"A wonderful fact to reflect upon, that every human creature is constituted to be that profound secret and mystery to every other. A solemn consideration, when I enter a great city by night, that every one of those darkly clustered houses encloses its own secret; that every room in every one of them encloses its own secret; that every beating heart in the hundreds of thousands of breasts there, is, in some of its imaginings, a secret to the heart nearest it!"

It has been quite some time since I’ve read Charles Dickens, excepting of course A Christmas Carol, which is an absolute favorite of mine, and a handful of his other Christmas short stories. Upon joining Goodreads eight years ago, A Tale of Two Cities was the very first book I entered as ‘want to read’. Well, time flies and here I am finally having picked up my copy and actually reading this beloved-by-many classic. While this one doesn’t take the prize for most cherished of novels on my personal list, I absolutely admired this masterpiece. In fact, it is a work that for me was more appreciated as a whole rather than for its individual parts. I needed to complete this to fully grasp the plot and the overall merit of the novel. The final portion was entirely compelling and quite brilliant, in fact.

This is a novel, as the title suggests, of two cities… that of London and that of Paris. It is a historical fiction work beginning in 1775 which then takes us further into the depths and horrors of the French Revolution. There is an abundance of mystery that I was not expecting, but thoroughly enjoyed. In addition to the juxtaposition of the two cities, we also see the contrasts between good and evil, hope and despair, death and rebirth. As suggested in my opening quote, secrets abound and are slowly revealed. Characters are drawn well, as one would naturally expect from Dickens, although I never quite felt the emotional tug towards any of them, until near the end. But when I did reach this point, gosh it was worth it! Sydney Carton… an unforgettable man… sigh. "I have had the weakness, and have still the weakness, to wish you to know with what a sudden mastery you kindled me, heap of ashes that I am, into fire - a fire, however, inseparable in its nature from myself, quickening nothing, lighting nothing, doing no service, idly burning away." This is a love story, a tale of injustice, of human suffering, and of sacrifice.

When the reader steps through the gates of Paris, one can feel the tension and sense the shadow of what is to come… the atmosphere is so charged with insecurity, suspicion, and dread. "The time was to come, when that wine too would be spilled on the street-stones, and when the stain of it would be red upon many there." The madness of the masses is frightening - there are no apologies and no exceptions. If you are born with the wrong blood, happen to land in the wrong place at the wrong time, or sympathize with the accused and the condemned, your life is in danger. The threat of the Guillotine looms like a monster over the people of the city. "Every day, through the stony streets, the tumbrils now jolted heavily, filled with Condemned. Lovely girls; bright women, brown-haired, black-haired, and grey; youths; stalwart men and old; gentle born and peasant born; all red wine for La Guillotine, all daily brought into light from the dark cellars of the loathsome prisons, and carried to her through the street to slake her devouring thirst. Liberty, equality, fraternity, or death; - the last, much the easiest to bestow, O Guillotine!" It is heartless and pities no one, much like Madame Defarge.

I feel as if I should be providing a more ‘scholarly’ review of this tremendous work, but I’m not quite up to the task; and you can find a plethora of excellent and more erudite reviews all over Goodreads! I’m really just here to express my personal reaction and feelings towards this one. Quite simply, the writing is excellent, but the story itself failed to grab me initially. At this same time last year, I read Les Misérables – an extraordinary piece of literature without a doubt. I could not help comparing this Dicken’s novel with that of Hugo’s. What was lacking in Two Cities for me was the existence of a character like Jean Valjean, a character so vivid and so sharply drawn that it seems I literally spent weeks in the mind of this tortured soul. Probably, it is not fair to make this comparison, but there you have it. I felt distanced from Dickens’ characters quite a bit more… at least for a good portion of the book. I’m very pleased that I persevered, however, as I was able to reap the benefits of my commitment upon finishing the last words. The development of Sydney Carton was rewarding and the ending of this tale was breathtaking. I don’t often re-read novels, but this one is certainly going to fall in the category of ‘even better the second time around’ – I feel certain of this. My rating is at a firm 4 stars, with the hope that someday the re-read will edge it up to the full 5.

"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."

