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A Tale of Two Cities [Tantor]
- Narrated by: Simon Vance
- Length: 13 hrs and 39 mins
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Publisher's summary
This novel provides a highly charged examination of human suffering and human sacrifice, private experience and public history, during the French Revolution.
A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens's most exciting novels. Set against the backdrop of the French Revolution, it tells the story of a family threatened by the terrible events of the past. Doctor Manette was wrongly imprisoned in the Bastille for 18 years without trial by the aristocratic authorities. Finally released, he is reunited with his daughter, Lucie, who despite her French ancestry has been brought up in London. Lucie falls in love with Charles Darnay, another expatriate, who has abandoned wealth and a title in France because of his political convictions. When revolution breaks out in Paris, Darnay returns to the city to help an old family servant, but there he is arrested because of the crimes committed by his relations. His wife, Lucie, their young daughter, and her aged father follow him across the channel, thus putting all their lives in danger.
Critic reviews
Charles Dickens's classic of the French Revolution is expertly dramatized by Simon Vance. It's also a grand romance. Charles Darnay, the French émigré who relinquishes his title in disgust at the poverty wrought upon the peasants by the titled class, and Sydney Carton, the world-weary drunken London barrister, both love Lucie, the daughter of the unjustly imprisoned Dr. Alexandre Manette. Vance will have listeners weeping as Carton greets Madame Guillotine with some of the most famous lines in literature. Carton's depression and ultimate redemption are crystal clear; Madame Defarge, with her clicking knitting needles, takes on appropriate menace; and Jarvis Lorry, the reliable "man of business," loves Lucie as if she were his daughter." (AudioFile magazine)
Featured Article: It Was the Best of Scribes—The Best British Authors
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The first novel of six in Trollope's series of the Chronicles of Barsetshire introducing the fictional cathedral town of Barchester and the characters of Septimus Harding, the Warden, and his son-in-law Archdeacon Grantly. The Warden concerns the moral dilemma of the conscientious Reverend Septimus Harding, who finds himself at the centre of a bitter conflict between defenders of Church privilege and the reformers of the mid-Victorian period.
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The Old Man & His Terrific and Single Daughter
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Lady Audley's Secret
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A fast-paced Victorian thriller that will delight audiences today as it did 100 years ago, Lady Audley's Secret has subterfuge, kidnapping, jealousy, and fraud, all thrown into the mix and shaken up for good measure.
A mystery which keeps a listener guessing until the last moments, this production is a must-listen for anyone who enjoys playing detective.
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Narrator creates the listen
- By connie on 02-06-12
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Felix Holt, The Radical
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Relinquishing thoughts of a materially rewarding life, the respectably educated Felix Holt returns to his native village in North Loamshire and becomes an artisan. He is a forceful young man of honor, integrity, and idealism, burning to participate in political life so that he may improve the lot of his fellow artisans.
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four and a half stars
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The Club
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- By: Leo Damrosch
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In 1763, the painter Joshua Reynolds proposed to his friend Samuel Johnson that they invite a few friends to join them every Friday at the Turk's Head Tavern in London to dine, drink, and talk until midnight. Eventually, the group came to include among its members Edmund Burke, Adam Smith, Edward Gibbon, and James Boswell. It was known simply as "the Club". In this captivating audiobook, Leo Damrosch brings alive a brilliant, competitive, and eccentric cast of characters.
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Wonderful survey
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The Bondwoman's Narrative
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An unprecedented historical and literary event, this tale written in the 1850s is the only known novel by a female African American slave, and quite possibly the first novel written by a black woman anywhere. A work recently uncovered by renowned scholar and professor Henry Louis Gates, Jr., it is a stirring tale of "passing" and the adventures of a young slave as she makes her way to freedom.
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Poor reading of an important book
- By Hilary on 11-15-04
By: Hannah Crafts, and others
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Charlotte Brontë
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Charlotte Brontë's life contained all the drama and tragedy of the great Gothic novels it inspired. Like Jane Eyre, she was raised motherless on remote Yorkshire moors and sent away to a brutally strict boarding school at a young age. Charlotte grew up and watched helplessly as, one by one, her five beloved siblings sickened and died; by the end of her short life, she was the only child of the Brontë clan remaining.
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Clear-Eyed Bio of Literature's Most Elusive Figure
- By wally on 09-02-16
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The Shuttle
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Rosalie Vanderpoel, the daughter of an American multimillionaire marries an impoverished English baronet and goes to live in England. She all but loses contact with her family in America. Years later her younger sister Bettina, beautiful, intelligent and extremely rich, goes to England to find what has happened to her sister. She finds Rosalie shabby and dispirited, cowed by her husband's ill-treatment. Bettina sets about to rectify matters.
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More than Lovely
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The Good Soldier
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On the face of it Captain Edward Ashburnham's life was unimpeachable. But behind the mask where passion seethes, the captain's "good" life was rotting away.
