a tale of two cities?

Question

i'm reading a tale of two cities now and i cant stand it, i am still in book one. it is so confusing. argh i cannot even read it and need to know when it gets good. pls help have to read for his-tory honors

Answer 1

ahhhh . . . Charles Dickens. Did you know he got paid PER WORD. No wonder his sentences are like 40 words long. That book never gets good. I am an English teacher, and Charles Dickens was the only author I ever failed a test on as a student. It would help to watch the movie. Maybe watching it and THEN reading the book would make it more bearable.

Answer 2

I love A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. Are you in high school?

I think sometimes with our fast paced society it's hard to read books over 100 years old, The language was different and they were very descritive.

However if you can get the essence of the story. The love Sidney Carlton has for Lucy. The Peril of the French Revolution. It's truly an enriching experience.

Answer 3

~The fault may not be with the book - it may lie with your inability to read. I thought it got to be good with "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times" and it only improved from there. If you find a classic like "Two Cities" to be difficult and you plan to go to college, I suggest you consider a math/science major because you will never make it in a Liberal Arts program that requires any meaningful knowledge or ability in literature. Do yourself a favor and stay away from difficult authors. If you include Dickens in that category, you may be doomed to Stephen King and Sydney Sheldon, but so it goes. What is the point of the effort, especially to an "honor" student.

And god save my kids from English teachers who can't read something so simple as Dickens. However, if they truly exist and actually get jobs, that would explain the inability of most kids to be able to read and write today.

Try on some Ayn Rand, Kurt Vonnegut, Albert Camus, Gabriel Garcia Marquez, James Joyce, Franz Kafka or Herbert Hess if you'd like to experience literature a step or two above Dickens in both effort and reward.

As a historical work, the book isn't worth much. As a resource about the life and times of the period in both England and France, it is invaluable. As simply a good read, it remains a great work and does so for good reason. But then, I read it for pleasure, not as an assignment. Each time. And will again.

Answer 4

I agree with Celestial. Dickens was paid per word so he describes every knick knack on every shelf of every room of every house in the city (or at least it seems that way). Thomas Hardy is as bad. When I had to read it, I found it was easiest to read it the way they would have over 100 years ago - read a couple pages, then go do your math homework. Read a couple pages, then go eat dinner. read a couple pages, then go listen to your favorite CD. Takign these little breaks helps you not get bogged down and when you get back to reading you have to think, "Ok, what has actually happened to ~progress the story~?"
After all, when Dickens wrote it it was the equivalent of today's soap operas and we all know how slow those things go.

Hope that helps.

Answer 5

It does get good, it just takes Dickens a while to get into the secrets of his characters. Unfortunately, this is not one of his funny books, but is quite serious. I read it a little while ago and did enjoy it, but it helps if you don't have to read it for class. Stick with it, it's worth it if only to say you've read it!

Answer 6

I don't know that this will help, but this was my experience. I read it as a freshman in high school and HATED it. But then I read it again as a senior, and thought it was one of the best books I'd ever read. Yes, I was required to read it both times. LOL But it does eventually get better...just don't know if it'll be in time to help you. :o) Good luck with it!

Answer 7

I loved that book! I read it in 7th grade for fun and had to read it again in 10th grade English. The ending always makes me cry. It was used in the 2nd Star Trek movie.

Answer 8

Granted that the story tends to back-track a bit, but if you can read it through, it all makes sense.
I've read my copy dozens of times, and I love it, and I think Dickens was just plain brilliant!