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A Tale of Two Cities Lecture: The Track of a Storm (Vol. III & Festive Wishes) (Patreon)

Published:
2023-12-24 17:36:57
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2026-06
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Content

Dear Book Club Readers ---

Happy Holidays and Merry Christmas to you all! I hope you're enjoying the festive spirit, doing something special around this time, and managing to get a nice bit of reading in.

Today's discussion is a festive special. We're appreciating the end of A Tale of Two Cities and I will also close by mulling over my latest rereading of A Christmas Carol.

We’re talking about redemption, the guillotine, gallows humour, revolutionary trials, the Reign of Terror, vengeance, allegory, symbolism, apocalyptic visions, pain, power, suffering, strength, death, rebirth, rereading, exercises for personal growth, and much more.

Timestamps:

  • 0:00 Merry Christmas & Happy Holidays
  • 3:00 Charles Darnay returns to France
  • 5:00 on the Revolutionary Tribunal
  • 7:00 Reign of Terror & suicidal vengeance
  • 8:00 liberty, equality, fraternity, or death
  • 10:00 Dickens & Hugo on the guillotine
  • 12:00 the leprosy of the era’s unreality
  • 14:00 end of novel as apocalyptic vision
  • 16:00 allegory & religious symbolism
  • 17:00 how old pain gives present power
  • 18:00 protagonists as personifications
  • 20:00 the trauma & integrity of Dr Manette
  • 21:00 revolutionary vengeance vs justice
  • 22:00 Charles Darnay’s first trial in France
  • 25:00 sign of a healthy vs diseased society
  • 27:00 the second trial of Charles Darnay
  • 28:00 hope comes with Sydney Carton
  • 29:00 Sydney Carton’s transformation
  • 32:00 Biblical & Shakespearean allusions
  • 34:00 the discovered letter of Dr Manette
  • 36:00 ‘tell Wind and Fire where to stop…’
  • 38:00 Sydney Carton saves Charles Darnay
  • 39:00 the ending of A Tale of Two Cities
  • 42:00 ‘it is a far, far better thing that I do…’
  • 43:00 what did you make of the novel?
  • 44:00 the power of rereading great literature
  • 46:00 on returning to A Christmas Carol
  • 48:00 empathising with Ebenezer Scrooge
  • 51:00 epiphanies & processing trauma
  • 52:00 belief & empowering mindsets
  • 53:00 wearing the chain we forged in life
  • 54:00 an exercise for your future self
  • 55:00 ‘mankind was my business…’
  • 56:00 hauntings, introspection & change
  • 57:00 returning to childhood in our hearts
  • 58:00 ‘I am mortal and liable to fall…’
  • 59:00 the difficult work required for rebirth
  • 1:00:00 taking festive joy through the year
  • 1:01:00 congratulations on reading

Questions for You:

1) What did you make of the ending of A Tale of Two Cities?

2) How would you persuade another to read the novel? And what advice would you give to facilitate a meaningful reading experience?

3) Did you read A Christmas Carol this year? If so, what resonated with you this time around?

Happy Holidays and love to you all!

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Comments

Holly Puckette

Two Cities was my fourth Dickens since starting the club. (Christmas Carol, Great Expectations, Drood, and this one) With each I find myself realizing ever more clearly that Dickens is muscling his way into my top-authors-for-life list. I know like I know my eye color that I will HAVE to re-read Two Cities. I would start over at the beginning tomorrow, but Mr. Steinbeck is waiting impatiently in the wings for his turn, pointing out quite loudly that he has been on that list since I was a teenager. Authors. So pushy once they're under one's skin.

Emma S.

I'm a bit late in finishing and commenting, but I think book 3 makes this novel. I feel that Dickens just hits a fantastic flow, and it got to the point that I just couldn't put the book down. There are some beautifully drawn characters and some wonderfully evocative and memorable scenes. I just loved how it all wrapped up. I do think that Dickens is fantastic at finishing his novels, something that other authors can struggle with. What a great reading experience. Thank you Ben!

Amber A

This was my first time reading this work. I took it very slowly, stopping after each chapter and restarting after it had really sunk in. I know I will reread this book. Madame Defarge walking through the street was absolutely terrifying, so much suspense. My first impression of Carton and my last are so dramatically changed. How is there so much hope in so much darkness? Truly a story of the best and worst of times. A story of redemption, condemnation, death, and rebirth, love, and hate. “Sow the same seed of rapacious license and oppression ever again, and it will surely yield the same fruit according to its kind”. Dickens truly captures humanity. I am both devastated and inspired.

