Jump to ratings and reviews
Rate this book

A Tale of Two Cities

Rate this book
A level 4 Oxford Bookworms Library graded readers. Retold for Learners of English by Ralph Mowat

‘The Marquis lay there, like stone, with a knife pushed into his heart. On his chest lay a piece of paper, with the words: Drive him fast to the grave. This is from JACQUES.’

The French Revolution brings terror and death to many people. But even in these troubled times people can still love and be kind. They can be generous and true-hearted . . . and brave.

99 pages, Kindle Edition

First published January 1, 1991

89 people are currently reading
220 people want to read

About the author

Ralph Mowat

12 books1 follower
Ralph Mowat is a published adapter and an author of children's books

Ratings & Reviews

What do you think?
Rate this book

Friends & Following

Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!

Community Reviews

5 stars
100 (28%)
4 stars
119 (33%)
3 stars
95 (26%)
2 stars
28 (7%)
1 star
13 (3%)
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews
Profile Image for Nazanin.
104 reviews4 followers
June 15, 2018
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...

با شکوه تر از این هم می شد شروع کرد؟؟

باز هم انقلاب فرانسه
باز هم گیوتین
باز هم هیاهوی خشگمین انقلابیون
باز هم نفرت و کینه
و البته مهر و گذشت، حتی نازک، حتی ترد و شکننده
باز هم یک نویسنده بزرگ
و سرانجام یک اثر ماندگار

مدتها بود که دوست داشتم این اثر مشهور دیکنز رو بخونم
تا اینکه نسخه خلاصه ش رو پیدا کردم
داستان دو شهر شناخته شده تر از از اون هست که بخوام توضیحی راجع بهش بدم

اگرچه که نسخه تلخیص شده، اون هم برای چنین اثری شاید همه التهاب و پیچیدگی و شور و نفرت و فریاد اثر اصلی رو منتقل نکنه
اما خب فعلا برای سیراب کردن عطش دیرینه من ، همین چند قطره هم کافی بود



Profile Image for Shaimaa شيماء.
574 reviews365 followers
January 5, 2026
النسخة المختصرة من الرواية..
قرأت جزء وسمعت جزء..
أسلوب القاريء مميز.. لكنة بريطانية فخمة.. بيقرأ الأسامي بطريقة حلوة جدا..
دكتور مانيت
مدام ديفاااج

الرواية بتحكي عن فترة الثورة الفرنسية والفوضى والرغبة الشديدة في الانتقام من النبلاء والأغنياء.. والظروف اللي وصلت الناس لكده بسبب الظلم اللي وقع عليهم، بس حسيت شوية بتعاطف الكاتب وإنه عاوز يقول إن في أبرياء راحوا في الرجلين...

شخصية "كارتون" اللي ضحى بنفسه وانقذ زوج حبيبته وراح مكانه للمقصلة عشان حبيبته تعيش سعيدة، معتقدش إنها ممكن تكون واقعية!!!
Profile Image for Ali.
104 reviews4 followers
November 24, 2022
Well, I'm not really into this books especially classics.
But I had to read it for my class and I saw that it was good!
I enjoyed it.
Maybe one of the things was that it was kind of a summary of what had happened in the book and it didn't have any description of the places or anything which I believe was the reason I enjoyed it.
Profile Image for Han.
35 reviews10 followers
Read
September 20, 2025
A tale of two cities
من أعجب الصدف التي مررت بها أن كان اختبار الترجمة الأدبية قريبًا وكعادة الاختبارات النهائية متكدسة تتنقل من قاعة إلى اخرى دون راحة فلم أجد وقتًا أتدرب فيه تدريبًا مكثفًا لهذا الاختبار بالذات واكتفيت بحفظ الجزء النظري فقط والاستماع إلى قصائد شكسبير في الساعات المتبقية وقلت: ييسرها ربي فيما يخص الجزء العملي من الترجمة، ولما بدأ الاختبار لم أمكث طويلًا عند الأسئلة الموضوعية فمعظم الدرجات تحسب للجزء العملي، فتحت الصفحة التالية للبدء في الترجمة التي ستأخذ كل وقتي وكانت صدمتي؛ لا وجود لشكسبير👍👎 فقد كان الدكتور يجهدنا طوال الفصل الدراسي بقصائده ومسرحياته حتى خيل إلينا أنه لا يوجد غيره في الأدب الإنجليزي، وكانت دهشتي الثانية أن كان أمامي أول فصل من (قصة مدينتين) يشع نوره وكأنه يقول: لا يمكنك تجاهلي، وهو ما كنت اقرؤه آنذاك، أي إنني أعرف المحتوى مسبقا فلا حاجة لتضييع الوقت في القراءة والتخطيط بل البدء بالتعبير مباشرةً، ومن عادات الدكتور أن يغير الكثير ليختبر مهاراتنا فجاءنا "بالترجمة" العربية للقصة وطلب أن نعيد ترجمتها للإنجليزية! (بلوت تويست يعني) وكنت أقرأ الإنجليزية فبدا وكأنني قد حفظت الإختبار غيبًا.

