Book Reviews 2020: A Tale of Two Cities

It is one of the most famous openings in literature: “It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way—in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only.”

And I had never read the story. I had seen the movies decades ago but the book wasn't ever required for any class.  I finally got all the way through Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities by means of Hoopla's audiobooks. This was an amazing journey through the world of 1780s Paris and London.  What a challenging time to live through. The violence inflicted on the poor- the cruel and unusual punishments for crime- the social issues of the day that Charles Dickens was well aware of. Dr. Manette,  Jarvis Lorry, Sydney, Charles Darney and Lucie  live in this world. 

Darney left his aristocratic life behind and made a new life in London. Dr. Manette, locked up in the Bastille for 18 years by Darney's father and uncle for trying to do the right thing. And in the end, Darney is sentenced  to death for their crimes.

Sydney arranged to  switch places with Darney and get him and his family out of France. And his unspoken thoughts waiting for the end is one of the most famous soliloquies in literature:

“I see a beautiful city and a brilliant people rising from this abyss, and, in their struggles to be truly free, in their triumphs and defeats, through long years to come, I see the evil of this time and of the previous time of which this is the natural birth, gradually making expiation for itself and wearing out.

I see the lives for which I lay down my life, peaceful, useful, prosperous and happy, in that England which I shall see no more. I see Her with a child upon her bosom, who bears my name. I see her father, aged and bent, but otherwise restored, and faithful to all men in his healing office, and at peace. I see the good old man [Lorry], so long their friend, in ten years' time enriching them with all he has, and passing tranquilly to his reward.

I see that I hold a sanctuary in their hearts, and in the hearts of their descendants, generations hence. I see her, an old woman, weeping for me on the anniversary of this day. I see her and her husband, their course done, lying side by side in their last earthly bed, and I know that each was not more honored and held sacred in the other's soul than I was in the souls of both.

I see that child who lay upon her bosom and who bore my name, a man winning his way up in that path of life which once was mine. I see him winning it so well, that my name is made illustrious there by the light of his. I see the blots I threw upon it, faded away. I see him, fore-most of just judges and honoured men, bringing a boy of my name, with a forehead that I know and golden hair, to this place—then fair to look upon, with not a trace of this day's disfigurement—and I hear him tell the child my story, with a tender and a faltering voice.

It is a far, far better thing that I do than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to than I have ever known.” 

I wept as he met his end.