dqan7372 Месяц назад

You almost have me convinced to give this one another try, though it probably won't be any time soon. One problem I have with Dickens is that I can't always remember if I've finished a particular novel. There were several I was supposed to read at college, but I'm pretty sure I mostly got by on lecture notes and highlighted texts. Not so with AToTC. I clearly remember the reading experience, and I clearly remember thinking that the very good ending deserved to be attached to a much better novel. Perhaps I'll track down a good social / historical intro to the period (esp. the French side) before I start in again.

@stevencarsley2446 Месяц назад

Another great video

@DianeSLoftis Месяц назад

I haven’t read this book since my early teens. I’m gonna join in on the party 📚

@1024div Месяц назад

I would love to join in the read along. Sounds like fun.

@DebMcDonald Месяц назад

I can’t believe we’ve come so far together. I have to admit that all I know about this book is from popular culture. I know the beginning and ending paragraphs and that Mme Defarge knits. Looking forward to the middle bits 😊. Thanks as ever for all your hard work.

@reader4532 Месяц назад

Yep, I'll join in for this one. I'll be curious to see if my impressions from a read of maybe four years ago hold up: 1. Not Enough Carton and 2. Miss Pross, you are awesome.

@katiejlumsden Месяц назад

I don't remember Miss Pross all that well, and I'm excited to meet her again!

@laraelwing Месяц назад

I'm a little behind, but will join in! 😅

@Heartonmysleeve-gj1kp Месяц назад

Is there a novel in the English language that has such iconic opening and closing sentences? I consider the novel to be quintessentially Dickensian in that it has everything that makes it a typically familiar experience for those of us now steeped in his stylistic and seemingly effortless craft. Madame Defarge it has been alluded to in the notes section was modelled on lady Macbeth. Miss Pross, Mr Lorry and Jerry Cruncher are wonderful creations, while Sydney Carton has something of the anti-hero about him who attains complete redemption at the novel's climax. And as to the scene where Jerry junior imagines the coffin coming out of the graveyard and chasing him all the way home, in what other novel but a Charles Dickens novel would you find such a brilliantly invented episode?

@katiejlumsden Месяц назад

True, true. I suppose my idea of Dickensian is sort of skewed by loving his much longer novels the best, if that makes sense.

@Heartonmysleeve-gj1kp Месяц назад

@@katiejlumsden Dickens spoiled us in other words with his mammoth meanderings. I hear what you're saying.

@KierTheScrivener Месяц назад

I read A Tale of Two Cities many years ago and was disappointed in it. But that ending STUCK with me

@katiejlumsden Месяц назад

The ending is SO great.

@GenWivern2 Месяц назад

I'm pretty confident that most first time readers will think that A Tale of Two Cities is a cracker. Even my dad spoke highly of it, despite his professed distaste for Dickens in general; I'm not keen but at least it's a brisk read so you don't get that sense of mid-Dickens existential despair that always comes with the thicker ones. 🙂

@katiejlumsden Месяц назад

Mid-Dickens existential despair 😂 What a phrase.

@jessicarabbit1164 Месяц назад

🫖

@jamesduggan7200 Месяц назад

At uni in 1981 a professor went apoplectic responding to Tolstoy as a source. Today history has swung the other way and interpretive New Histories are open to non-traditional sources. Possibly, one can glean much of value sourcing the French Revolution from Dickens. ofc idk but I did enjoy being a student, and I do enjoy a well-written novel. Most of all I enjoy encountering people with different takes on similar interests, so thx - enjoyed!

@katiejlumsden Месяц назад

Well, the module I did at university was more about what the way different historians have interpreted the French Revolution can tell us about how different people at different times use history - what I suppose I find really interesting about A Tale of Two Cities is that it tells us interesting things about how the Victorians viewed the French Revolution, if that makes sense.

@jamesduggan7200 Месяц назад

@@katiejlumsden I had two Historiography classes: One focused on Slavery and the American Civil War, which continues to develop without approaching any real consensus; the second focused on Germany after the First World War, specifically German militarism and guilt. There, there is much more agreement that its faults notwithstanding the Treaty of Versailles placed blame on the proper parties.