ومن الجميل أن الكتاب كان معي في حقيبتي وأريته لصديقاتي عند خروجنا من القاعة، كان شعورًا كالحلم وكأنني كنت أعرف محتوى الاختبار قبل دخوله
بعدها تركت الكتاب لبضعه أشهر لا أعرف قد يكون شيئًا يخص مشاعر التخرج لم أقدر على قراءته، وها أنا الآن بدأت قراءته من جديد وأنهيته بفضل الله مستحضرةً تلك المصادفة.

أملك مجموعة من كتب اكسفورد منذ زمن وقرأت منها عددًا وقد كانت مفيدة وممتعة في المستويات الأولى إذ تطرح قصصًا مشهورة بطرافة وسلاسة. لكن مع تقدم المستويات أخذ الانزعاج يزداد، وأعلم أن المقصد من هذه السلسلة هو تسهيل تعلم اللغة ودمجها بالأدب العالمي إلا أن هذا النهج لا يناسب المستويات الاخيرة من السلسلة حيث انها تعتمد على الاختصار الشديد وعلى سبيل المثال في قصة مدينتين: هنا كل شي يجري بسرعة من تقديم الشخصيات إلى افتتاح الأحداث وسيرها وأخيرًا والأهم المشاعر والروابط الإنسانية تسير وكأنها ظلال عابرة.

يقدم الكتاب مفاهيم حب الخير مقابل الشر والتضحية والعائلة داعمةً كانت أم مدمرة والظلم والحرية والشعب والحكومة والتغرب و،،،الخ كلها مجردة ويسلط عليها الضوء كعناوين عريضة أكثر من كونها مشاعر متجسدة في النص، ليتأكد من أنك لن تغلق الكتاب قبل أن تعرف أن القصة تحمل هذه المفاهيم لا أكثر. هذا ما جعل القراءة مشتتة ومضطربة كمل تخلى الكتاب عن أسلوب تشارلز ديكنز تمامًا.

ولهذا، في المستويات الأخيرة من السلسلة يصعب الأمر باقتباس قصص طويلة وأعمال أدبية دسمة ثقيلة فلن تصور بالطريقة المثلى بل تبدوا وكأنها تلخيص أحد الهواة.

سأكمل قراءة ماتبقى عندي من السلسلة قبل بيعها
Profile Image for Mahdi Sharifi.
100 reviews15 followers
June 16, 2023
بعد از گذشت حدود سه سال از بار اول که نسخه ی کامل رو خوندم این خلاصه واسم لذت بخش بود.
Profile Image for Devon.
Author 1 book4 followers
March 23, 2017
I appreciate Dickens. I really do. I believe that if Dickens had never written books like these, the English language would be much worse off. Yet I can't say that I liked this book, or that I even liked the way Dickens wrote this book. Laboring through Dickens's beautiful sentences, packed full of clauses and appositives and kitchen sinks, was much more of a chore than an enjoyable experience. Granted, I did read this over a weekend, and yes, failing a quiz on this book may have had something to do with that rate. Yet I didn't get much out of it.

