“An Oral Book Review of Charles Dickens’ masterpiece: A Tale of Two Cities”

(Written in 2003 for Public Speaking)

Charles Dickens, the second of eight children, was born in 1812 in Landport, London, to John and Elizabeth Dickens. His father was a clerk in the navy pay office. The family moved to London in 1815, to Chatham in 1817, and back to London in 1823. When Dickens’s father was imprisoned for not paying his debt, Charles was taken out of school in 1824 and sent to work in Warren’s blacking-warehouse. When the debt was paid, Charles was sent back to Wellington House Academy for three whole years. At age 15, he left school, and became a solicitor’s clerk for two years, and then a shorthand reporter in the law courts and a parliamentary reporter. On April 2, 1836, he married Catherine Hogarth and raised ten children. Among the most well-known books that he wrote were these: The Pickwick Papers, Oliver Twist, Nicholas Nickleby, The Old Curiosity Shop, A Christmas Carol, David Copperfield, Bleak House, and A Tale of Two Cities. On June 9, 1870, Charles Dickens died at the age of 58. He was buried in the Poet's Corner of Westminster Abbey in London.

A Tale of Two Cities was first published serially in All the Year Round from April 30 to November 26 1859 and in eight monthly parts from June to December in the same year. The novel appeared in volume form in November 1859.

Our world today understands neither the concepts of justice or mercy, nor does it understand the concept of repentance. I chose to review this book because these concepts, so misunderstood by our world, flow throughout the novel. This book teaches us that the human spirit, distorted by systems, falsehoods, and by fraudulent philosophies, produces distorted societies. In addition, Charles Dickens gives us an accurate depiction of the evil spirit that rushed throughout the whole French Revolution, where justice and forgiveness was replaced with injustice and hatred, where good was called evil, and evil likewise good, where chaos and confusion routed peace. Seeing characters such as Sydney Carton completely changing his life around, tells the reader that individuals can change their lives for the better, no matter how impossible it may seem, for “all things are possible with God.”

A Tale of Two Cities is an historical fiction novel because it is based on the events that happened during the French Revolution. The book casts characters with fictional names into real historical events and settings. In addition, such details concerning the prisons, cities, and revolutionary spirit of France are parallel to the actual historic period and times.


Having not read much of Dickens’ writings, I found this book arduous to read at times, especially in the beginning. I was confused at the outset of the novel by such expressions as “being buried alive for eighteen years” and “being recalled to life.” However, as I continued to read, learning Dickens’ style and terminology, I found the book very enjoyable and easy to read. I thought the characters and story line was well thought out and that the book was well written. Based on these reasons, I would give this book a very good rating.

The way he uses the two main characters, Charles Evrémonde and Sydney Carton, has a great hinge in the plot. Charles Evrémonde is a young Frenchman who, being quite disgusted with how bad the French nobility was treating the peasants, turns his back on his inheritance and goes to live in England. Having renounced his last name because of all the evil associated with it, he changes it to Darnay. All throughout the book, he displays courage under trials, respect for lawful authority, forgiveness for all offenses committed against him, a selfless love for others. Though Sydney Carton may look like Charles Darnay’s twin, both seem to be foils for one another. Carton does not find much interest in life and likes to spend his time getting intoxicated. At the outset, Carton hates Darnay because Darnay has done good things all his life while Carton has not. Yet, a great change gradually comes upon Carton and he totally reverses his attitude towards life, alcohol, and the world, and he dies a martyr’s death on the scaffold. Mr. Jerry Cruncher is another interesting character. At the beginning of the novel, Mr. Cruncher is a despicable man. Though he was baptized as a child, he seems to hate God and all prayer. Even though it appears that he will never change his bad ways, he finally turns his repentant heart towards God as he renounces his evil ways and promises to never interfere with his wife’s prayers. Lucie Manette is a young and devout Christian woman. She has a great compassion and mercy for the downtrodden and is full of every good virtue. Later in the story, Charles marries Lucie Manette. Some time later in the story, Charles has to go to France to wrap up some unfinished business. However, when he arrives, he is arrested, found guilty on an unjust charge, and is imprisoned by the Revolutionaries. From there, the story revolves around France and the heroic and valiant ending ensues.

The characters seem real and alive because they are given a credible portrayal. The innocent men and women express real human emotions that would have been present in the people at that time: fear and sadness. The Revolutionaries, on the other hand, are cruel, bloodthirsty, inhumane, insane, and murderous men and women, acting as Satan’s minions as they perform their atrocious acts and execute thousands and thousands of innocent people all in the name of the Masonic motto: liberty, equality, and fraternity.

This book is just such a wonderful story, and I most wholeheartedly recommend that you read it sometime in your life. By reading this book, you will learn about heroic virtue and about the real truth of what really happened during the French Revolution, according to the common man’s point of view. By reading this book, you will see how incorrect are our deceptively rewritten history books, used as the staple product for most of the schools, colleges, and universities of America, are. By reading this book, you too will see that good ideas and motives (like liberty and fraternity) can become a caricature and they can be transformed and twisted into the direct opposite of themselves (such as repression, division, and chaos).