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. -- A Tale of Two Cities
And so begins A Tale of Two Cities with one of the most well known, quoted, and often parodied openings in English literature. As is a hallmark with Dickens, A Tale is populated with a host of memorable characters. For me, and probably many, the broad portrayals are the most memorable. The dual poles of Jerry Cruncher and Jarvis Lorry; the indomitable Iron Lady of the Manette family, Miss Pross; and the chilling women of the Revolution, Madame Defarge and the Fury that is The Vengeance. The more staid, and "lead" characters of Lucie Manette, Sydney Carton, Charles Darnay, and of course Dr. Manette never quite rise to the level of the others.
On this re-reading of Tale, I was focused on Dickens’ use of language. A masterful artist in capturing accents in dialog, his often baroque stylings in the narrative voice are striking in their complexity and ornateness:
Other sound than the owl’s voice there was none, save the falling of a fountain into its stone basin; for, it was one of those dark nights that hold their breath by the hour together, and then heave a long low sigh, and hold their breath again.
Yes. Like the mariner in the old story, the winds and streams had driven him within the influence of the Loadstone Rock, and it was drawing him to itself, and he must go.
and a few lines later:
Yes. The Loadstone Rock was drawing him, and he must sail on, until he struck.
Compare the above lines with a bit of monologue from Jerry Cruncher:
Bu-u-ust me!’ said Mr Cruncher, who all this time had been putting on his clothes, ‘if I ain’t, what with piety and one blowed thing and another, been choused this last week into as bad luck as ever a poor devil of a honest tradesman met with! Young Jerry, dress yourself, my boy, and while I clean my boots keep a eye upon your mother now and then, and if you see any signs of more flopping, give me a call. For, I tell you,’ here he addressed his wife once more, ‘I won’t be gone agin, in this manner.
With the events of A Tale taking place a generation before the writing, A Tale is a reflection of the time of the French Revolution through Dickens' lens of history (much like Victor Hugo's Notre-Dame de Paris [1831]). London and Paris rhetorical stand-ins for the French and English cultures. Is the new world created by the Darnay family (no longer French, not totally English) a prefiguring of a new European world (would it be too much of a 21st century new world be a vision of the European Union?) being dragged into the 19th (and beyond) century on the tumbrils that carry Carton to his death
And, paring with it's iconic opening, A Tale suitable ends with eminently a quotable line by Sydney Carton:
‘It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far better rest that I go to, than I have ever known.’
Read: June 21, 2010 | Buy on Kindle
See my complete 2020 Reading list on Goodreads.
No comments:
Post a Comment