First, Dickens lets the setting and the plot tell the story here. Yet, and call me classical, I believe that letting the characters tell a plot works much better. But Dickens delighted in describing people as objects, mechanical things that exist to perform plot objectives, and only really gives them a personality when they are not doing anything great. The first two books nearly drowned in this excess, this holding of plot and setting over characters. But in the third book, Dickens does make a comeback and infuses these characters with passion that I wish had been there before. Mr. Lorry is the only character that remains consistently interesting throughout; it's a pity he's so disliked.

There is potential in this book, but the flaws in it detracted greatly from my favor. Maybe I'll come back to it five, fifteen years from now, and see the genius of the soulless (which I don't use as a pejorative - I simply mean the lack of characters with souls) plot and ornate setting. But as for now, this remains to me as a book that went nowhere. At least it ends with a bright spark.
Profile Image for Kyosuke Torihara.
21 reviews1 follower
July 4, 2016
1. OXFORD & STAGE 4
2. 90min.
3. French, Revolution, brings, death, people, kind, love
4. a)The older brother's voice was cold and hard; he seemed to think the boy was less important than a horse or a dog.
b) I think this man's way of thinking about life is wrong. Lives should be equal whether rich man or not.
5. This is the first time for me to read classic book. In old days, the way of thinking was really cruel. And people, who lived that era, were killed easily. People said "you have to die!" As I said in 4.b), lives should be equal. On these days, we can see animals, which treat badly or were killed by people, on Twitter. I would say animals are also respected same as human because each of them also have a life. This book was good!
Profile Image for Serra Akyürek.
8 reviews59 followers
June 6, 2016
If you want to know how life was before and after the French Revolution in France and what British people thought about it this is the book to read. You can find love, excitement, politics , history in it. I definietly recommend it.
133 reviews
June 12, 2016
رغم إنها مختصرة كثيرا, إلا أن الحبكة عجبتني, ومتحمسة أقرأها كاملة بالعربي.
Profile Image for Farah Al.Mosawi💜📚.
229 reviews21 followers
January 31, 2019
A Greatest story of two diffrents World , A full of meaning and themes . Talking about love , faith , death and promises ..
Worth ti read it , It's really a great Tale .
Profile Image for هُـدىٰ.
231 reviews30 followers
June 17, 2020
Such a sad story. It highlights the fact that freedom is never priceless, yet its cost might be your life. These themes are common in revolutions.
Profile Image for April.
641 reviews13 followers
December 9, 2025
I got this version of the book thinking it was just a slim volume, but it's for readers who are learning to read English, so it was adapted from Dickens's actual writing. So I'll have to read his version at some point. But I did get the gist of the story from this version. A lot happens with these characters that I look forward to expanding on when I read the original version.

*Apparently I've already read this, according to my previous book uploads. I don't have a recollection of reading it at all for some reason. :(
Profile Image for Pham Tung.
401 reviews64 followers
September 8, 2024
"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... "

This quote remains deeply resonant when reflecting on the tumultuous revolutions of some other nations decades ago.
Profile Image for Диана.
Author 8 books24 followers
March 24, 2017
I read this book because of a 'go on a blind date with a book' thing organised at uni. It is a simplified-language, shortened version of Dickens' novel. It was an hour well spent, especially since I hadn't read the novel and wasn't acquainted with its content. Even in this simplified version, the story is good, nearly brought a tear to my eye.
Profile Image for Abolfazl.
55 reviews
August 28, 2019
کتاب داستان کلاس زبان - سطح 4
من قبلاً نسخه‌ی کوتاه شده این رمان رو به فارسی خونده بودم و اصلأ دوست نداشتم.
این هم با اینکه خیلی خلاصه بود، ولی نسبتاً جذاب بود. پایانِ به‌شدت غم‌انگیز و تأثیرگذاری هم داشت.
واقعاً چارلز دیکنز فوق‌العاده است!
Profile Image for luఌ︎.
94 reviews
January 30, 2024
Lo he tenido que leer por el instituto, aunque no me ha aburrido demasiado. Al principio no entendía nada, pero poco a poco se van descubriendo detalles y el libro se va haciendo más interesante. El final me ha dejado 🥹, y me alegro de haberlo leído (se hace muy corto, lo he acabado en una tarde!)
Profile Image for Partoptr.
54 reviews1 follower
June 28, 2018
it was one of the best book i have read till today. it finishes really dramatically and really made me cry
Profile Image for Abrar Alarjan.
495 reviews466 followers
May 27, 2020
قصة تتكلم عن الحب ،و عن الثورة الفرنسية الثانية أو الثالثة لست ادري ،لا فائدة ترجى من قراءتها سوى اللغة فقط
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Ankhaa.
85 reviews4 followers
February 24, 2018
Sydney Carton is a good lawyer and good man too. In the end Sydney saved Charles Darnay's life. He was so brave....After i finished this book, i watched its full movie immediately. I enjoyed both of book and movie. French Revolution....History says that it comes out with much blood. This novel reached to my heart deeply and got desires to study more about French Revolution in future.
Profile Image for Gizem Deveci.
11 reviews
December 27, 2015
What a great -also pathetic- history of France. I didn't know the details about French Revolution, now I'm a bit learning but still I have the curiousity about it. I'm willing to read this in its long-form novel.