به نام او

اولین اثری که از دیکنز خواندم (هرچند دیر) مرا شیفته این نویسنده انگلیسی کرد، در مجموع با ادبیات کلاسیک انگلستان میانه چندانی ندارم، نه اینکه بدم بیاید در واقع چندان مورد پسندم نیست، ولی انگار دنیای دیکنز چیز دیگری‌ست و از آن رمانتیسیم مرسوم در آثار او خبری نیست، داستان دو شهر که چنین بود. داستانی درباره دو شهر لندن و پاریس در بحبوحه وقوع انقلاب کبیر فرانسه و استقرار دولت انقلابی پس از آن، تسلط دیکنز بر داستان، تالستوی را فرایاد من می‌آورد (گویا خود تالستوی هم دیکنز را بسیار می‌پسندیده است)، تسلط از این جهت که نویسنده به معنای تام و تمام دانای کل است و محیط بر داستان، او خیر و صلاح شخصیتها و درستی و نادرستی وقایع را بیش از دیگران می‌داند و به همین جهت به خود حق قضاوت می‌دهد. شاید خوانندگان امروزی از این وجه چندان خوششان نیاید و دنباله‌رو نویسنده‌ای باشند که با امور به صورت نسبی برخورد می‌کند و حتی اجازه کوچکترین قضاوتی به خود و مخاطب نمی‌دهد، ولی چه کنم که طبع من چنین است و این سنخ نویسندگان را بسیار دوست دارم و بسیار می‌ستایم.
دیکنز در این رمان بیشتر به علل وقوع انقلاب (ظلمهای اشراف به مردمان فرودست) و افراطها و ظلمهایی که نتیجه هر انقلابی‌ست و به سرعت مظلومان دیروز را به ظالمان امروز تبدیل می‌،کند می‌پردازد و با قلمی قوی و طنزی تند و تیز همه را یکسر از تیغ انتقاد خود می‌گذراند و آنگاه فضای روشنی برای قضاوت پیش روی خواننده قرار می‌دهد
نکته حائز اهمیت دیگری که در اینجا باید بگویم طنز بی‌نظیر دیکنز است، طنزی که من در کمتر نویسنده ای سراغ دارم، طنزی هوشمندانه و بسیار کارا که مهمترین ابزار نویسنده برای انتقاد از همه‌چیز و همه کس است که در ادامه سه بخش کوتاه از این نوع طنز را می‌آورم.
و در آخر اینکه مطالعه کامل این رمان خوب را به دوستان توصیه می‌کنم نه خلاصه‌هایی که بی جهت در رده رمان‌های نوجوان قرار گرفته است و حتی رنگ و بویی هم از شاهکار دیکنز ندارد. و از میان ترجمه ها، ترجمه بسیار خوب و نسبتا مهجور مرحوم مهرداد نبیلی را پیشنهاد می‌کنم که توسط نشر فرزان روز منتشر شده و از ترجمه آقای یونسی به مراتب بهتر، سبک دیکنز، خصوصا طنز منحصر به فرد او، را منعکس کرده است.

و اما بخشهایی از رمان:

«عالیجناب، پس از آنکه چهار خدمتکار خویش را از بار مسئولیت آزاد کرده کاکائویی مبارک را میل فرمود، فرمان داد تا دروازه‌های قدس الاقداس را بگشایند، و قدم بیرون گذاشت. و آن گاه چه خضوع، چه کرنش و چرب‌زبانی، چه اظهار بندگی، و چه مایه خاکساری که بر او ایثار نشد! ابراز بندگی جسمی و روحی چنان بود که سهمی برای خداوند باقی نمی‌گذاشت، و چه بسا این هم دلیلی بود که پرستندگان عالیجناب از این نظر ناراحتی و ترسی به خود راه نمی‌دادند.»

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«در دهکده شایعه‌ای جان گرفته بود، یا بهتر بگوییم همانند اهالی دهکده نیمه‌جانی داشت.»

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«گیوتین در میان همگان موضوع رایجی برای مزاح بود، می‌گفتند بهترین داروی سردرد است، بی‌برو برگرد از سفید شدن موی سر پیشگیری می‌کند، پوست را لطافت خاص می‌بخشد، تیغی ملی است که از بیخ می‌تراشد، و کسی که او را می‌بوسد از پنجره کوچکی به بیرون نظر می‌افکند و در سبدی عطسه می‌کند. گیوتین رفته‌رفته نشانه تجدید حیات بشر شده نزد بسیاری جای صلیب را گرفته بود، زیرا اینان صلیب معمول خویش را به کناری گذارده و به جای آن مدل‌هایی از گیوتین بر سینه حمل می‌کردند و به جای صلیب به این مدل اعتقاد داشتند و نسبت به آن مراسم احترام به جای می‌آوردند.»

For Wessa, I have read this novel.
ONLY FOR WESSA.

Might mess around and reread soon

What a book! After reading this, I've come to appreciate Charles Dickens as so much more than "that guy who wrote the Christmas Carol."

One thing I love is his ability to create a perfect storyline. Everything in this book fits together in the end like a perfect, intricate puzzle. Components that were thought to be gratuitous at first will come back in major ways at later points in the book. Maybe it's just me, but I adore authors who blatantly show that they know exactly where they're going with every sentence of the story. The ending packs a serious punch, too.

The characters in this book are exceptional, as well. My personal favorite was Madame Defarge. It's probably me and my general love for "the bad guy" in stories, but I loved every scene she was in. I also like the fact the Dickens gave her a reason for hating the aristocracy so much, as compared to her husband. The wood-sawyer/roadmender was interesting, too, if only for entertainment value. But of course, I'm sure anyone going around screaming, "My little guillotine! Off with her head! Off his his head! Hahahaha!" for no apparent reason except to please the majority might interest anybody.

This book was also a strong commentary regarding the Revolution. It was interesting to see the ironic way in which Dickens compares the aristocracy to the angry revolutionaries. The revolutionaries are mad for the aristocracy hurting and killing the innocent. Then, they turn right around and start killing plenty of innocent people for the sake of watching their heads roll.

I understand this book isn't for everyone. The plot is complex, there are plenty of characters to keep track of, and it takes a long time to get exciting. But, trust me, if you stick with it, it will pay off in the end.