Eastern Tales Vintage Classics Ebook Photo
Eastern Tales Vintage Classics Ebook Image
Eastern Tales Vintage Classics Ebook Image
Eastern Tales Vintage Classics Ebook Pic
Eastern Tales Vintage Classics Ebook Pic
Eastern Tales Vintage Classics Ebook Picture
Eastern Tales Vintage Classics Ebook
Lucie Manette has been disunited from her father for eighteen years while he languished in Paris’s most dire 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 versus the backdrop of the terrifying brutality of the French Revolution.
- Amazon Sales Rank: #182607 in eBooks
- Published on: 2010-06-01
- Released on: 2010-06-01
- Format: Kindle eBook
- Number of items: 1
| Review”Beginning and ending with a heap of of English literature’s most widely known and esteemed lines, Charles Dickens’ A Tale of Two Cities thrives on tension and conflict, all set versus a bloody backdrop of the French Revolution . . . . Through the senses, Dickens transports us deeper and deeper into another era with each turn of the page. Smell the acidity of red wine as it spills on the streets and ominously stains the faces, hands, and feet of peasants who lap it up in desperation; feel the competing emotions of heartache and hope as one of Lucie’s suitors stands trial; listen the cries of the raging mob and the clangs of their weapons as they storm the Bastille; see the glint of the guillotine as it falls swiftly to it is victim below. The novel’s sense of urgency and intimacy will draw you in and propel you through one of the most tumultuous times in history.” –Oprah’s Book Club
”What may be said regarding a book which provides us with the single finest opening line in English literature, outside of Genesis 1:1 in the KJV? Dickens was, without any doubt whatsoever, the finest writer of historical creative writing of recognized artisti value / romance fiction of the nineteenth century.” –AllReaders.com
From the PublisherThe classic, definitive, world-famous Nonesuch Press edition of 1937, in the end available again and bound in leather and linen. The text in these stunning volumes is taken from the 1867 Chapman and Hall edition, which became known as the Charles Dickens edition and was the last edition to be corrected by the author himself. The Nonesuch edition holds full-color illustrations chosen by Dickens himself, by artists including Hablot Knight Browne (“Phiz”), George Cruikshank, John Leech, Robert Seymour, and George Cattermole.
The Nonesuch Dickens reproduces the firstborn elegance of these finelooking editions. Books are printed on natural cream-shade high quality stock, quarter bound in bonded leather with cloth sides, include a ribbon marker, and feature special printed endpapers. Each volume is wrapped in a protective, clear acetate jacket.
The books are available as person volumes, or as sets. The six-volume set holds Oliver Twist, Bleak House, Christmas Books, Nicholas Nickleby, David Copperfield, and Great Expectations together with Hard Times. The three-volume set holds A Tale of Two Cities, Little Dorrit, and The Life and Adventures of Martin Chuzzlewit.
From the Inside FlapIntroduction by Simon Schama
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163 of 171 people found the following review helpful.
 A Tale of Two Cities
By mp
The more Dickens I read, the more impressed I become at his skill as a writer. No matter the form, be it short, long, or a monolith like some of his best works, Dickens excels at changing his style of characterization and plot to fit whatever mode he writes in. “A Tale of Two Cities” is one of his shorter novels, and he manages to make the most of out of the allotted space. The compression of the narrative sacrifices Dickens’s accustomed character development for plot and overall effect, but what we get is still phenomenal.
“A Tale of Two Cities” begins in 1775, with Mr. Lorry, a respectable London banker, meeting Lucie Manette in Paris, where they recover Lucie’s father, a doctor, and mentally enfeebled by an unjust and prolonged imprisonment in the Bastille. This assemblage, on their journey back to England, meets Charles Darnay, an immigrant to England from France who makes frequent trips between London and Paris. Upon their return to England, Darnay finds himself on trial for spying for France and in league with American revolutionaries. His attorney, Stryver, and Stryver’s obviously intelligent, if morally corrupt and debauched, assistant, Sydney Carton, manage to get Darnay exonerated of the charges against him. Darnay, a self-exiled former French aristocrat, finds himself compelled to return to France in the wake of the French Revolution, drawing all those around him into a dangerous scene.
