Read PDF Word Blind: A Tale of Two Readers

Genevieve Sibayan does a fantastic job narrating. Aug 12, Helen Viorel rated it really liked it. Jeanne rated it really liked it Oct 10, Debra rated it liked it Feb 08, Wendi BrokenBinding rated it really liked it Apr 26, Shirley Wolfgram rated it really liked it Jun 20, Orangemoon rated it liked it Mar 05, AK rated it it was amazing Apr 30, Liz rated it liked it Feb 07, Joe Vallese rated it really liked it Jul 13, Devin rated it really liked it Jun 01, Martha rated it liked it Aug 11, Jan added it Jan 22, Hilary marked it as to-read Feb 04, Tracy birrell marked it as to-read Jun 07, Genevieve Sibayan added it Sep 10, Becky added it Jan 19, Niels Ruben marked it as to-read Nov 02, Beth Roberts marked it as to-read Mar 23, Lisa marked it as to-read Jul 22, Vickie marked it as to-read Aug 22, Silvara Wilde marked it as to-read Oct 10, M marked it as to-read Feb 24, Susan added it May 01, Rohinibommaraju marked it as to-read Dec 09, By the time he put off the last cigarette and took his leave assuring them he felt better now, his face was illuminated with that same old tired smile.

Some how my review of this got deleted which is good because I think after sitting a while I can appreciate the book more.

When I read it it was confusing and slow and then towards the end really picked up and I was kind of disoriented but it gives a really good view into things in the period before the French Revolution. Learning about it was one thing but reading this made me very sympathetic of the peasants and angry on thier behave, honestly surprised they didn't start rioting sooner. Jun 25, Apatt rated it it was amazing Shelves: This is unfortunate because I think this — like all Dickens novels — works best if you just read it naturally without trying to analyze the hell out of it on every page. A Tale of Two Cities has, at least, two characters that are practically legends of fiction.

First and foremost is poor Sydney Carton who — in spite of a boxy name — is the true hero of the story. At any rate you know me as a dissolute dog, who has never done any good, and never will. He is fascinating if a little unbelievable in how far he would go to serve the love of his life, Lucie Manette. She has very little in the way of personality or agency and seems ill-suited to the much deeper Carton I feel another pun coming on.

This makes sense to me, if everybody could be like this, instead of wars and terrorisms we would have mountains of shoes. Which do you prefer? Thank you Video Spark Notes for the art. That is all I know. These colorful characters make the novel for me, the plot is only exciting because we care about the characters.

In A Tale of Two Cities Dickens created a microcosm of life during the French Revolution and shows as that even with the heart in the right place much evil is still perpetrated in the name of good. That still rings true today, unfortunately. Dickens' prose is — of course — awe-inspiring. He effortlessly switches from sardonic, to comical, to lyrical from paragraph to paragraph.

There are numerous witty or pithy lines you can quote from, on practically every page. Having said that, the language is not particularly challenging to read, if you read contemporary fiction regularly I can't imagine why you would have any difficulty reading Dickens, the English language has not mutated that much since Victorian times. A Tale of Two Cities is a book I can recommend to anybody, but especially people who dismiss reading it because they had to read it at school. That is no reason to deprive yourself of a book this enjoyable. I did say a bit. View all 28 comments. I don't know Dickens.

Or is it me? I keep reminding myself that this isn't typical fare of his. Much shorter, written weekly, full of plot, tight on character development, short on the waffle. Does this make it one of his best, or one of his worst? I have to admit, that for the majority of my time listening to this on audiobook, I kept forgetting what novel it was. I've recently read The Count of Monte Cristo, so in my head Manette was morphing into the Count, but a lesser version.

The I don't know Dickens. Then I kept being reminded of Les Mis, but again, with inferior characters. I felt they were only superficially drawn characters and needed more development for me to get to know them, but this never really happened. So although I enjoyed aspects of the plot, especially the action in the last few chapters, this wasn't enough.