I bought this book because it was necessary to read as it'll bring questions on English exam about the book. At first pages I found the plot so complex but hey 'how could you dare to shorten the story while it was a great and historical and full of details -about 300 pages originally- as a novel?!' Still good anyway.

Hope I can find the opportunity to read its original book and fall in love with Carton maybe a several times. And maybe I watch the movie that my dad suggested itself.

The plot overall was amazing even if its summary or kind of. I loved how people in those centuries of cruelness and wildness can be still kind, in love and brave despite of those real animals. I loved how the story is not unpredictible and you just kinda need the sentence twice or maybe three-times. And I don't think I'll ever forgotten those final lines of thoughts of Sydney Carton. BRILLIANT HISTORY MAN.
Profile Image for Maryan.
11 reviews
September 11, 2022
I really enjoyed the poetic sentences in this book. Might and might not read it again. I am not the biggest fan of summaries. I would have rather read the complete version. But overall loved the ending.

Lastly, my favorite thing about this book is that it showed both sides, the good and the bad, in every situation like when it showed that the revolutionists were just as wrong as the noblemen in some way..
Profile Image for Mohammad Tahrani.
34 reviews
March 23, 2017
An amazing novel actually .

The part that discusses how people are being sent to the Guillotine all over France in the name of freedom and revolution, and how judges didn't dare to make the right decision just because they feared the anger of people , shows how easily movements are turned to something that might be more cruel than the whole system they moved against
Profile Image for K.
645 reviews3 followers
November 25, 2020
フランス革命に翻弄されまくる父娘とその周辺の人々のお話。
冤罪でバスティーユに投獄されていた医者のアレクサンドル・マネット。
精神的にボロボロになってしまった彼を支えたのが娘のルーシー。
そのルーシーが愛したチャールス・ダーニーは、かつてアレクサンドルを冤罪に陥れた貴族の男の息子だった。


ドラマや映画でよく耳にしている印象のある作品なので本当はもっと深い話なのだろうと思うのですが、英語学習者向け簡略版なためか、とってもメロドラマな印象しか残りませんでした。

 とは言え、法とは、正義とは、自由とは何かということを色々考えさせられもして。こんな時代には生まれたくないなぁと。ギロチン怖すぎる……という感じで。
 名前だけしか知らないチャールズ・ディケンズの作品。
 いつか簡略版でなくても読めるような英語力が身についていれば嬉しいけれど。
Profile Image for Rob.
46 reviews
April 19, 2013
Some girl's dad loses his memory from being in prison so long. To calm himself down he makes shoes, and he is rich. There's this French guy that goes to England. He marries the rich guy's daughter. He gets put in prison because he's the nephew of and evil French Aristocrat.
This entire review has been hidden because of spoilers.
Profile Image for Martina Gjomemo.
276 reviews
March 23, 2017
I will definetly read the comlete book...
Sydney remind me of how Will Herondale compare himself to him. However, I felt very sorry for Sydney, because he loves Lucie but he thinks that he is not worthy of her, and to the end he was so brave!
Displaying 1 - 30 of 43 reviews

Can't find what you're looking for?

Get help and learn more about the design.