A Tale of Two Cities (Knickerbocker Classics)

This is edition is clearly lifted from Project Gutenberg or some other public domain source, and it was apparently laid out by someone who has never had to read a book in their lives. The type is tiny, the margins narrow, the paragraphs unindented. The novel's parts are barely marked, and the book has no table of contents or other introductory material.In short, no effort was spared in sparing every conceivable effort to make this book enjoyable or even readable at a time when It's hard enough to convince a student to read Dickens without having some brainless typographer (or text-crunching software script) make Dickens' work impossible to read even for his admirers. So—whether you're getting A Tale of Two Cities out of obligation, curiosity, or sincere desire to read a classic, do not spend money on this edition. Do not spend money on this edition. DO NOT SPEND MONEY ON THIS EDITION. There are far, far better ones on the market.

Bought this on my kindle and came to me not as a kindle file but as a photocopy of text. Ridiculous font size and no way to adjust. I wish amazon would not allow products like this. Unreadable.

I love the story and Dickens is my favorite author so I'm not giving him or the story 1 star, but this paperback 'book' format was horrible. The print is tiny with maybe a size 6 font (?) on a horrendously big 8x13 page (bigger than the size of printer paper) so you constantly lose your place when trying to move to the next line/row. Also, because this 'book' is soooo big and awkward in size (but again, with teeny tiny fonts!), you can't fit it into your purse -- you'd need a big tote or backpack to carry this around and it takes up too much space on any table/night stand to lay around. The seller did note dimensions in description so it was my fault for buying but who prints on 8x13 pages with 6 size fonts?! You could at least make the font super BIG for people with vision issues.

I don't know who is selling this edition through kindle, but it is NOT as Charles Dickens wrote it. It is written as if someone from another country , who doesn't speak English, translated the original. It is full of strange spellings, mis-translated words and poorly formed sentences. The word coach, as in the kind pulled by horses, was translated as mentor. No wonder I had no clue what was going on in the first five pages. I later bought the Amazon Classics edition, which is a proper edition.

A Tale of Two Cities is a definite favorite of mine. Despite being published in 1859, it still has the ability to draw the readier into the story and engage the mind. There are certainly elements of the book that we cannot relate to, living in this day and age. On the whole however, each person can find parallels and lessons applicable to their own life. Like many Dickens novels, there will be what seems like pages of useless details. It can be slow reading at times. Yet by the end of the book, everything comes together in a fantastic story and an ending that will leave you blown away. I can't recommend this book enough.

This story. Wow. The prose is pure poetry.I have been moved to tears.This was torture. This was beauty. This is redemption. This is glory.Read it!

For some reason, some of the reviews on this page make false claims about this book being "bowdlerized". The authors of these reviews clearly did not read the book, because I have purchased it and examined the text myself and have not found anything missing. If the text is all Dickens, what was the role of the editor? The editor has added useful footnotes explaining aspects of the French Revolution and classical references that readers might not understand today, and provided an excellent selection of critical essays from English professors from across the country.Here's a couple passages from the essays included in the book: (1) "Most admirers of Dickens remember him for his inimitable characters, like the painfully innocent Oliver Twist, the oily Uriah Heep, or that 'covetous old sinner' Ebenezer Scrooge, while perhaps not realizing that Dickens creates these characters with his persistent and varied use of repetition." (2) "If A Tale of Two Cities is one of Charles Dickens' best novels, it is also his least typical. It is a novel wherein he allows almost no play to his madcap genius. In a sense it stands at the antipodes from the book that launched his career, The Pickwick Papers."As you can see, this is an excellent critical edition of the text -- as the back cover material states, the Ignatius Critical Editions series offers modern examinations grounded in "the same heritage that provided the crucible in which the great authors formed these classic works." Apparently the troll reviews are taking offense to the idea that Christians should be allowed to think and write. If you are at least willing to hear them out, this is a good book to choose and you will be satisfied with the additional material.

I would say its a bad translation except I know it was written in English. maybe its the original old english. But something is terribly wrong when the first sentence reads "It was the best of instances, it was the worst of instance." And it goes downhill from there. Its like someone google translated it into French, then google translated that back into English. Bizarre.

Phew, I didn't think I would make it to the end. Classic novels, in general, require concentration and a clear head. In my opinion, reading Dickens needs these qualities and a large dose of dedication. 'A Tale of Two Cities' needs even more - the historical element means there is a lot of take in which even pushed and challenged me to muddy my enjoyment. As such, I often found I had to unwillingly put this book down - eye-strain and a novel-inducing headache from the intensity of Dickens work.If you haven't come across this novel before, it's the one that famously begins: 'It was the best of times, it was the worst of times'. Yes, there's your small fact for a pub quiz. Set in the time of eighteenth century London and France, there is a lot of history as Dickens describes the bloodied and violent streets of Paris. With the guillotine ominously hanging over society, (pun definitely intended!), many innocent civilians are somewhat slaughtered as the spies close in. There's a fair bit of fighting in this novel, a lot of chat and even more description. Lacking the humour of say, Austin, Dickens grimly portrays a social mess that I found confusing and difficult to properly appreciate. In honesty, it was the final part of the novel that I enjoyed the most and one where I really understood what was going on!There are plenty of  classic novels out there and a range of Dickens to encounter. I won't read this again; I am glad I did but would try a different one to see if I enjoyed it more.