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Treachery in the Troops
- By Mel on 01-08-15
By: Ford Madox Ford
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This Dickens guy has promise
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Brilliantly read by Tom Baker
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Set against the bloody background of the French Revolution, this is perhaps Dickens' most famous work. Doctor Manette, his devoted daughter Lucie, and the young French aristocrat Charles Darnay are memorable characters. Above all the others rises the reckless Sidney Carton, whose selfless love makes him one of literature's great heroes.
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nice intro, but unnecessary addition to audible
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loved it much more than expected!
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Absolute literature...and a page turner at that!
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A Tale of Two Cities [Naxos]
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"It was the best of times and the worst of times." In one of the most famous openings of any novel, Dickens masterfully presents the turmoil of the French Revolution, which is the backdrop for a novel of love, patience, hope, and self-sacrifice. This version is read by Anton Lesser, whose award-winning Dickens recordings in their abridged form has now resulted in the opportunity to read the full unabridged text.
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Exquisite
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David Copperfield
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Between his work on the 2014 Audible Audiobook of the Year, Hamlet, Prince of Denmark: A Novel, and his performance of Classic Love Poems, narrator Richard Armitage ( The Hobbit, Hannibal) has quickly become a listener favorite. Now, in this defining performance of Charles Dickens' classic David Copperfield, Armitage lends his unique voice and interpretation, truly inhabiting each character and bringing real energy to the life of one of Dickens' most famous characters.
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A PERFECT narration of an English classic!
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A Tale of Two Cities
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Sydney Carton, is an English lawyer who bears a remarkable resemblance to French aristocrat Charles Darnay. Darnay, who renounces his aristocratic heritage to start a new life in England, ends up falling in love with Lucie Manette. Meanwhile in Paris, the cruel Marquis St. Evrémonde runs down a child with his carriage, setting off a chain of events that will lead to revolutionand will alter their destiny.
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Disappointing
- By Jean on 09-25-03
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Oliver Twist
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When young orphan, Oliver Twist, is sold into an apprenticeship with an undertaker, he leaves behind years of miserable servitude and mistreatment at an English workhouse. Hoping to move on to better things, he decides to escape his new, equally dreary surroundings and head to London. It is there that the novel unravels as Oliver meets a host of larger-than-life characters, including The Artful Dodger, a high-ranking member of a juvenile pickpocketing gang, and their elderly leader, Fagin.
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Narration
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Published in 1853, Bleak House is one of Dickens' most mature and ambitious novels. From London's slums to the Court of Chancery, where the endless case of Jarndyce and Jarndyce devours the future of several generations, the author's canvas of Victorian society vividly conveys an indictment of legal corruption, a riveting tale of detection, and a compelling emotional drama.
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Bravo!
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A Tale of Two Cities
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'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'; so the recording begins and ends with some of Dickens's best-known words, and between those lines is every Briton's view of the worst excesses of the French Revolution. Set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution, the audiobook tells the story of a French doctor who is imprisoned for 18 years in the Bastille in Paris. Upon his release, he moves to London with his daughter, Lucie, whom he had never met.
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A Rediscovery of an Old Friend
- By MissJaneJetson on 09-01-07
By: Charles Dickens
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Dombey and Son
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Dombey and Son is vintage Dickens and explores the classic themes of betrayal, cruelty and deceit. Dombey's dysfunctional relationships are painted against a backdrop of social unrest in industrialized London, which is populated by a host of fascinating and memorable secondary characters. The complete and unabridged novel is brought spectacularly to life by veteran reader David Timson.
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Utterly incredible!
- By Amazon Customer on 03-12-12
By: Charles Dickens
What listeners say about A Tale of Two Cities [Tantor]
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- arlena reed
- 08-29-21
classic and fabulous
this book is a classic take of sadness and upheaval. The story of the innocence lost during a revolution.
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- Fr. Joseph
- 10-11-20
Great, but a little different
Unlike many of Dickens' books, A Tale of Two Cities does not focus as much on character development (with perhaps one exception) as it does on the overall plot. The characters are remarkable, but the focus of the story deals more with their context within the French Revolution. This makes it a little less enjoyable as an audio book.
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- Mama of 5
- 07-12-21
Excellent
I agree with the other reviewers that the beginning is slow and hard to keep attention. However, it is vastly worth it.
In the beginning, Dickens creates these two seeming very different stories and character groups so far away. Then, the light the rest of the book they intertwinings become increasingly more illuminated. So brilliant. I wished I wouldn’t have payed closer attention to the beginning details! I will definitely listen again to this story for that very purpose.
The ending is so exquisite. Please listen, you will not be disappointed!!
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- Catherine Puma
- 01-13-20
Classic Reign of Terror Historical Fiction
While this takes about a third to really get going, this is an excellent example of historical fiction. "A Tale of Two Cities" takes place leading up to and during the French Revolution, set in London and Paris and focusing on a French and English family as they struggle to survive persecution and imprisonment during the Reign of Terror.
