A Tale of Two Cities [Recorded Books]

By: Charles Dickens

Narrated by: Frank Muller

Length: 13 hrs and 57 mins

Publisher's summary

"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times..." So begins this classic, one of the most beloved novels of all time. Charles Dickens brings the French Revolution to life through such vivid characters as Charles Darnay, the Old Doctor, Sydney Carton and Lucy Manette. The action peaks with the storming of the Bastille, the dreaded symbol of government authority. And the blade of La Guillotine falls again...

(P)1986 by Recorded Books, Inc.

a great presentation...

Muller does a great job as always. I struggled through this book when it was required in HS, but it was a pleasure to hear the different charaters "returned to life" by frank...

Educational and Entertaining

I received this in a double pack with "Great Expectations". Both were a bit long winded; but fantastic stories.

I did not know much about this story going in. But I found it to be a reflective historical experience into a topic I know little about; but will likely now go look into.

8/10

Download high quality

If you are downloading this audiobook choose the highest quality available. The reader is very good but the accent and voices cannot be understood unless you choose a high quality format (3 or 4).

About the book itself, what can one say about Dickens. Although the thought occurs; if Dicken's Tale was being published for the first time today, would it be significantly edited? After all, when was the last time you read an author that took 3 paragraphs to explain that a man was wearing a blue hat.

Naturally they are 3 excellent paragraphs with metaphors galore. And I have to believe that much of the rambling helps to create the characters. Especially when I think about the last Dickens book I read, I don't remember the story nearly as much as the characters.

unforgettable

I first read this book in high-school, or should I say I first 'tried' to read this book in high-school. My young mind was unprepared, mostly because it had no patience for victorian-stlye long-winded descriptives of everything. Listening to it was a completely different experience. It's wonderful to listen to a narration from a reader who distiguishes the characters with his voice, and also understands the nuances necessary in what each character is saying. This is much easier than reading it first, then trying to figure out what the intent was.
These characters were unforgettable, and this work will now be with me forever. If it's true that a book absorbed becomes part of your soul, then I would highly recommend this book to anybody. Dickens is fabulous, and I look forward to downloading more of his books in the future. Thanks Audible, for making this classical author more accessible to this reader/listener!

Loved this book

One of the best books I have ever read. I started it years ago and couldn't get into it. Now, after learning a lot more about the French Revolution, I got it. Dickens is hard to beat as an author - so beautifully written! But the moral of the story is just so powerful. I recommend this to everyone who has any idea about the Fr. Rev., and if you don't, find out so you can enjoy this book. It is a classic for a reason.

I love Frank Muller, one of the best narrators out there. But I also have this book read by Martin Jarvis who is also very good, and actually has a little lighter quality to his voice, which is sometimes helpful in this rather dark novel..

Most Beautiful Story Ever Told

I thought I knew this story, but hearing it in it's entirety was an absolute delight. It tears at your heart while inspiring your mind. The narrator did a great job with the voices, but seemed a little monotone and steady during the description of things in a way that sometimes made it hard to follow.

Occasionally lost

I was occasionally lost while listenibg to this story, sometimes it was hard to understand the narrator. Often it was difficult to keep track of the characters but in the end ot all made sense. It is such a beautiful story and I would recommend it to anyone!!!

Great story and narrated so well.

What did you love best about A Tale of Two Cities?

The narration of Frank Muller was wonderful with French and English accents that brought the story to life.

What was one of the most memorable moments of A Tale of Two Cities?

The twists and turns the story takes at the end!

Have you listened to any of Frank Muller’s other performances before? How does this one compare?

No... this was the first one, but I do have Great Expectations to listen to next.

Was there a moment in the book that particularly moved you?

The ending was so well read.

A must read for all ages.

What more is there for me to say. Read it at school, again when older but it was marvellous to have it read to me by such a marvellous narrator. Thank you for the opportunity.

Dickens, but not the best Dickens

Many people more competent than I have reviewed and synopsised this story so this is just my thoughts on the story.

I didn't find A Tale of Two Cities nearly as engaging as the other Dickens works that I've read thus far, in fact it was a bit of a struggle to push through the middle of this one!

My main problem was that the whole story was very obvious from the get-go and it was just a case of progressing from point A to point B. I guess there's an argument that reading Dickens is more about enjoying the rich characterisation and the lavish and accurate descriptions of historic times and places. Whilst the latter was definitely an option, the characters in this story were just too one-dimensional (and pathetic) for me to really care about. This charge is probably a little extreme but given the authors track record I feel justified in expecting a higher level of quality from his works.

This version was read by Frank Muller, who was as fantastic as he usually is! The array of characters were provided consistent and appropriate voices and, while there are accents (which often upset people), to my oafish ear at least they sounded appropriate.