Ultimately, the jury is still out for me and Dickens, but I'll persevere and read a few more examples yet.

View all 23 comments. Nov 13, Duane rated it it was amazing Shelves: One of the greatest novels ever written. I've never seen a ranking that didn't include this novel. If you have ever wondered what it was like to live through the French Revolution, then read this novel. Through Dickens' words you feel the anger, the hopelessness, the insecurity, and most of all the fear that enveloped everyone.

See a Problem?

It was a pleasure and a privilege to read this masterpiece. Jun 25, Lisa rated it it was amazing Shelves: Isn't each era full of everything that is best and worst, full of hope and despair, of improvement and destruction? What makes me feel hope? So to the world, in its usual state of despair, a greeting from the literary realm of hope.

I'll go back to my knitting now! View all 6 comments. A pesar de eso, es encantadora. Feb 24, Debra rated it it was amazing Shelves: I can still see him up there in front of the room, leaning on the lectern, talking about Dickens and this particular book. Thinking back on this time, I can say this is the first Classic book that I loved. I loved the romance, heroism, the courage, the sacrifice. As a teenage girl th "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.

As a teenage girl this book seemed so sad yet so romantic. When I think of Dickens I think of Mr. Stahler and the discussions of this book in his classroom. A time of intrigue, bloodshed, danger, love, romance, terror, betrayal, hunger, and vengeance. The social classes in France are at war. The poor seeking revenge against the aristocracy. Dickens explains this in a simple fashion. His gift is giving us people on both sides of the battle. We can be sympathetic to the individual characters. And at the end of the day, does it even really matter?

Mancette is released from prison. They go to England where they hope to live and be free of the past. But their plan is not to be as the pair is summoned back to Paris where they have to testify agains Charles Darnay. Darnay, like Mancette, has been wrongly accused of treason.

Word Blind: A Tale of Two Readers - Victoria Olsen - Google Книги

Let it be said that Darney also looks almost exactly like another man in the proceedings, Sydney Carton. Today we might say "really looking exactly like another person? Boy does it work. True, this was written years and years ago. Yes, some of the language and writing might seem hard to digest. But perhaps, if you give this a go, stick with it, you will see the beauty of this book.

Brilliant tale with brilliant storytelling. I have read this three times, each time enjoying it more and more. Each time finding something else to love about it. Each time I am in awe. I first read A Tale of Two Cities as a high school sophomore. I have a vivid memory of my English book laid flat on my desk, though it seems odd to me now that the whole story was in a textbook. While this reread with the Dickens Fellowship of New Orleans -- not a teenager in the group perhaps brought to light for me some of the non-perfection of this work, the opening paragraph not just its famous first phrase ; the unbearable heart-pounding pacing of the carriage rides; and the entire last chapter not just the famous last sentence retained every bit of their power.

View all 12 comments. Feb 16, Erik rated it did not like it Shelves: A Tale of Two Cities holds the dubious honor of being the first book I ever picked up and failed to finish. From there, it's all gone downhill. Just look at my reviews where I casually admit to throwing away classics unread. If you enjoy the little things, like being sane and not hating life, then I recommend you never pick this up. View all 35 comments. Mar 25, Brad rated it did not like it Shelves: A painful beast of a book.

It took me five attempts to get past page one hundred, and when I finally did break that barrier I pressed on until the very end so that I didn't have to suffer ever again. Dickens is a problem for me.

Word Blind: A Tale of Two Readers

I admit it freely. There was a time, many years ago, when I was a fan. I read Great Expectations for the first time in grade four, and I was in love with the book and Dickens. And I imagine that some part of my social consciousness, which wasn't a gift from my parents, was A painful beast of a book. And I imagine that some part of my social consciousness, which wasn't a gift from my parents, was planted with the seeds of Dickens.

Over the years, though, Dickens and I have grown apart. I don't mean that I have "outgrown" him in any sort of condescending manner. It's not the sort of thing I expect anyone else to do, nor is it something that I blame fully on Dickens. No, we've grown apart as many couples do when one person changes through life and experience and the other remains constant.

