A Tale of Two Cities: GREAT book.

[JeremyZ]

I just finished reading this last night. It was a bit more work to read than modern stuff, but I feel like I'm a little more worldly because of it. Run-on sentences are the main thing.

Here's my favorite quote from the book, which gives a good example of Dickens' writing style:

"Mr. Lorry looked at Jerry in considerable doubt and mistrust. That honest tradesman's manner of receiving the look, did not inspire confidence; he changed the leg on which he rested, as often as if he had fifty of those limbs, and were trying them all; he examined his finger-nails with a very questionable closeness of attention; and whenever Mr. Lorry's eye caught his, he was taken with that peculiar kind of short cough requiring the hollow of a hand before it, which is seldom, if ever, known to be an infirmity attendant on perfect openness of character."
(bookmark Loc. 6236)

(That paragraph was only two sentences!)

The ending was fantastic. It is one of those books in which things only come together fully at the end.

I'm glad I read it, I will never forget it.

For now, I need something a bit less challenging, and have started my first Agatha Christie novel, last month's Book Club book. I'll surely return to Dickens later though.

Oh, one last comment: I was VERY glad to have instant dictionary access in this book. The British archaic words had me lost at times.

[Dr. Drib]

I love the work of Charles Dickens and can recommend all of his major novels.

....and if you REALLY want some long sentences, try Henry James's Later Phase.


Don

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I love the work of Charles Dickens and can recommend all of his major novels.

....and if you REALLY want some long sentences, try Henry James's Later Phase.


Don

I've just started "The Golden Bowl" - and am wading through some of these monstrous sentence constructions. It's a bit, well, breath-taking to look at the DX screen and see no paragraph indents, no periods, etc. - and realize the entire page is one, or part of one, sentence. Wow.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by poohbear_nc

I've just started "The Golden Bowl" - and am wading through some of these monstrous sentence constructions. It's a bit, well, breath-taking to look at the DX screen and see no paragraph indents, no periods, etc. - and realize the entire page is one, or part of one, sentence. Wow.

I was both serious and joking.

If you're not familiar with the work of Henry James, may I respectfully suggest some of his short stories, or perhaps a novel from his Middle Phase [Period].

I mention this because I would hate for you to be turned off of him due to one of his more cryptic, later novels. I think he's one of the 2-3 greatest novelists in the English Language.


Don

[jinlo]

A Tale of Two Cities is one of my favorite classics. I've also read quite a few Agatha Christie novels. In fact, I used to hate reading when I was back in High School. The books assigned to me were not ones I would choose to read even now. At one point, however, I took a class called Criminals and Detectives in Literature and I read And Then There Were None by Agatha Christie (I think it's also called Ten Little Indians.) This book changed the way I viewed reading. It was no longer a chore, it was fun. If you don't like the current Agatha Christie book you're reading, I would definitely suggest not giving up on her and giving that one a try.

[poohbear_nc]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I was both serious and joking.

If you're not familiar with the work of Henry James, may I respectfully suggest some of his short stories, or perhaps a novel from his Middle Phase [Period].

I mention this because I would hate for you to be turned off of him due to one of his more cryptic, later novels. I think he's one of the 2-3 greatest novelists in the English Language.


Don

Oh - I'm not complaining - I've been through the SS and early novels. I agree with your estimation of his place in the canon. Golden Bowl & Wings of a Dove remain for me the most difficult of his novels - but I keep at them!
It was truly awesome to turn the page on the DX and see the entire screen as solid, unbroken text. Tracing out some of the inter-nested punctuation was fascinating.

[Sparrow]

Originally Posted by Dr. Drib

I was both serious and joking.

If you're not familiar with the work of Henry James, may I respectfully suggest some of his short stories, or perhaps a novel from his Middle Phase [Period].

I mention this because I would hate for you to be turned off of him due to one of his more cryptic, later novels. I think he's one of the 2-3 greatest novelists in the English Language.


Don

I got half way through 'The Turn of the Screw', and I'm not sure whether I'll go back to finish it. Is it representative of his other fiction?

I love Victorian literature generally, but 'TTotS' is a major slog.

[Dr. Drib]

Originally Posted by Sparrow

I got half way through 'The Turn of the Screw', and I'm not sure whether I'll go back to finish it. Is it representative of his other fiction?

I love Victorian literature generally, but 'TTotS' is a major slog.

Sytlistically, I would say "yes"; however, that's not one of his more enjoyable stories, although it's recognized as a classic of Literature.

I like James because of his ability to get inside his character's heads, his ability to write interior monologues. For me, the people he creates are real and alive. I love the psychology of his characters and the motivations that drive them.


Don