Confused

[Lisette (8th grade)]

We had to read Charles Dickens: A Tale of Two Cities, in our Freshman 1 English class and what I don't understand is the book and I think it's irrelevant because it's not like we're going to use this book in real life!!!

[Neverland1247]

Give me a list of books that you think WILL actually benefit you in real life... personally, I don't think you can get any realer than death and love. There are things called "themes" and "morals" which somehow manage to overpower time settings, you know.

[Pensive]

You can learn a lot from it in your real life. Look! What a good diplomat Madam Defarge was. You can benifit from some of the intelligence of Sydney Carton. You can enrich your vocabulary and most of all you can gain pleasure.

It is a very interesting book and it reveals some historical facts about French Revolution.

[sdr4jc]

I loved this book! I can see how you find it difficult to apply to today's life, I mean, it was centered on the French Revolution. But any story, no matter how old or new, even fiction like this, can have a whole host of themes and applications. The principles are still the same, no matter what form or shape they take on. I found this book to be rather heavy and discouraging. However, it is still a wonderful peice of literature and I feel confident that I will read it again sometime. Sydney Carton was a classic scapegoat and I learned a lot about myself through him.

[Unspar]

If real life has taught me anything, it's that I should have no part in what's useful. Stick to what's fun, interesting, important, and enlightening. Useful is how I describe my pots and pans.

In case anyone wants to challenge my use of the word "useful," I don't mean "something that has a use" because everything has a use. I mean "something that is of use" or "something that is used," which is more basic and objective.

[Rosie Cotton]

How could you not love "A Tale of Two Cities?" Carton's sacrifice is so gorgeous, it's unbelievable. And what's more, Carton claims that he's unliked and that no one will miss him when he's gone. Of course they will! As proved with Lucie. But, what's more, he gets to hear it before his death. FROM THE SEAMSTRESS!

I love Darnay, I love Carton, I love Lucie, and I love Dr. Manette, and Mr. Lorry, and Madame Defarge is beautifully unnerving. Her and her infernal knitting! When she's first introduced and I'd never even heard the story, and I went, "She's creepy," that's called phenomenal writing. Dickens is just a phenomenal writer! I wish I could write like that, on a time-limit for goodness sakes! Some of Dickens' sentences, I just sit there and say, "Mr. Dickens, did that take you three months to think that sentence up?" Because they're just so beautiful.

It's just altogether beautiful. One thing I've always thought though: What happens when Darnay breaks out of his drug enduced stupor? What'll he say? :banana:

How's it useful today? You can still be a Carton in today's world. Yes he was somewhat cold, bumbling, detached, an alcoholic. But on top of this all, he showed his worth as a person. Wouldn't you liked to be revered? The seamstress lets us know that Carton isn't as useless as he thought himself to be. Would you face the guillotine in the place of another?

And I don't think it was just for Lucie. Though he loved Lucie I think he felt a fraternal connection with Darnay. And unlike other literary characters, (hem hem, anyone say "Bronte Sisters"...Rochester, Heathcliff) he had the moral fortitude to realize that though Lucie did not love him in that way, Darnay was still a good man, and that Lucie was off limits. Married.

I also find it so dramatic that Carton thought himself to be so perfectly useless. But think about it. He saved a wife from widowhood, a child from fatherlessness, he spared a son in law. He was a hero.

I really think Carton is someone that we can learn something from.

REMEMBER SYDNEY CARTON!

[Charles Darnay]

What a lovely rant...... and I agree with every word of it.... i think.

It being number 2 on my list of fav novels - and Charles Darnay being my fav literary characters, I must add my 2 cents - I dont know why, but oh well.

There is certainly much that we can learn from this novel, every Dickens' novel has some great morals to them. A Tale of Two Cities as was pointed out teaches us the values of life and love. It is a turly authentic window to history, those are always valuable.

It teaches a man to be chivalrous

It makes a commentary on father-son relationships (Marquis d'Evremonde and Charles Darnay) and father-daughter relationships (Dr and Lucy Manette)

And so much more.....

[Rosie Cotton]

What a lovely rant...... and I agree with every word of it.... i think.

It being number 2 on my list of fav novels - and Charles Darnay being my fav literary characters, I must add my 2 cents - I dont know why, but oh well.

There is certainly much that we can learn from this novel, every Dickens' novel has some great morals to them. A Tale of Two Cities as was pointed out teaches us the values of life and love. It is a turly authentic window to history, those are always valuable.

It teaches a man to be chivalrous

It makes a commentary on father-son relationships (Marquis d'Evremonde and Charles Darnay) and father-daughter relationships (Dr and Lucy Manette)

And so much more.....

I'm with you on those Darnay. And don't worry. I think Darnay is superbly admirable too. ;)

It's probably on my list of favorites...maybe 3 or 4. One and two are already occupied.