Tale of Two Cities

The classic opening line "e;It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..."e; is familiar to most everyone, but not everyone has braved Dickens' masterpiece A Tale of Two Cities.

If you haven't read it: the first part of the novel, while gorgeously written, has a slow-paced development of both plot and characters.

But for the patient modern reader who gets to the second part there is the big payoff, which is a gorgeous climax with loads of riots and beheadings and such.The Two Cities involved are Paris and London in the period leading up to, and during, the French Revolution - and featured are the French peasantry, who struggle under the brutal authority of the aristocracy.

Dickens creates a rich tapestry of protagonists, primarily Charles Darnay, a French former-aristocrat who falls victim to the retribution of the revolutionaries despite being a good guy, and Sydney Carton, a drunk British lawyer who's in love with Darnay's wife, Lucie Manette.