Yes, i read the book and found it to be interesting, I had it asigned to me in the 9th grade, and found that they just loaded the work onto us, and killed the book for everyone. (see my comment)
Yes, i read the book and found it to be interesting, I had it asigned to me in the 9th grade, and found that they just loaded the work onto us, and killed the book for everyone. (see my comment)
Those are exactly my thoughts on the book. Its Dickens' the style and Sydney Carton that attract me to the book. I love the subtle irony and the wonderful descriptions that Dickens employs. And I agree that Sydney Carton, not Darnay, is the central character. Darnay and Lucie are static, mostly passive characters. Carton develops throughout the story; the events change him.
I'm entering 9th grade and I read it as a summer reading requirement. It truly was slow and boring at first. It took me like a year to get through the first trial. But I persisted in reading and I realised how great this book was. I love Dicken's sense of humor. This book is so serious yet it is quite comical in some areas. I love when he described how Monseignuer Evremonde drank his chocolate! Ha ha. Yes, I agree that many of the characters are underveloped, but Dicken's left out much of the dialogue he could have put into this book because he published wekly installments of it in a newspaper, so it was nescessary to have more narraration. This is a good book. READ IT.
I completely AGREE! Carton was the hero, not Darnay or Dr. Manette or anyone else. I love the irony in how he was a real jerk to Darnay at the beginning & he ended up giving his life for him. I didn't like the book at first either, but I love it now.
I'm 15 and read A Tale of Two Cities in grade 10 as one of our novel choices. I'll admit that when I first started into the book, I found it extremely boring; partly because it was slow moving, but also because I wasn't used to the "old english" style of writing. As I continued through the novel, I got used to Dicken's style and really got into the story line! Although I agree that Lucie and Darnay are underdeveloped characters, I don't think Dicken's meant for them to be the center of the novel, and therefore didn't find it important to dwell on their characters. Sydney Carton was obviously the character of imortance, and there's a lot to learn from him! I'd just like to tell students in high school to give A Tale of Two Cities a chance, because no matter how boring/slow/confusing you may find it in the beginning, it is well worth the read in the end!
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