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    A Tale of Two Cities (stage version) (NHB Modern Plays)
    Unavailable
    A Tale of Two Cities (stage version) (NHB Modern Plays)
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    A Tale of Two Cities (stage version) (NHB Modern Plays)
    Ebook139 pages2 hours

    A Tale of Two Cities (stage version) (NHB Modern Plays)

    By Charkes Dickens

    3.5/5

    ()

    Currently unavailable

    Currently unavailable

    About this ebook

    A bold new adaptation of Dickens' classic novel.

    An epic story of love, sacrifice and redemption amidst horrific violence and world changing events, interweaving one family's intensely personal drama with the terror and chaos of the French Revolution.

    This version of A Tale of Two Cities premiered at the Royal and Derngate, Northampton in March 2014.

    'relentless' builds up the terminal velocity of a political thriller' Guardian

    'gripping' has a cinematic quality' there isn't a dull moment' Telegraph

    'an atmospheric, appealing adaptation of a novel that remains relevant to our times' The Stage

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNick Hern Books
    Release dateApr 3, 2014
    ISBN9781780014036
    Unavailable
    A Tale of Two Cities (stage version) (NHB Modern Plays)

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    Reviews for A Tale of Two Cities (stage version) (NHB Modern Plays)

    3.5/5

    37 ratings180 reviews

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    • 2/5
      All I can say about this book is "I got through it"! Without the spark notes, I would not have understood a single thing here, but I have officially read a classic because I wanted to, not because I was forced to.
    • 5/5
      Still one of my favorites and maybe the best last line of any book ever.
    • 4/5
      I started this book for two main reasons. First, I read Great Expectations last year for the second time and love it. Second, I teach A.P. European History and we study the French Revolution in detail each year. Since this book is the classic novel of the time period, it only makes sense that I read it. Now that I am finished, I am truly glad that I chose to read the book. Dickens does a fantastic job of bringing out the emotions and chaos of Paris during the Reign of Terror. From the blind hatred and violence of the Defarges and their fellow "citizens", to the love and heartache of the Manette and Darnay families, I felt immersed and connected with all the characters involved. It is easy to read the history books and learn all about the Revolution, but living the story through the mind of Dickens has given me a real appreciation of what it was like.
    • 2/5
      Documentair zeker waardevol, maar als roman echt mislukt.Geen doorlopende verhaallijn: de stukjes lijken nergens naar toe te voeren.Stilistisch: soms opflakkerend, maar over het algemeen flauw; overdreven toepassing van de spiegelingstechniek (Londen-Parijs, Darnay-Carton)nogal doorzichtig-sociaal gedreven
    • 4/5
      My favorite Dickens book!
    • 5/5
      I read this novel many years ago in high school and have seen at least one movie version over the years. I recently purchased an mp3 player with 100 classic audio novels pre-loaded and this was the first I sampled.This is quite simply one of the finest novels ever written in the English language, by an author who has several other classics to his credit. With the French Revolution as a backdrop, the story revolves around the life and family of a French aristocrat, a young man who has essentially abandoned the trappings of his hereditary titles and estates, relocated and settled in England, only to be drawn back and consumed by the fires of the Paris mob. Many faces of humanity are displayed in this work, from the cold, vengeful visage of Madame DuFarge to the selfless sacrifice of the unlikely hero, Sydney Carton.This novel has everything you could ever want, and is as deep or as simply entertaining as you want to make it. I can wholeheartedly endorse this novel as well as most others penned by Mr. Dickens.
    • 3/5
      I found this book enjoyable though not gripping. And having listened to the audio book, I regret that I may have missed many of the literary elements.
    • 5/5
      Hugely moving. Frequently hilarious. Agape.I wish there was a higher rating I could give. Fabulous, worthy, wonderful book.
    • 3/5
      Dickens places his own spin on the French Revolution in this classic novel. He captures much of the spirit of the time, especially the opposing classes of nobles and peasants, and revisits the themes which dominate so many of his novels - oppression, violence, and injustice. While A Tale of Two Cities does make a good story - I was impressed by the final sacrifice of Sydney Carton - I could not really get into the story.
    • 4/5
      Another prominent Dickens masterpiece. This novel puts a human face to the French revolution. Regardless of how true its representation of the revolution is, it depicts the suffering of many innocent people that happens in any revolution, where the tide of change sweeps the good and bad equally, and where the human perception of violent and brutal acts changes from outright condemnation to what can be described as enjoyment.
    • 4/5
      Great book in so many ways, most of which I am sure will have been covered by other reviewers, so I'm just going to go ahead and get this off my chest:Ok Charlie, I get it, it's a metaphor. Your metaphor is about as subtle as a breeze block across the head, do you really then need to spend the next paragraph explaining exactlty what it means? I'm not a complete imbecile!There, I did it. I can relax now.
    • 3/5
