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A Tale of Two Cities : illustrated Abridged Children Classics English Novel with Review Questions
Dickens never wrote a book this short in his life; obviously abridged and adapted for the not-so-serious student.
240 pages, Hardcover
Published August 12, 2021
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About the author
Charles Dickens
12.6k books31.3k followersCharles John Huffam Dickens (1812-1870) was a writer and social critic who created some of the world's best-known fictional characters and is regarded as the greatest novelist of the Victorian era. His works enjoyed unprecedented popularity during his lifetime, and by the twentieth century critics and scholars had recognised him as a literary genius. His novels and short stories enjoy lasting popularity.
Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.
On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.
(from Wikipedia)
Dickens left school to work in a factory when his father was incarcerated in a debtors' prison. Despite his lack of formal education, he edited a weekly journal for 20 years, wrote 15 novels, five novellas, hundreds of short stories and non-fiction articles, lectured and performed extensively, was an indefatigable letter writer, and campaigned vigorously for children's rights, education, and other social reforms.
Dickens was regarded as the literary colossus of his age. His 1843 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre. Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. His 1859 novel, A Tale of Two Cities, set in London and Paris, is his best-known work of historical fiction. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. K. Chesterton—for its realism, comedy, prose style, unique characterisations, and social criticism. On the other hand, Oscar Wilde, Henry James, and Virginia Woolf complained of a lack of psychological depth, loose writing, and a vein of saccharine sentimentalism. The term Dickensian is used to describe something that is reminiscent of Dickens and his writings, such as poor social conditions or comically repulsive characters.
On 8 June 1870, Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day he died at Gad's Hill Place. Contrary to his wish to be buried at Rochester Cathedral "in an inexpensive, unostentatious, and strictly private manner," he was laid to rest in the Poets' Corner of Westminster Abbey. A printed epitaph circulated at the time of the funeral reads: "To the Memory of Charles Dickens (England's most popular author) who died at his residence, Higham, near Rochester, Kent, 9 June 1870, aged 58 years. He was a sympathiser with the poor, the suffering, and the oppressed; and by his death, one of England's greatest writers is lost to the world." His last words were: "On the ground", in response to his sister-in-law Georgina's request that he lie down.
(from Wikipedia)
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Displaying 1 of 1 review
August 6, 2023
This children’s classic adaptation of Charles Dickens’ classic ‘A Tale of Two Cities’ is poorly done. There are several editing issues throughout the text as well as glaring grammatical errors which cannot be overlooked or ignored. There are several typos in key scenes and dialogues in the text which bring out a meaning not in keeping with the original plot. These errors can seriously mar the overall understanding of the classic especially for young readers who are not familiar with the Dickens classic.
The flow of the text is partially satisfactory but yet again, the numerous grammatical and sentence construction errors destroy the whole rhythm of the novel. The initial trial scene of Charles Darnay has been edited and adapted so poorly and haphazardly that the ultimate result is mystification rather than admiration for the astuteness of Sydney Carton and his ploy in saving Darnay from prison. Another scene which has been edited or adapted poorly happens to be the crucial death of a poor French citizen’s child under the carriage of the tyrannical and affluent Marquis. After one reads this scene, one seems a bit confused about what actually took place under that carriage which is not what the original author intended at all. It being the most moving, tragic and emotive of all the scenes, regarding the dire helplessness of the oppressed and poverty ridden people of France against the aristocrats, the scene should have been described more professionally.
During this portion of the text, incorrect character names are used in place of the original and certain sentences have just been lifted out of the original and represented in the wrong context. All this can be very mystifying for a young reader which will make him or her dislike reading classics, especially penned on or about historical themes.
There are many wrongly worded dialogues in this text which is surprising because a Charles Dickens’ novel always depends entirely on the correct rendition of an emotion or idea through dialogues. These falsely worded and inaccurate dialogues create an incorrect hypothesis in the minds of a reader about the intentions of the Dickensian characters.
One such wrongly worded dialogue was the one shared between Sydney Carton and Lucie Manette when he was declaring his love for her. Another one was shared between Madame Defarge, Jaques 3, and her female friend in the wine shop in the presence of Sydney Carton. There the character names are wrongly placed, and the information shared and conveyed is incomprehensible to say the least!
