A Tale of Two Cities - Charles Dickens - ★★★.½

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AUTHOR: Charles Dickens
NARRATOR: Chris Tester
GENRE: Historical Fiction, Classic
RATING: 3.5 stars.

In a Nutshell: This Dickens classic isn’t for all, with its complicated plotline that comes together slowly but neatly. However, to those who enjoy classics based on historical and political events, it offers plenty of satisfaction.


Skipping my usual ‘Story Synopsis’ as I am sure most people already know this book. To those who don’t, please read the blurb.

Just like ‘David Copperfield’, this book also was one of my childhood reads, courtesy my school’s classic reading list. The abridged version I read was enough to keep me fascinated, right until the end, which, I still remember, caught me by surprise. Until then, I hadn’t realised that *young* main characters could die in books! (A reading of ‘Little Women’ a few months later confirmed that authors could be brutal with their creations.)

When I saw this audiobook come up on NetGalley, it offered a great way of checking out the complete version of the classic. Moreover, I have been reading one unabridged classic every year since 2020, so I might as well get done with the 2024 classic right at the start of the year.

I guess I remembered the childhood version of this story with too much optimistic nostalgia. The unabridged version is far more convoluted in its journey, with extended social comments about the history, the society, and the politics of France and England in the 1770s. The story is set in the late 18th century against the background of the French Revolution, and it seems to critique both extremes: the indifferent royals and the wild revolutionaries.

Dickens is known to be a character-focussed author, so the character development is as impeccable as always. But his plotting skills are truly visible and proven through this work. So many intricate arcs and varied characters, and yet, the culmination of the story does justice to all threads, though not necessarily in a happy way. The way Dickens recreates the setting and atmosphere of the era is almost true to life.

That said, this Dickens work has never been my top favourite and I don't think I'll reread this full-length edition in future. I am glad I read it, but I am equally glad that it is done and dusted with. The slow-developing story with its strong political tone was very much a test of my patience. What also doesn’t help is that some of the elements haven’t aged well. The representation of women characters, as with most Dickens novels, is typical of his time, and keeping your eyes from rolling while reading those words in 2023 is a chore.

Regardless, this book has one of the all-time best opening lines! I have always loved the way this book sets off its journey, and hearing those words even umpteen times later gives me goose bumps. For my own rereading pleasure, pasting those lines here:

“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.”


🎧 The Audiobook Experience:
The audiobook, clocking at 14 hours, is narrated by Chris Tester. He is impeccable! Whether voicing characters or narrating the background, his performance takes care of every emotion. He even uses varied accents and pitches to differentiate across the characters. If you really want to read this classic, this Spotify version is fabulous!


All in all, reading this unabridged version for the first time has still been a great experience. But if I ever want to revisit it, I will dig out my old abridged school copy again, as it cuts out the fluff and keeps the core content intact. (Fellow Indians of my generation would know the quality of the S. Chand abridged classics – they were the best!)

My thanks to Spotify Audiobooks and NetGalley for the ALC of “A Tale of Two Cities”. This review is voluntary and contains my honest opinion about the audiobook.

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