A Tale of Two Cities (Classic) (Buddy Read)

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Title: A Tale of Two Cities
Series: -----
Author: Charles Dickens
Rating: 5 of 5 Stars
Genre: Classic Literature
Pages: 443


Synopsis:
A Tale set during the times of the French Revolution which follows a French family living in England.
A story of Hope and Redemption even during the worst of times.

My Thoughts:
Fan-phracking-tastic! Having read this in the late 90's, then again back in '07, my decision to re-read Dickens every decade or so seems to be paying off.
This was just as good, if not better than previous reads and it was in no way diminished by being a re-read.

I thought Dickens did a masterful job of portraying the characters. Not one single person was a Superman with no flaws, but all had their strengths and weaknessess and Dickens used that to make them interact in such a way that it was more than believable.

Darnay was a polished but emotionally naive Frenchman. Carton was a diamond in the rough that only shined in the last minutes of his life. Lucie was a pillar of strength to her husband while putting her only daughter into harms way. Dr. Mannette survived the Bastille, rescued his son-in-law, only to see him re-taken by the Republic and Mannette himself reverting psychologically to his prison days. Defarge wants Justice but not untold bloodshed. Madame Defarge is hard and implacable and yet it is love that destroys her in  the end.

I loved this.

And I really enjoyed doing a buddy read with Book Cupidity as well. It was fun to see the other's updates and comments. Good times.