      A tough, but rewarding read.Chances are very great I would have never read this classic if I wasn't going to teach it. Furthermore, I would have never assigned it to high school students, and I feel guilty for doing so.It's Dickens, and the language, tone, and approach is acutely Victorian. All the sentimentality of the Victorians are there with Dr. Mannette and his daughter, Luce, as well as with Sidney Carton's own morose, fatalisitc, and subservient behavior. If you combine the aforementioned with sentences that stack dependent clauses, long appositives, and long phrases upon the independent clause or clauses, the risk of the reader losing focus becomes a real possibility. I'm glad I didn't resort to the "Ol' Cliffnotes" ruse, but it would have been totally understandable if one did.Instead, I sloughed myself through it. As much as I have prior knowledge of the French Revolution, Dickens portrayal of the bloodlust of that time was unforgettable. Such numbers who were arbitrarily chosen for victims of the guillitine, and mob mentality, Dickens conveys all too vividly--in particularly "The Grinding Wheel" chapter of the mob killing the prisoners. Although I rated A Tale of Two Cities with three stars, it is a great read, but one that requires a really great deal of concentration and amazing resolve to finish, and I am glad I did so.I plan to read more of Dickens, as soon as I can regain my literary senses of patience and resolve, all which have been expended after this one.Whew!
    • 3/5
      Very different to the other Dickens novels I have read. This is a little more cryptic, and more adventurous in its prose style. I particularly admired the style in which the dialogue during the early court case was handled. Everyone is familiar with the line that occurs right at the end of this novel, though it is worth ploughing through the sometimes tricky plot, to find out exactly how the quote fits in.
    • 4/5
      I love History, but this was a tad too slow.
    • 4/5
      A story of the France before and during the French Revolution by Charles Dickens published in 1859 is my favorite Dickens right now. The two cities are London and Paris. The French peasantry had been abused by the aristocracy and revolution broke and the lives of aristocrats was in danger of the guillotine. The story follows several protagonist as is the usual with Dickens. Charles Darnay, a former French aristocrat who gave it up because he detested the way the aristocrats were behaving. He goes to London. Upon return to France because of a letter requesting his help. Charles is taken prisoner by the revolution and sentenced to die. Charles is married to Lucy Manette and has a young daughter. Syndey Carton is a dissipated English barrister who endeavours to redeem his ill-spent life out of his unrequited love for Darnay's wife. This book is a story of love and redemption. The DeFarges operate a wine shop and are revolutionaries. Madame DeFarge is constantly knitting but is very deadly character.
      This was a audio/whispernet kindle book. The narrator did a superb job.
    • 5/5
      "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."
      And thus begins what I think is Dickens' best work. Turns of phrases that capture a period of time as though you were there. At his finest, Dickens doesn't tell stories but imprints them on your mind.
    • 5/5
      When I was halfway through this novel I contemplated putting it down and never picking it up again. But I continued reading and from that point on the plot just kept deepening and becoming increasingly intriguing. The first half is essential to understanding the story as a whole so please if you read this do not make the fatal mistake of stopping after the first half. The best feature of this book is the way everything connects at the end and the way the ending gives you an almost contradictory saddened yet rejoicing feeling. All of the various elements of the story including characters tie together at the end to make you get annoyed at yourself for even thinking of letting the book go.After reading this literary work, you will understand Dickens' famous quote, "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." The contrasting settings add an interest that I as previously stated did not initially latch onto. However, at nearly every moment of the book, this quote can apply to the situation at hand. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who stumbles upon this review and if you do read it, keep an extra close eye out for the character of Sydney Carton because the way in which Dickens develops him is truly miraculous.
    • 4/5
      Heart strings definitely pulled on this one. I never had to read this in high school, and I'm actually glad because I don't think I would have appreciated it as much. I enjoyed the blend of history, drama, and romance. The characters are all so richly developed, you really become vested in their respective journeys. I practically cried reading the last paragraph. Awesome.
    • 2/5
