[ book tip by Mohamed Bary ] One never feels the importance of a period in history unless he is confronted not only with facts but emotions that stimulate the desire to impose light upon an era. It is then the job of a skilled writer to delineate all the nuances of an era in a literary work, pointing out the feelings that are accompanied by a particular era. Such feeling has been felt by me while reading Dickens's novel A Tale of Two Cities.

First published in 1906, the novel accurately describes the French Revolution and the real pulse of the common man. The rage, discontent, and envy that the commoners felt from the oppressive rulers form the basis of the story's plot. The story starts with a comparison comparing England and France, showing the enmity between the two cities and creating a bond between the characters of the story.

The story starts with Mr Lorry summoning Ms Lucie Manette to see her lost father that she hasn't seen for eighteen years. It is said that he was found alive in France in great mental torment from the drastic experiences he has saw as a political prisoner. With the help of Ms Manette, Dr Manette can be brought back to his senses. I felt great rapture as I moved along Dickens's lines basking in the daughter and father reunion, gazing at the passionate yet speechless meeting.

Days and years pass by, and five years after the reunion, Doctor Manette and his daughter were asked to testify in court on Charles Darnay's treason case, in which Ms. Manette spoke highly of Darnay. Carton, a lawyer's clerk acquitted Darnay by falsifying the claims made by one of the witnesses that Darnay was seen passing secret information. After the court incident Carton and Darnay became greatly acquitted with the mannetts, Lucie showing nicer sentiments to the latter.

It is then that Carton feels depression, gloom, and misery. He mourns over his pathetic life that is devoid of any joy, love, or any kind of personal commitment. He then kindles commiseration and grief in Lucie's heart as he confesses frankly his love to her with an agonized tone that has left a great mark in my soul while I was reading the lines of his desperate confession. The story runs by and Lucie and Darnay get married leading a happy life giving birth to little Lucie.

The acme of the story, the crescendo of emotions, and the outrage of sentiment is ignited by the start of the French Revolution in 1789. A period of rash violence and reasoned consternation that troubled Lucie's family. After three years of havoc have passed, Mr Lorry and Darnay sense their burden to make a commitment in the midst of all the tumult. Darnay responds to the pleas of a family retainer, while Mr Lorry carries out his business in France. Yet Darnay's visit is curtailed by his capture, owing to his relation to the royal family. When Dr Manette learns of Darnay's capture he feels a great obligation to free him, for he dreads that his daughter's husband experiences the terrors and mental turmoil he himself had seen before. After fifteen months in prison, Darnay gets freed by Dr Manette's strong and coherent defence in prison, which has caused the family's reunion once more. Brilliantly linking human emotions with a strong bond to the political setting of the revolution, Dickens shows the emotions of happiness, love, and devotion in Darnay's arrival to his family. Yet the events get more perplexing as Dr.Manette's past incarceration is revealed by a letter found in his old cell. The letter had been written by him years ago blaming the royal family for his imprisonment, which Darnay happens to be a member of. So Dr Manette becomes an accuser to Darnay. Not only integrating the events with small nuances but also Dickens shows extreme mastery at utilizing Carton's gloom and depression by making him devise a plot to save Darnay from the guillotine and confront himself to execution. With emotional words and accurate description of the situation, Dickens puts an end to all the family's trouble and entangles all niceties of the novel.

Yet, Dickens's ingenuity doesn't only lie in the accurate ordering of the storyline, but also in his portrayal of the French Revolution. Although Dickens has never been acquainted with France or its people he engrosses the reader in the Revolution, makes him sense the amalgamation of emotions and commiseration towards the people of France. Although the word Genius has been devalued nowadays in our media, but in the classical sense of the word Dickens truly is an obvious genius.

A Tale of Two Cities to me is an overwhelming pleasure, bringing me an emotional catharsis that gave me a comprehensive vision of the French Revolution with its political setting and the turbulence in the common man's life.

[ book info ] Dickens, Charles: A tale of two cities. J.M. Dent & sons, ltd, 1906 .