The scenes that are about personal family and social relations were not my favorite. I kind of wanted to just skip those parts, and I wonder if I would have bore the dialogue portions differently if I had read this in print instead of listening to an audiobook version. I do think the narration by Simon Vance was done well, except for his ridiculous voices for women, but there weren’t a lot of female characters, so that didn’t ruin the experience.
My favorite sections were when the tensions of the city boiled over into action and rebellion. The descriptions of mob mentality but also the inevitability of people rising up against oppression are done so well. I can definitely see people reading this and then Victor Hugo's "Les Miserables" in a course that studies the French Revolution and Napoleonic Wars from a literary perspective.
This isn't one of my favorite classics, but I am really glad I read this. I respect its importance to English literature, and probably to how the Reign of Terror and French Revolution has been popularized and remembered for generations. I recommend this to anyone who is interested in Charles Dickens’ body of work, this time in history, and especially in literary depictions of that history.
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- Catherine York
- 09-01-21
This! Is why Dickens’ novels are classics.
Classic historical fiction in that you can live through historical events vicariously through the eyes of fictionalized characters who are fleshed out by a master. The narrator is one of my favorites. His performance helps to easily distinguish between the characters. Audible is the only way to read the classics. I spend many pleasant hours hiking while reading a classic.
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- Sean Grossnickle
- 01-29-21
Truly One of the Greats
I did not know what to expect. I have not read much of Dickens and figured I should culture myself. It is now one of my favorite books of all time. I literally felt my soul be moved, especially at the end, and it gives great insight into the French revolution. Highly recommend.
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- Paschich
- 09-05-24
I love this book
I highly recommend this book. The narration was beautifully done and I always enjoy the was Charles paints a picture of his characters in words.
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- Desperately Seeking a Good Read
- 01-19-14
Bittersweet Tale
If you could sum up A Tale of Two Cities in three words, what would they be?
Grim historical time. I'm past the half-century mark and read this in high school...didn't remember it at all except that I didn't do so well on my book report! I am living in Paris for a few years so I have been trying to listen to some European classics. I just didn't realize/appreciate the gravity of the French Revolution until I came to live here. As an American, I just don't have much appreciation for world history...I'm getting some! The opening lines of this novel are iconic...they are familiar even to me...if I was a contestant on Jeopardy I would not have put Dicken's poetry with this tale...I feel so much better prepared now for any future contests. The narration is outstanding. I tend to favor male narrators as I find very few women's voices do justice to male roles, and this novel is dominated by male characters. As with the few books I have read placed in this time period, it is a tale full of extreme sadness...at times...hopelessness. To my limited view, it captures the terror of the French revolution all too well. If time travel becomes possible at some point, avoid Paris during the French revolution because no one was safe from Madame Guillotine.Dickens is able to take a sad storyline and somewhat give us a happy ending. If you are a fan of Dickens, this is definitely a story you will want to hear as he takes this time in history and creates a timeless tale.
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32 people found this helpful
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Overall
- Amazon Customer
- 01-02-11
The Master Weaver
The genius of Charles Dickens is, in my opinion, most poignantly evident in the mastery with which he weaves ornate tapestries of plotlines like colored thread and the majestic soul of the embroidered product. When reading Dickens, I feel as though I am watching the master draw forth here a thread of one color and there one of quite another that often seems discordant or at least out of place. However, as the inevitability and profound beauty of first the pattern, then the picture, and finally the panorama dawns, one cannot but help rejoicing in the author’s brilliant and steady hands.
As is true of all great artists, authors, and composers, it is not merely the technical prowess that is honored by posterity, for many may possess it, but rather the soul which it so faithfully preserves. The abilities of Dickens as a writer need not be mentioned, for they are plain enough. While it is easy to lose oneself in the delicate balance and aesthetic perfection of Dickens’ stories, the sooner one moves on from this revery and instead reflects upon the silent impact made in their own heart, the sooner they will begin knowing something about Charles Dickens.
This impact is unabashedly and undeniably of a spiritual, and primarily of a Christian nature. Convinced secular minds can certainly appreciate the literary talent but, by their very commitment to secularity, will remain unequal to the task of penetrating the most moving innermost themes in this and other novels by Dickens. Either these themes are vacuous drivel or eternal truths. This is no forum for philosophical debate but this is the crossroads all readers must navigate when reading authors of spiritual conviction.
This book, or shall I say, Charles Dickens himself is worthy of your time and attention. The wisdom he imparts, especially through the character of Sydney Carton, will forever change an open heart.
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- Loretta R. Cooper
- 02-03-16
If you haven't read it since high school...
It's been decades since I read this book, and honestly, it had become conflated in my memory with all the other books, movies and biographies I have read from the time of the French Revolution. Literary types will tell you this is not 'Dicken's best work'-- but it's darn good... and though completely predictable it's worth revisiting if you haven't read it as an adult.
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