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by Charles Dickens

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

To offer a very controversial opinion... I did not care for this book.

Victorian literature is really hit or miss for me. I'm a character reader and if I don't connect with the characters, I find it very difficult to get invested in the story. There's not much depth to these characters and like other popular novels of the period, Dickens fills his story with conversational dialogue. It is through dialogue we learn backstories, plot twists, moral dilemmas, relationships, setting - everything. The narrative we receive is brief and direct. It's not my favorite style, but it's efficient enough.

Because I had a hard time relating to - or indeed, keeping straight - many of the characters, there was no emotional investment for me in the tale of the Manette family and the grievous wrongs they suffered. Even the backdrop of the French Revolution failed to dazzle. Simon Vance has a rich voice and I enjoyed his narration, despite the tedium of the writing (again - this is completely personal to my preferences). Between Simon Vance's narration and my sheer determination to read more Dickens, I was able to persevere through this one, but I'd be lying if I said I wasn't bored.

All in all, I can see why this story is a classic. I can see why people love it. I would watch a movie of it, where the characters have more emotion and depth to them because of the actors... but this book was solidly not for me.

Though! Of the whole book, I have to give mad props to the scene between between Madame Defarge and Ms. Pross. I found it the most heated, most emotive part of the book and absolutely found myself cheering for Ms. Pross. That last bit, at least, was brilliant.