A Tale of Two Cities

Despite being one of the most lauded books in history, A Tale of Two Cities has a lot of contradictory features. It is nonlinear and disconnected; it is a "narrative," but a very lengthy one at that; it is historical drama, but ignores much of the history; and, given the source material, it runs multiple dangers of being derivative. Under the touch of a master, though, the work becomes a classic.

A Tale of Two Cities is a high-quality historical fiction by Charles Dickens, set amid the horrific turmoil of the famous French Revolution. It reduces an event of tremendous complexity to the size of a family saga, with a group of characters that encompasses a vicious ogress and an anti-hero - who are as believable as any in contemporary literature.

Even though A Tale of Two Cities is the least conventional of the author's works, it highlights many of his persistent themes, including incarceration, injustice, social chaos, resurrection, and the sacrifice that produces rebirth. It is not surprising that even to this day, this novel is still regarded as one of the best novels set in Paris.

Author: Charles Dickens

Year of Release: 1859

Goodreads Score: 3.86 stars (from 877,986 reviews)