      Okay, so technically I haven't finished reading it but as far as I am concerned I have. Let's not be pedantic about this - I read over half and found it so excruciatingly tiresome that I couldn't force myself through the remaining pages. I looked up what happened next on wikipedia and concluded that nothing much happened next that would validate me wasting more hours or days dragging myself through a book I did not like.For a book that is "One of the most beloved of Dickens' stories" according to the quote on the front cover or "The greatest of his historical novels" I feel very cheated and rather sad too.This book starts with the famous opener: "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."That is fantastic! Reading that I thought I was going to be onto a good 'un! However, just shows that you can't judge a book by its opening paragraph.I have loved Bleak House, Great Expectations and A Christmas Carol so it's a shame I find myself giving two stars to an author I have loved in the past. I'm glad this was not my first Dickens as I do not think I would have read any others. I am very disappointed in this book as well as in part, myself for not finishing it. This would have made a much better short story I believe. There was not a plot worth speaking of and the characters were all very thin and one dimensional. Much of the French revolution was described in metaphors and complex symbolism unravelling it all was a bit like trying to find your way through a maze.I have loved Dicken's writing style, it is beautiful, humorous and full of heart, soul and humanity. However, this time it felt like digging my way through a lot of surplus words which had lost their effect long before I could appreciate them. I don't know what got into Dickens when writing this book. It felt very empty and devoid of his usual humour and interesting characters. I can't wait to read another one of his and put this one firmly at the back of my memory so that I can once again hold a high opinion of Charles Dickens.
    • 3/5
      I'm not really sure what to say about this; parts of it were really good, but huge chunks felt like filler. It's rather obvious that this was published as a serial; a substantial amount of it has the feelings of a "penny a page" hack type work. The overall story was good, but just so.much.crap in the middle of it.
    • 4/5
      First of all, Dickens deserves some credit for creating the popular image of the French Revolution. Its portrayal in movies and other books such as The Scarlet Pimpernel series is based far more on A Tale of Two Cities than on reality. He also earns some points for the fact that, being Dickens, he shows remarkable sympathy for the poor in France leading up to the revolution. Even if once the revolution begins he tends to depict them as fiendish vultures and the the entire period of the republic as just as bloody as the most intense weeks of the Terror, he shows the justification for the revolution more than many of the authors who followed him did. The story itself is serial melodrama, but it's very good serial melodrama, and holds up to rereading.
    • 4/5
      Less flowing and coherent than I expected. Sections are good (and highly quotable) reads but the frequency of quotations from this isn't a reflection of the prose throughout - overall it is very uneven. Different for Dickens, in that it is historical, but the same in that his reliance on outrageous coincidence and the Victorian trademark sentimentality are strongly present. The city hopping makes it still more bitty.
    • 3/5
      Listened to this on CD. 20 CDs. I am a Dickens fan, but this one was too much for me. To romance-y and not hilarious like Pickwick, and often kind of stiffly moralistic and prune-faced. So far this is my least favorite Dickens, by about a mile. It's still better than 90% of everything else, of course. Dickens' characters are so rich, so real, and ultimately so believable.
    • 5/5
      This was a great read! Dickens at his best!
    • 5/5
      My favorite Dickens novel. It takes a little while for all the pieces to fall into place but the story is so poignant and always makes me teary at the end. Sydney Carton is one of the best characters in English literature!
    • 2/5
      Documentair zeker waardevol, maar als roman echt mislukt.Geen doorlopende verhaallijn: de stukjes lijken nergens naar toe te voeren.Stilistisch: soms opflakkerend, maar over het algemeen flauw; overdreven toepassing van de spiegelingstechniek (Londen-Parijs, Darnay-Carton)nogal doorzichtig-sociaal gedreven
    • 5/5
      Read this book now.
    • 1/5
      Books that require more thought while reading because of archaic language are at a bit of a disadvantage. They have to be more interesting than a more modern book in order to make me want to spend additional time and use additional brain cells on the book in question. Unfortunately, this one did not. Not until the end, at least.I was bored most of the time and my mind wandered. I don't know if that's why it seemed choppy to me or if it's because the book itself is choppy. The plot might be interesting enough if i read it in a more modern tongue. I plan on reading the SparkNotes version for that reason.I didn't really connect with any of the characters until a couple at the very end. Most of the time, individual characters didn't stand out to me and i didn't know who anyone was.I could be persuaded to give this a chance at another time. Like "The Lord of the Rings", i might enjoy it more if i took my time with it.It reminded me a lot of "The Count of Monte Cristo", especially at the beginning.*Review written on August 10, 2014.*
    • 3/5
      The least Dickensy of Dickens's novels. Not my favorite, but still better than Barnaby Rudge.
    • 5/5
      A Tale of Two Cities is at once a factual horror story and a fictional romance.Set in both London and Paris at the time of The French Revolution, it offers a terrifying portrayalof the descent of human beings, both aristocrats and peasants, into murderous anarchy.That Sydney Carton, whose full story we never learn, makes the ultimate sacrifice does not balance or redeem the sheer horror of what Dickens has described.And what of Charles Darnay? - whose reckless trip plunged his family and friends into a blood soaked city - how will he face the days of his life knowing that his stupidity cost his friend his life?Charles Dickens gives us a masterful skewing of the governments of both France and England,as well as toppling their religious leaders.