Dickens spins a good yarn; this is a story full of sub-plots and some interesting one-dimensional characters. What kept me hooked right to the end was the tension and how the characters and scenes came to life, I particularly enjoyed the comical vignettes, a nice touch to lighten the ominous moments.ASIN: B002RI9IOM is edited and has an intro by Richard Maxwell. This Penguin edition also includes: Acknowledgements; Introduction; A Dickens Chronology; A Timeline; Further Reading; A Note on the Text; Appendix I On the Illustrations; Appendix II Dedication and Preface to First Volume Edition; Appendix III Dickens and His Sources; Appendix IV Running Titles Added in 1867– 8; and Notes.I enjoyed reading this on kindle, a click took me to footnotes, the search facility came in handy and I could enlarge the wonderful illustrations by Phiz.

The type in this "A Tale Of Two Cities - large print: A story of the French Revolution" is larger than usual, but it's not sufficiently large for elderly eyes and there is no additional or helpful spacing to aid reading. It's as though they've taken the text file and dumped it onto the pages without any thought to setting or layout.This has undermined my faith in choosing other large print books on Amazon.I also realise that this will probably appear as a two-star review for Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities! There ought to be a way to review the edition, not the content.

Yes, I recently downloaded this for later reading to refresh my mind. I read this at school in the mid 60's. It's a marvellous book which brings a tear to my eye even now when I watch the films. I have only read it once, but even to this day, I still remember (almost word for word) the first opening sentence and the last one too. How could one forget? Very few books do that. I would recommend everyone to read this. Well, it is Dickens!

There is less humour or indeed satire in this book than in many of Dickens' works but instead a deep well of anger at the depths to which humanity can sink. However, the master storyteller constructs a redemptive ending that restores some faith in common humanity. One shoild remember that this book was written in the early 19th century and yet the events described have happened in many times and many places since, and more cruelly.

My first Dickens but not my last. Its opening lines are branded into our conscience, having read the book or not. An excellent novel.

This kindle edition (Penguin Classics) has a serious problem from book 3. Book 3 seems to have been transcribed by someone who does not speak the English language well or understand English grammar! I see that this book has now been withdrawn from sale.

I give this version no stars, it appears to have been translated into English from another language and is complete gobbledygook, totally unreadable. It was placed at the top of the list of available versions so I just clicked on it to buy. I really think it should be removed.

Charles Dickens' novel " The Tale of Two Cities" has as its historical backdrop the French revolution and the events leading up to it. The book was originally published in installments in Dickens'own literary periodical titled 'All the Year Round'. Dickens had a great social conscience and this is amply portrayed contrasting not only the French social system at the time but also giving great insight into that of the British way of life. The book has all the classical elements of romance and justice written with great feeling and excitement.In this edition of Clothbound classics there is a volume to read time and time again always with neverending pleasure.

For anyone who is unsure of the brilliance of Dickens' storytelling this book should prove it beyond doubt. A cast of believable well draw characters lead us through a story of personal redemption set against the backdrop of the French revolution.

Very disappointing. The book contains three sections. The first two are fine. The third is not. The text has been altered and reads like an uncorrected automated translation. Large sections of text are unreadable and full of errors. Location 5536 includes references to the internet and motorways.

This is Dickens so who am I to judge? It has that epic opening chapter and simply bucket-loads of class. A history lesson of sorts. Therefore, perhaps the fault is all mine in having laboured rather over the closing chapters.

This book as been edited for Kindle by a moron! or a dyslexic computer! The english is appalling and the sentence structure even worse. You cannot read it as it doesn't make sense. Sadly i downloaded several books and so i didn't get around to trying to read it until after the return date had expired. A waste of money. Charles Dickens would be horrified and what someone has done to his work.

I bought this book for the larger print as my first purchase of this classic title by another publisher was too small, grey and difficult to read, but then I get to the end of the book thinking this cannot possibly be the end, when I found that the last FIVE AND HALF CHAPTERS WERE COMPLETELY MISSING!Inside the book a page was also duplicated.... so rubbish, and this is published by Amazon themselves.Despite going past the statuary refund period I am seeking a full refund for faulty goods.

The weakest of Charles Dickens novels. The opening and closing paragraphs are superb, indeed very well known. I could not complete the novel.