A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens

I had Dickens pegged all wrong. Having never read any of his books, I had mistook him for a children's book writer (this is what happens when watching Scrooged is pretty much the only association one has to Dickens). Admittedly, since I've read exactly one of his books, I may now be mistaken in assuming he didn't write any children's books. Clearly I could remedy this by reading a little bit about him, but this review isn't about Dickens in general, but the one book in particular. My point being, I didn't expect A Tale of Two Cities to be such a drag...and gory...and really sad...and violent...and all-out depressing...and bloody. You see what I mean. Then again, what on earth did I expect about a story that takes place during the French Revolution?

The problem about a historical novel, for me, is that I generally know next to nothing about the historical setting in which it takes place. As such, I take the author's word at face value, without question. In this case, Wikipedia also informs me that the author's primary source was The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle. And while I wouldn't necessarily put Wikipedia down as a reference in a college paper (have college professors given up on this and are now just thankful their students read up on a subject at all?), it's good enough for me as I read the book and write this review.

And here's what I learned: the French Revolution really sucked. So maybe it brought about a shake-up in the monarchies, and got them to sit up and realize that starving your nation isn't exactly advantageous. But the whole business itself sounds like one of those They Live nightmares. Apparently even looking at someone cross-eyed was enough to get your head "razored" off, to paraphrase a brutally graphic line from the book, and absolutely anyone around you could end up turning you in as a traitor of the Republic. Even mourning the death of someone that was accused of being a traitor could get you killed.

Overall, Dickens paints a very detailed picture of what life was like in France and England at the time. He doesn't hold back in detailing how violent the times were, particularly when describing the mobs, such as the scene detailing the storming of the Bastille (again, Wikipedia informs me that the brutality Dickens described did, you know, actually happen). Dickens doesn't go so far as to justify the mob and their violence, but it is clear that he understands their motiviations. His descriptions do paint the revolutionary mob as essentially a pack of wild animals hungry for blood, but at the same time he's saying "hey, you push people down long enough and this is what you get." He sees that England could head in the same direction if the authorities continue to oppress the people as he described earlier in the book: "Crush humanity out of shape once more, under similar hammers, and it will twist itself into the same tortured forms. Sow the same seed of rapacious licence and oppression over again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind." Kinda seems like it would apply to the current situation in the U.S., and maybe an American Revolution is in the way, but that's...a completely different post.

The book's plot is relatively complicated as it intersects the stories of about a dozen characters. In fact, there is so much coincidence in this book you'd think there were only 50 people living in the entire world. The probability of some of these characters actually crossing paths as much as they do, over the time span in which events happen, and at the particular junctures in which they meet and cross, must be non-existant. But it makes for very good story-weaving and surprising moments.

The narration is not at all as straighforward as I expected (why I expected that I'm not sure). Quite the opposite, the narrative is poetic, archaic, stylish, metaphorical, convoluted, and very detailed. It's the kind of book that yields a ton of memorable quotes, and I'm not just talking about the "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" bit. Nearly every page has very smooth, powerful writing, which can sometimes be difficult to get through, but overall the story-telling is unique and interesting.

All in all, it was a very enjoyable book. Even though the subject matter is pretty violent, and even though the book can be really depressing at times, it's a good read and the ending is...well, I won't deny a tear or two was shed.

22 down, 30 to go.