British Classics. A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens

British Classics. A Tale of Two Cities by Dickens

A Tale of Two Cities is one of the most thrilling narratives in the whole range of the literature of fiction. Considered apart from all the other works of Dickens, it would entitle him to a very high rank among romancers.
The total effect of the novel, both in construction and content, is remarkably strong. A careful re-reading will convince one that no event is superfluous, that every scene pictured, every character introduced, every mysterious, whispered conference, leads straight to the final catastrophe. It is in fact a notable proof of Dickens's skill in writing a novel of incident, -- the way in which he draws so many events of the Revolution into the main current of his story, leaving no circumstance to eddy by itself.
These merits and the many vivid and, in the main, true pictures of the Revolution give one good reason for calling The Tale of Two Cities a great novel. From it, a host of readers will continue to receive their first and most lasting impression of a great historical event, and at the same time will be exalted in mood by the heroic self-sacrifice of Sidney Carton.

Charles Dickens (1812-1870) has been remembered in history as one of the greatest authors of the Victorian era. Not only having received tremendous success while he was alive, Charles Dickens' work continues to be read as voraciously as when it was first published. Because of his tremendous popularity, Charles Dickens has secured himself the position of not only being one of the greatest writers of his generation, but one of the most celebrated writers of all time. In addition to his writing, Charles Dickens was a prominent activist, dedicating much of his life to fighting for better social conditions for the poor as well as powerfully advocating for better laws to protect the rights of children. When a piece of literature refers to either unfair working and living conditions, or else portrays the state of a morally corrupt social class, the writing is thus referred to as Dickensian. Much of literary traditions thus owe their inspiration from the writing of Charles Dickens.