A Tale of Two Cities [A.R.N. Publications]

By: Charles Dickens

Narrated by: Philippe Duquenoy

Length: 13 hrs and 17 mins

Publisher's summary

A Tale of Two Cities is a story of love, mystery, suspense, and action all rolled up into one beautifully written novel taking place in two prominent cities, Paris and London, during the French Revolution. The story follows the release and rehabilitation of Dr. Manette, a man falsely imprisoned in the Bastille in France for almost two decades. While trouble is brewing in France with citizens being starved and taxed to death, Dr. Manette is taken to London by Mr. Lorrie, a prominent business man, and Lucie, Dr. Manette's daughter. The process takes five years, but eventually Dr. Manette has overcome his troubled times in the Bastille and returns to practicing medicine alongside his perfect daughter Lucie.

Dr. Manette and Lucie are asked to testify in a trial for Charles Darnay, who's accused of treason. Due to Lucie's compassionate testimony and a Charles Look-a-like, Sydney, Darnay is let off the hook and the love story begins. Both men fall in love in with sweet Lucie and she must choose which of the two men, who are complete opposites, she wants to be with. Lucie gets married to one of the men, who on the day of their wedding admits that he is not who they think he is, and is actually a French Noblemen and heir to the men who had Dr. Manette locked up in France.

Meanwhile, back in France, a group called Citizens of the New Republic are rising up against the monarchy and noblemen. With tensions high, Lucie's husband sets off to France in secret, where he is arrested. Lucie and Dr. Manette have only a short amount of time to be able to save the nobleman, and an unlikely ally will come to the rescue to pay the ultimate sacrifice.

©2016 A.R.N. Publications (P)2016 A.R.N. Publications

A Captivating Story & Fantastic Narration!

From all of the works by Charles Dickens, this one is by far my favorite. A Tale of Two Cities follows the story of Dr. Manette who was falsely imprisoned in Bastille for almost 20 years, during the French Revolution, and in order to rehabilitate from his imprisonment, he is sent to London as citizens in France are being taxed and starved to death. Eventually, with the help of his daughter, Lucie, Dr. Manette becomes well enough to practice medicine again. The story takes a twist when the two are asked to testify against the treason of Charles Darnay; and during the trial, both Darnay and another man fall in love with Lucie. The man that she ends up getting married to will need her to come to his aid to avoid execution.

In terms of classics, A Tale of Two Cities is a work of art in the English literary canon. Listening to or reading this text will give readers insight into the French Revolution, and Dickens vivid detail will make them feel like they were actually there. The decision to have Philippe Duquenoy narrate this book was a perfect call. He greatly compliments Dickens through his delightful accent, variety of voices for characters, and a clear narration style that makes it a pure joy to listen to and easy to follow along.

Overall, readers and listeners will be able to lose themselves in this captivating novel, getting drawn into the story until the very last page. A great story made even greater with Mr. Duquenoy’s narration.

narrator reads so fast!

This is one of my favorite books. It is a pretty difficult read, but totally worth it. I had high hopes for the audio version, but the narrator reads so fast that it makes it hard to follow. I will look for a different narrator for this book.

Dickens is Wonderful!

Having read many other works from Dickens, this one, A Tale of Two Cities has to be among his top 3. As with many of his other works, Dickens does a magnificent job once more by painting a vivid picture for his audience with his characters and use of symbolism throughout the novel. The reader has a very pleasant 'gentleman style' voice that I simply did not get tired of listening to at any point, and he truly does a phenomenal job with the vast amount of characters and overall narration style.

Spoiler alert...the end of this book will bring you to tears!!

Classic story read well!

The accents and switches between characters was done well. The pace of the reading fit the intrigue of the story. Overall I enjoyed the reading of the story.

Apropos to today's state of affairs

The actions of Therese Defarge were justified when looking at the backdrop of how the citizens where treated. Dickerson promotes this until the very when he has to get one up on the French.

Wait for it...

This is the first time I've read Dickens. I struggled during the first 5-6 chapters. The method of setting the scene and introducing the characters was a bit laborious. I'm happy I stuck with it as Dickens masterfully brings the story together. the narrator did a great job. I highly recommend the book.

Tedious

I had a hard time reading, long time before I got it. Good book. Long time reading it and sometimes boring.

Slow it down

The audio pace is too fast, so very hard to follow and not miss key points

Read too fast!

Even when you slow down the tempo on they app, it’s till awful.
Read far too fast.
So disappointing as story is a classic!

Narrated too fast!!

If you don't like your stories read too quickly, you will not like this version. The voices are well done, but Dickens' brilliant and sometimes long narrated sections were unlistenable to me as read by this narrator. These sections were very fast and without any nuance. I will be returning this version and looking for one I like better.