“A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it ranks among the most famous works in the history of fictional literature.”
“The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period. It follows the lives of several protagonists through these events. The most notable are Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Darnay is a French once-aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Carton is a dissipated British barrister who endeavours to redeem his ill-spent life out of his unrequited love for Darnay’s wife, Lucie Manette.”
This was one of five books that we read in 2012 as part of the Dickens bi-centenary celebrations.
Belper Book Chat 
michelebbc
/ February 16, 2012Listened to the end of the audio book on my way into work this morning. Crying in the car not a good look! Probably not very safe either. It’s an amazing book that can make you fall in love with a self-pitying alcoholic, even more so when you’ve had one of those in real life!
michelebbc
/ February 15, 2012Just watched the 1958 film version with Dirk Bogarde as Sidney Carton. Its available in full on youtube here: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Tmob9tICKIw
I thought it was a pretty creditable version, stayed fairly true to the original book although interestingly had Dr Manets ‘reveal’ at the begining rather than towards the end. Well worth watching.
belperbookchat
/ February 8, 2012Here’s a place to download a free audio version http://www.audiobooks.org/bookDesc.php?id=a-tale-of-two-cities