Tale of Two Cities

Synopsis: Lucie Manette has been separated from her father for eighteen years while he languished in Paris' most feared prison, the Bastille. Finally reunited, the Manettes' fortunes become inextricably intertwined with those of two men, the heroic aristocrat Darnay and the dissolute lawyer Carton. Their story, which encompasses violence, revenge, love and redemption, is grippingly played out against the backdrop of the terrifying brutality of the French Revolution.

Review: I've been wanting to read this book for ages, my own copy (a Puffin) turned out to be abridged which made me :-( and there was absolutely no point in reading it. I wanted to get the full experience and drink in every word ... luckily the library came to my rescue.

'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 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, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way- in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.'

It does have a slow start (despite it's great first paragraph), which is the case with nearly every Dickens story, he doesn't often do explosive starts, he always does a huge amount of scene setting and character introduction which can make you wander off a bit, but what it lacks at the start it makes up for tenfold with a fantastic plotline and an absolutely thrilling ending .. probably one of THE best endings ever.

I loved the contrast between the gentle love story being played out on this side of the channel and the shockingly bloody and vengeful revolution going on in France. In London we have the lovely Lucie Manette and her father Dr Manette now back at home after being incarcerated in the Bastille for eighteen years. We have the handsome Charles Darnay, and the equally handsome (and in fact astonishingly alike) but dissolute lawyer Sydney Carton. Both men are in love with Lucie. But Sydney sees that it will never do, (this is in contrast to what the female reader sees .. the female reader, or this female reader anyway, immediately sees that Sydney has all the charisma, who cares if he's dissipated and disreputable? he's by far the most interesting man in the book and if Lucie had any sense she'd be begging to rehabilitate him,) he sees that Lucie loves Charles (fool) and in any case he is glad of it, because he knows that if she did love him, he would only cause her misery and disgrace (no! no! no!) He confesses all to her and pledges (in a speech to make you melt) that he will do anything for her, or anyone dear to her and goes on to say ... "The time will come, the time will not be long in coming, when new ties will be formed about you- ties that will bind you yet more tenderly and strongly to the home you so adorn- the dearest ties that will ever grace and gladden you. O Miss Manette, when the little picture of a happy father's face looks up in yours, when you see your own bright beauty springing up anew at your feet, think now and then that there is a man who would give his life, to keep a life you love beside you!" - of course this pledge turns out to be prophetic.

In Paris, we have the revolutionaries Madame and Monsieur Defarge. Madame Defarge (and actually, though I forgot her, she's another one of literatures great villains) has vengeance in mind, she has a hatred of the French aristocracy, particularly as she has suffered personally at their hands. She is intent on revenge and sits knitting a secret register of the accused. There's a quiet menace about her that's chilling, she seems to watch nobody but see's everything. Her husband, though equally committed to the cause, is a more just and honest revolutionary, he was once servant to Dr Manette and was instrumental in his care after he was liberated from the Bastille.

Charles has French ancestry and has adopted his mother's surname in order to disassociate himself with his barbaric ancestors. On the morning of his wedding to Lucie, Charles tells Dr Manette his real surname, this confidence shocks Dr Manette, his worst fears are confirmed and he spirals down into madness once more, obsessively making shoes, just like in his former days in the Bastille. The knowledge is kept from Lucy and when she returns from honeymoon things are back to normal. With an aristocratic French heritage the last thing Charles Darnay should do is return to France but he is appealed to by a former servant, now imprisoned and, being a man of honour and integrity, he secretly decides to make the journey (with the reader shaking their heads in disgust at his folly.) This sets in motion a chain of events which brings practically all of the characters to Paris.

There is less comedy in this book than is usual with Dickens which is not surprising given the subject matter, his two main comic creations being the bank porter, Jerry Cruncher - who has an aversion to his wife floppin' (praying) and the fantastic Miss Pross, Lucie's governess and companion, who is an absolute gem of a character. There is also a lot of morbid humour being enjoyed by the revolutionaries.

His descriptive writing is just delicious - wine flowing like blood and blood flowing like wine - the rumble of the death carts - the constant clicking of the knitting needles - the headache curer (La Guillotine of course) and he is a vivid conjurer of images (some of which you'd rather he would not.) Just reading about this particular time in history was both fascinating and appalling.

The ending as I said earlier is phenomenal, and it's hard to say anything here without giving the plot away. What I liked about it so much was the build up which was nail bitingly thrilling. When you come to the final chapter with all it's poignancy and beauty, all you can do is sob quietly and think that there never was a literary hero as heroic as Sydney. Dickens considers it to be one of his best and it is.