The Novels of Charles Dickens: An Introduction by David Timson to A Tale of Two Cities

By: David Timson

Narrated by: uncredited

Length: 25 mins

Publisher's summary

David Timson talks about Charles Dickens, much loved for his great contribution to classic English Literature. Listen to A Tale of Two Cities narrated by Anton Lesser.

"It was the best of times and the worst of times." In one of the most famous openings of any novel, Dickens masterfully presents the turmoil of the French Revolution, which is the backdrop for a novel of love, patience, hope, and self-sacrifice. This version is read by Anton Lesser, whose award-winning Dickens recordings in their abridged form has now resulted in the opportunity to read the full unabridged text. His singular characterizations led to him being chosen by Peter Ackroyd to play Dickens himself in the major TV account of the writer.

Listen to A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens.

©2012 Naxos Audiobooks (P)2012 Naxos Audiobooks

Teaser

This is just an introduction. I didn’t realize this when I downloaded it. I would really like to have read the unabridged complete book via Audible. Just be aware so you don’t pay for something that you’re not going to get. Otherwise, it’s fabulous.

Great tools and easy to apply

There are no other best books out there in my opinion on this topic. I still found the information powerful and wonderfully presented.

OK book

I've either heard or read a book that'd similar to this book about tails of two cities cities I can't really remember. but this was an alright book to listen to

Disappointing

What disappointed you about The Novels of Charles Dickens: An Introduction by David Timson to A Tale of Two Cities?

I guess I misread the description and to me, the introduction was a total waste of time. A Tale of Two Cities is a book I have read several times previously and I was hoping listening to this would bring it more alive to me. It seemed a very superficial introduction

Would you ever listen to anything by David Timson again?

I didn't have a problem with David Timson's narration; I just have to be more careful in reading the description before purchasing and Timson book.

How could the performance have been better?

It wasn't the performance that was a problem for me; it was the content. There were a few excerpts quoted and the characters just didn't seem real.

You didn’t love this book... but did it have any redeeming qualities?

I had read a lot about Dickens previously and the introduction did add a little (a very little) to what I already know.

Any additional comments?

A waste of money. Get the complete version of this novel, not the introduction.

Just a short version and I have the long version,.

it is a great book, but I somehow downloaded this short version and I have the 13 hr. version written by Charles Dickens, so your staff helped me fix this for another book.
thanks

No point to this -- don't get it.

This "introduction" tells one very brief story about Dickens --- that in middle age he abandoned his wife and six children for an 18-year-old actress -- and then goes directly into two short passages from Tale of Two Cities, the beginning part and one much further along. These are well read, though confusing since there is nothing to identify them, but they are not read by David Timson but by Anton Lesser, who is not credited. Anton Lesser is a wonderful reader, of course, but this excerpting seems plagaristic. I suspect the whole thing is some sort of a mistake.

Nice introduction

This is s nice introduction to The Tale of Two Cities. It also gives you some insight into Dickens life at that time.

Interesting Intro

This is an interesting intro to the works of Charles Dickenson .Has me thinking of adding a few of his books to my intended reads this year

Waste of time

Simply a waste of time! Why would one need to know about what is in the authors mind at the time of writing?

Disappointed

Did not realize that this was not the full story. What couple minutes I listened to were read in a excellent manner.