I have become a radical over the years, and Dickens He venerates the comforts of the middle class; he expounds the virtues of law and order and charity; he attacks the indignities of the abuses of power but only offers imaginary methods for overcoming them, mythologizing the bourgeoisie's ability to overthrow the things that ail us; he vilifies those who seek more radical solutions; and, whether he admits it or not, he still believes in the superiority of nobility and noble blood.

So when he starts to attack the revolutionaries in Paris and uses it to illustrate the "superiority" of civilized English behavior, when Dickens' moral soapbox weighs heavier than his plot, I begin to tune out of his lecture, and A Tale of Two Cities makes me increasingly angry from page to page. I recognize Dickens' talent. I still love his prose. And I get why people love this book, and maybe even why you do, kind reader, but I can't stand it and I am finding it increasingly difficult to like any of his work anymore. I may burn this someday.

But I have fully annotated the version I own and while I can burn the words of others it's the radical in me , my lovely inner narcissist simply can't burn words of my own unless it is for catharsis. So A Tale of Two Cities will likely survive on my shelf until I die, mocking me from its high perch in my office, whispering that a catharsis that may never come just may be necessary.

View all 41 comments. Mar 05, Stephen rated it it was amazing Shelves: After reading this, I immediately decided that I would plan on reading the rest of Dickens books hopefully one every couple of months until I get through them all. I was completely amazed by his characters who came instantly to life for me and about whose hopes and fears I found myself truly caring. Equally impressive was Dickens' plotting and overall story-telling ability which I thought were noth 6. Equally impressive was Dickens' plotting and overall story-telling ability which I thought were nothing short of masterful.

A Tale of Two Cities

Dickens writing conveyed the passions and turmoil of the French Revolution like few other works of literature I have come across. In sum, in between two of the most famous first and last lines of any English novel i. Mar 28, Danger rated it liked it. About 30 pages into this book, I was struck with a moment of panic: Had the lasagna-loving feline been uncerimoniously behead on the guillotine before the happenings of page 1?

Against my better judgement, I decided to keep reading, hoping that at some point Garfield would pop up and say something hilarious about hating Mondays. Well, fellow readers, he doesn't. Instead, Dickens is that his real name? Overall, I guess it's an okay book, if you're into the "classics" sort-of thing, but I believe in my heart of hearts that this novel really could've benefitted by AT LEAST a cameo from Jon Arbuckle or something. View all 7 comments.

It was the best of times, it was the worst of times… These lines will perhaps haunt me for the rest of my life. Set in the backdrop of the French Revolution, with poverty, hunger, debauchery spreading like a dark mist over the country, and by contrast an idyllic England. C Dickens, I have not had the pleasure of your acquaintance before although I had heard of you, a lot I might add , from mouths, both young and old; in times of my years, both past and present.

You always came across to me as someone who were to be conquered and I guess, I was afraid of been vanquished. But oh how you serenaded me! You asked me out for a dance and kept me on my feet the entire night while I was happy, happy to be in the soft embrace of your arms, in close proximity to your heart that beat, beat with the rhythm of the music but in between the jolts of life told me tales of mercy and tears and love and hunger.

I was dipped in to the depths of an abyss, until I fell, fell into the darkness and just as I fell, you swooped in picked me up and lifted me to the light. From the first look to the last, from the first words whispered tenderly, mockingly to my ears to the last ones with a tone of finality, you have left me in despair.

I cannot wait to dance the night away again. For the love and adoration you have inspired in me will hold me a slave to your every idiosyncrasies. I will happily abide the time till our next sojourn. As I hold the belief that this is first of the many to come. Your deeply eternal faithful mesmerized admirer. Apr 29, Laysee rated it really liked it. A Tale of Two Cities is the best-known work of historical fiction by the first classical English writer I have read and loved.

