A Tale of Two Cities

[gracedoctor07]

You probably read it in High School, somehow I didn't. I've read lots of other Dickens and love the musical Oliver! but had never before read A Tale of Two Cities

Comments

[monarq7]

When I read it back in Jr. High, I did a report on it. I started it off with the following:

"It was the worst of books, it was the worst of books."

I then skewered the book for its dullness, and my teacher gave me an A for humor. Thats when I became a semi-professional cynic. :)

I am glad you enjoyed it though. Audiobooks are king!

Hmmm

[ladylibrin]

I just might add that to my list of Librivox books once i've finished Oliver Twist and gotten the rest of the Wizard Of Oz book straightened out (*grumbles* stupid auto-sorting feature that can't be turned off). Having nice, long books that only go on one CD works so much better.

[merlinus11]

I, for one, have never found Dickens to be dull. However, one should also remember that these books were not written to be read in one sitting. He wrote most of them to be published serially in the newspaper, so you would probably have only be reading one chapter a week. Keep in mind that he was also paid by the word, so those long, intricate descriptions (which I happen to enjoy) had a side purpose as well. My favorite is most likely Great Expectations, which many consider to be the most perfect novel ever written. And, I would add, the scene where Pip gets drunk is perhaps one of the funniest passages in all of literature (and was clearly written by a man who knew exactly what it was like to be drunk)!

[gracedoctor07]

LOL I do agree that Dickens is significantly better when read gradually, over several days or weeks.

I didn't enjoy Great Expectations when I read it, but that was a long time ago... perhaps I will try it again soon.