Anna gave me a copy of The Count of Monte Cristo for my birthday, (thanks, Anna!) and at the back was a list of other similar reading suggestions. A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens, was on it and peaked my interest. We've all heard the opening line a million times (It was the best of times, it was the worst of times . . .) and I thought it might be worth a shot. The only time I've read Dickens was Great Expectations in both HS and college, and I didn't enjoy it either time.
Turns out, this made it onto my favorite books of all time list. It's about the French Revolution, which has interested me since going to some of the historical sites in Paris. (Marie Antoinette's jail cell at the Conciergerie has got to be one of the loneliest places in the world.) It took me about 60 pages to slow down my 30-minute sitcom brain and relearn savoring a well written book. Dickens was such an artist, and the plot is really, really fantastic. Two reasons it could never be a successful movie: too much beheading and Richard Harris is dead and couldn't play the lead.
2 comments:
I love that one too. In elementary school we had to memorize the entire first paragraph. In high school we had to diagram the sentence about the wine cask falling off the cart and shattering on the cobblestones while the red wine flowed through the mud like blood. I just can't get away from that book!
Count of Monte Cristo is in my bedroom in my stack of "to read". I am happy to know it is one of your favorites! Funny though, I love Great Expectations is is one of my favorites!
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