Review: A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens
My rating: 5 of 5 stars

I started reading this because my wife was reading it for a book club, and I thought it would be fun to discuss it with her, even though it's very much not my usual genre. In fact, it's dystopian, which I dislike intensely, and what's worse, it's a dystopia that actually existed (or rather, two dystopias, the Ancien Regime and the subsequent Terror). Mainly for that reason, I found it tough going for a while, even though the author's skill is such that he can give us a chapter in which no characters speak and almost nothing happens, pure exposition in his strong narrative voice, and have it be compelling. Reading it, I gained a new appreciation for the omniscient narrator as a writing technique.

Dickens' deep anger at the injustices of both the Ancien Regime and the Terror comes through with crystal clarity, and he carried me along to feel the emotions with him. And when we hit the denouement, about three-quarters of the way in, the plot finally cohered and I was gripped by the travails of the characters. Dickens also delivers an early example of what I call the Glorious Ending, where someone is so filled with love that they completely turn around a situation that's arisen out of hatred.

There's a certain amount of reliance on coincidence involved in the plot, including some fortunate events that are never explained, but it's deservedly a classic nonetheless.

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