A couple of strong reviews convinced me to spend some time with Dickens and allow him to regale me with a good yarn set against the background of the French Revolution during the Victorian era. My aversion to history as a subject in school has compelled me to turn to good historical fiction for information about the significant past, and Dickens did not disappoint. A soc A Tale of Two Cities is the best-known work of historical fiction by the first classical English writer I have read and loved.

A social critic of his time, Dickens provided an outstanding documentation of the French Revolution. He rendered a vivid portrayal of the heinous oppression of the lower classes, the hatred that simmered, brewed, and finally took Paris by storm, the guillotine that served as the ultimate instrument of vengeance, and the copious shedding of blood for which no human trespass could be atoned.

I have to admit that reading Dickens is no walk in the park. His style of writing is dense and elaborate; some may even find it turgid and longwinded. Three chapters into the story and I almost wanted to quit England and Paris. A memorable scene was the wine shop on a day when a cask of wine was accidently spilled and the people gathered to scoop up pools of the unexpected bounty that were dammed by the uneven stones.

It had stained many hands, too, and many faces, and many naked feet, and many wooden shoes. Manette, was an eminent French doctor, a quiet thinking man who at his best served the poor and sickly. Eighteen years of wrongful incarceration in the Bastille reduced him to a traumatized wreck who took up shoemaking to cope with his losses.

Madam Defarge, wife of the wine shop owner first impressed as a disarming woman who sat behind the wine counter merrily knitting; but she was at her core a fiery gun- and dagger-wielding revolutionary incapable of mercy. The character that moved me the most was Sydney Carton, a junior barrister, who came across as morose, brooding, and unapproachable. He was a bit like a durian — all thorny on the outside but soft on the inside. Carton had a magnanimity that can make you weep. He knew that his love for Dr. A Tale of Two Cities , in my view, is about the struggle between good and evil.

It is manifested in the unimaginable suffering that the aristocrats imposed on the poor and lowly, the prevalent social injustice that bred resentment, hatred, and hardness of heart. It is frightening how the oppressed became the oppressor and spared no thought for innocent folks whose gall they themselves had tasted. It is also displayed in the nobility of those who were willing to make personal sacrifices for the betterment of their kinsmen, to take up arms for a just cause, and to push for change.

The challenge for the characters in the two cities was in knowing when to stop the fervor to do what they perceived to be right and just while traversing the slippery slope where good tended toward evil. A Tale of Two Cities reminds me again why Dickens is not a good but a great novelist. Ada yang tau link pdf A tale of two cities versi terjemahan?

Sydney Carton 1 13 Apr 01, He 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. Born in Portsmouth, 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 novella, A Christmas Carol, remains popular and continues to inspire adaptations in every artistic genre.

• What is Kobo Super Points?.
• Join Kobo & start eReading today!
• Blood In, Blood Out: The Violent Empire of the Aryan Brotherhood.
• iTunes is the world's easiest way to organize and add to your digital media collection.?
• A VOICE FROM THE CONGO.
• A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.
• .

Oliver Twist and Great Expectations are also frequently adapted, and, like many of his novels, evoke images of early Victorian London. Dickens's creative genius has been praised by fellow writers—from Leo Tolstoy to George Orwell and G. 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 , Dickens suffered another stroke at his home after a full day's work on Edwin Drood. He never regained consciousness, and the next day, five years to the day after the Staplehurst rail crash, 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: 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.

Books by Charles Dickens. Quotes from A Tale of Two Cities. See if you have enough points for this item. May and Annie are sisters living on the Isle of Wight at the end of the nineteenth century, but they couldn't be more different. May is a great reader while Annie is "word blind" or dyslexic. After their mother dies these Victorian girls are forced to pool their skills in order to understand the gaps in their family history.

An encounter with a mysterious uncle in London puts Annie in charge for a change, and leads to a surprising reconciliation. Includes an appendix with a reader's guide and sources. A Ghost Tale for Christmas Time. A Boy Called Dickens.

Reward Yourself

Careless Jane and Other Tales. Story One - Annie's Christmas Surprise. How to write a great review.