Coming to the illustrations, they were haphazardly done, of poor quality and not in keeping with the historical period they were representing. The characters depicted do not show any semblance of uniformity and are not depicted according to how they are described in the adapted text. Certain lines in these drawings have been drawn or sketched so glaringly crooked that it creates a great dissatisfaction in the minds of the reader.
One such poorly drawn illustration is that of the Marquis’ chateau, the line to the reader’s right is crooked and the building seems more akin to a simple monastery boarding house in India of that era than an actual French chateau.
The pictures drawn of Lucie Manette are very bold which is not in keeping with the actual petite character and are not fit for impressionable young minds to take note of. It is not just a plain matter of discrepancy, but something related to the poor historical background knowledge on the part of the illustrator not only of France in the late 1700s but also of Victorian England.
These and many more such errors in adaptation, editing, proofreading and representation can be found in this title making it a very unsatisfactory read of the Victorian classic.
I would recommend the reader to rather choose to read the original or to select the original novel for their wards rather than going for an abridged copy of this mass-produced title. A very disappointing, illogical, and unfulfilling read.
Quality has been compromised for the sake of Quantity! A shocking & scandalizing abridged classic!
The flow of the text is partially satisfactory but yet again, the numerous grammatical and sentence construction errors destroy the whole rhythm of the novel. The initial trial scene of Charles Darnay has been edited and adapted so poorly and haphazardly that the ultimate result is mystification rather than admiration for the astuteness of Sydney Carton and his ploy in saving Darnay from prison. Another scene which has been edited or adapted poorly happens to be the crucial death of a poor French citizen’s child under the carriage of the tyrannical and affluent Marquis. After one reads this scene, one seems a bit confused about what actually took place under that carriage which is not what the original author intended at all. It being the most moving, tragic and emotive of all the scenes, regarding the dire helplessness of the oppressed and poverty ridden people of France against the aristocrats, the scene should have been described more professionally.
During this portion of the text, incorrect character names are used in place of the original and certain sentences have just been lifted out of the original and represented in the wrong context. All this can be very mystifying for a young reader which will make him or her dislike reading classics, especially penned on or about historical themes.
There are many wrongly worded dialogues in this text which is surprising because a Charles Dickens’ novel always depends entirely on the correct rendition of an emotion or idea through dialogues. These falsely worded and inaccurate dialogues create an incorrect hypothesis in the minds of a reader about the intentions of the Dickensian characters.
One such wrongly worded dialogue was the one shared between Sydney Carton and Lucie Manette when he was declaring his love for her. Another one was shared between Madame Defarge, Jaques 3, and her female friend in the wine shop in the presence of Sydney Carton. There the character names are wrongly placed, and the information shared and conveyed is incomprehensible to say the least!
Coming to the illustrations, they were haphazardly done, of poor quality and not in keeping with the historical period they were representing. The characters depicted do not show any semblance of uniformity and are not depicted according to how they are described in the adapted text. Certain lines in these drawings have been drawn or sketched so glaringly crooked that it creates a great dissatisfaction in the minds of the reader.
One such poorly drawn illustration is that of the Marquis’ chateau, the line to the reader’s right is crooked and the building seems more akin to a simple monastery boarding house in India of that era than an actual French chateau.
The pictures drawn of Lucie Manette are very bold which is not in keeping with the actual petite character and are not fit for impressionable young minds to take note of. It is not just a plain matter of discrepancy, but something related to the poor historical background knowledge on the part of the illustrator not only of France in the late 1700s but also of Victorian England.
These and many more such errors in adaptation, editing, proofreading and representation can be found in this title making it a very unsatisfactory read of the Victorian classic.
I would recommend the reader to rather choose to read the original or to select the original novel for their wards rather than going for an abridged copy of this mass-produced title. A very disappointing, illogical, and unfulfilling read.
Quality has been compromised for the sake of Quantity! A shocking & scandalizing abridged classic!
Displaying 1 of 1 review