Dickens portrays the French Revolution simplistically, but powerfully, as a case of downtrodden peasants exacting a harsh revenge against an uncaring aristocratic, even feudal, system. The Defarge’s, a wine merchant and his wife, represent the interests of the lower classes, clouded by hatred after generations of misuse. Darnay, affiliated by birth with the French aristocracy, is torn between sympathy for his native country in its suffering, and his desire to be free of his past.
“A Tale of Two Cities” is a novel driven by historical circumstance and plot, much like the works of Sir Walter Scott, wherein the characters themselves assert less agency, finding themselves forced to deal with the tide of epic events. Richard Maxwell’s introduction to this newest Penguin edition does a good job outlining the themes of doubling and literary influence that Dickens works with. One specific influence I discerned in reading “A Tale” that Maxwell doesn’t metion is Edmund Burke’s “Reflections on the Revolution in France,” which if nothing else, gives the feeling that the rampant violence of the early revolution and the later Reign of Terror has brought about an irreversible change in human nature. While Dickens remains cautiously optimistic throughout the novel that France can recover, the tone of the novel speaks to the regression of humanity into a more feral, primal state, rather than advertise any real hope for its enlightened progress.
Despite the supposed dichotomy between England and France in the novel, Dickens seems to suggest throughout that there are no real differences, due to the way that human nature is consistently portrayed. With England in between two revolutions, American and French, Lucie’s sensitivity early in the novel to hearing the “echoing” footsteps of unseen multitudes indicates a palpable fear that the “idyllic” or “pastoral” England he tries to portray is not exempt from the social discontent of America or France. In this light, stolid English characters like Miss Pross, Jerry Cruncher, and Jarvis Lorry appear to almost overcompensate in their loyalty to British royalty. In a novel that deals with death, religion, mental illness, I could go on and on for a week, but I won’t. One of those novels whose famous first and last lines are fixed in the minds of people who’ve never even read it, “A Tale of Two Cities” demands to be read and admired.
247 of 265 people found the following review helpful.
 An Eighth Grader reviews A Tale of Two Cities
By A
This book is incredible. I read it last year (in eighth grade), and I love it. I love Charles Dickens’ language and style. Whoever is reading this may have little or no respect for my opinions, thinking that I am to young to comprehend the greatness of the plot and language, and I admit that I probably do not completely appreciate this classic piece of literature. I do read above a 12th grade level, although that doesn’t count for a whole lot. It took me a while to get into this book. In fact, I dreaded reading it for a long time. But nearer to the end, I was drawn in by the poignant figure of a jackal, Sydney Carton. In his story I became enthralled with this book, especially his pitiful life. After I read and cried at Carton’s transformation from an ignoble jackal to the noblest of persons, I was able to look back over the parts of the book that I had not appreciated, and realize how truly awesome they are. I learned to appreciate all of the characters, from Lucy Manette to Madame Defarge. I also was affected by all of the symbolism involved with both the French Revolution, and the nature of sinful man, no matter what the time or place. My pitiful review could never do justice to this great book, please don’t be discouraged by my inability.
102 of 108 people found the following review helpful.
Turbulent times in London and Paris
By Peter Reeve
The period from 1775 – the outbreak of the American Revolution – to 1789 – the storming of the Bastille – is the turbulent setting of this uncharacteristic Dickens novel. It is his only novel that lacks comic relief, is one of only two that are not set in nineteenth-century England and is also unusual in lacking a primary central character. London and Paris are the real protagonists in this tale, much as the cathedral was the ‘hero’ of Hugo’s Notre Dame de Paris. Dickens was writing at a time of great turmoil in his personal life, having just separated from his wife, and no doubt the revolutionary theme was in tune with his mental state.
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