A Tale of Two Cities

A Tale of Two Cities
by: Charles Dickens

Review
I absolutely loved this book. I was slow to get into it, but that's to be expected since it is written in a different style than I'm used to and it was an assigned book in English.

My favorite part was at the end when Sydney Carton meets the girl Charles Darnay had befriended. She instantly recognizes that he's not Darnay, but they give each other comfort until the end, and Carton truly feels happy.

I never noticed before how many things incorporate the idea of people looking alike and using it to their advantage or causing havoc, also seen in Shakespeare's "Two Gentlemen of Verona".

Before I read A Tale of Two Cities, I had a murky conception of this book being a story about two gentlemen wanting to see what life was like in the other's city, a notion I discerned from a kid's book about two frogs. After I got the gist of the story I remembered a Wish Bone episode I had seen, and everything fit into place.

One thing that helped me to understand this book and lessen my confusion was reading "The Scarlet Pimpernel" by Baroness Emmuska Orczy. It is a much simpler book to read, and less in depth, but just as enjoyable in my opinion.

La Cigale et La Fourmi

La Cigale, ayant chanté
Tout l'été,
Se trouva fort dépourvue
Quand la bise fut venue.
Pas un seul petit morceau
De mouche ou de vermisseau.
Elle alla crier famine
Chez la fourmi sa voisine,
La priant de lui prêter
Quelque grain pour subsister
Jusqu'à la saison nouvelle.
« Je vous paierai, lui dit-elle,
Avant l'oût, foi d'animal,
Intérêt et principal. »
La Fourmi n'est pas prêteuse;
C'est là son moindre défaut.
« Que faisiez-vous au temps chaud?
Dit-elle à cette emprunteuse.
--Nuit et jour à tout venant
Je chantais, ne vous déplaise.
--Vous chantiez? j'en suis fort aise.
Eh bien! dansez maintenant. »

Jean de LA FONTAINE
Fables, livre I (1668)


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