Book Review: A Tale of Two Cities

WOW!!! I just finished A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens, and it is seriously one of the very best books (if not the best book) I have ever read. First of all, the way he writes is amazing! I love his critical analogies, and the way he makes fun of things through his descriptions. His character development is so thorough, for such a short book, and the background information was really interesting (although not everyone probably feels this way). But once I got about two thirds of the way through, I honestly could not put it down! I read the last 130 pages in one sitting (procrastinating folding laundry, grocery shopping, and making dinner for 3 hours) because it was so intense! I did not expect a classic by Dickens to be as riveting as a thriller.

It was as touching and inspiring as Les Miserables (except it's only 350 pages instead of 1100). I cried through the last three chapters and for at least 10 minutes afterwards. And the way he weaves the different stories together was incredible; at the end, you realize page after page that every little detail throughout the rest of the book was vitally important. Kind of like the 3rd and 7th Harry Potter books. :)

Anyway, I just had to tell the world: this book is amazing!! I had no idea what it was even about when I started, apart from being set during the French Revolution. But it is my new favorite book! No wonder it's sold twice as many copies as the next best-selling novel in history! Why did I somehow expect it to be boring? If 200 million people have read it, I should have known it would be worth a try.

I Need Feedback about Books!

I have decided to start a reading list. Since leaving my coworkers and our book club, I have not been reading as much as I used to. So I decided to combine the top 10 best novels from a number of different lists and include those which were included on multiple lists (I removed the ones I have read already). Here is my final list:

A Tale of Two Cities
Anna Karenina
The Great Gatsby
Catch-22
The Catcher in the Rye
1984
Atlas Shrugged

Have you read any of these? Do you think I should (or should not) read them? I don't like depressing books, and I have heard that Anna Karenina is a tragedy; do you think I should take it off my list?

Also: Lolita was one of the most common titles among the Best Novels lists I looked at. However, after doing some quick research on the subject matter, I was thoroughly mortified at its content and removed it from my list, convinced that it would be very far from an uplifting read, and would probably be seriously disturbing. Does anyone know why this book is so famous??


Thanks for your feedback!