Ms P
>>127338197

I have just finished it and I agree 100%, I have been reading all afternoon because the story had become so gripping, and the writing so engaging. That final page was so heartbreaking. I need to pause and write down some coherent thoughts.

Amber A

I need a movie/series adaptation that is very close to the book. I can’t deal with a change in order or deviation from the plot.

Paula Baker

I'm really behind as I just finished TOTC! I actually listened to it on audio book and it was fantastic. This is a re-read for sure. I have a beautiful hard copy and look forward to reading it slowly. What an ending! It made me cry. Sydney Carton's character evolved through love - a pure love which became the ultimate sacrificial love. He became my favorite character in the book (Miss Pross surprised me too!). This is my 4th Dickens novel and definitely my favorite so far.

hardcoreliterature
>>135294644

Congratulations on finishing A Tale of Two Cities, Paula! It really is amazing on audiobook, isn't it? Dickens' prose is all the more marvellous when it's read aloud and performed. The ending, and Sydney Carton's character development, always chokes me up too. I'm so thrilled that this is your favourite so far :)

Margaret H

This was a re-read for me after many years, and it was a very different experience. I remembered the story very well but the characters have become more important. Recently I have been reading modern novels, particularly Irish, Paul Lynch and Sebastian Barry, and Dickens seemed very stilted and somewhat pedantic in comparison. It took some time to adjust. Enjoyed it

Jaye Cee
>>139276072

I read the book in December with the group, and also found the style difficult to start with. I started to walk around listening to the audio book mostly a few chapters behind where I was reading, and loved the double read as I really could follow the audio book. I now finished the audio book for the second time. The writing is so elequent, especially when we'll read!

Craig Mckissick

I ambitiously decided to try and read this, David Copperfield and A Christmas Carol on top of my other reads and the holiday hecticness. I still have half of Copperfield to go which I have been audioing, but Dickens has been a core influence on my thoughts this month. How good is Dickens? Simultaneously reading Les Mis I thought this would be easy in comparison but A Tale of Two Cities was quite a challenge I found, but it picked up great momentum to the point that I flew through the last third in a day. By the end I was starting to see elements of characters across his other novels overlapping. As nice as the tight pace of ATOTC was, I felt the characters could have been developed more only because I enjoyed their company so much. Jerry Cruncher deserves his own novel! And some brilliant females, I’ve heard him criticised for his female characters but I would point out this novel to those critics. Reading ACC, I found it harder to stay concentrated, ironically I was fixated on whether to purchase something, but I resolved that I didn’t need it and read what I had in front of me. I was glad I did. By the time Scrooge is begging for another chance at life and wakes up with a positive energy I was uncontrollably greeting as we say in Scotland. What a powerful story. My main take away was that you can change your world by being the sun in your own house and lighting up the world from the inside out, and it can be done right now. We needlessly torture ourselves, it’s human nature but we have the power to have joy right now. You can appreciate the beauty in simplicity and nature. Even those in poverty as in the tale, have something to appreciate and bring them some happiness. And when you are in a position to help, it is your duty to help. This doesn’t have to be financial. There is endless details to take from this story but that’s just a few. Back to ATOTC, the way this novel comes together in the end is genius. I couldn’t help notice while reading the similarities between the Revolution and WW2 with the groupthink and grouprage. I feel like the crowd is almost an unnamed character as it’s always there and has a huge impact. The way that Carton decides to do his deed in the end is an incredible thing to think about because if it came down to it, not as many would do this for someone as we would like to think. Miss Pross’s showdown was also valiant and entertaining but she also paid a hefty price, this scene felt immensely influential on so many movies, how many action movies have this or a variation on this struggle? The things that were sacrificed for a young family end up being quite immense. The complex connections between the characters that are slowly revealed was very interesting, and the way that novel unravels and we are left to piece a lot of the story together caught me off guard but is perfect for rereading. I also probably picked up quite a lot of history without realising, as I often found myself googling things. A lot of things did line up with Les Mis so I can definitely recommend them as a co read. I read criticism that the two cities feel too similar, while descriptions may be similar and the feel might be similar, the Revolutionaries gave Paris a feel like nothing else in Dickens for me. Dickens full range was never fully explored IMO after reading this and it makes me think what else he could’ve wrote. The influence on Sherlock Holmes here is pretty undeniable. I didn’t cry at this Dickens which is the first time but the character of Carton and his Saintliness was deeply affecting and he’s endlessly quotable in those end sections. I learned that in real life no one is a side character and no one’s potential is too far gone to do something great and so you should never judge or discount anyone and treat them for what they could be. A message echoed by Lorry rising to the occasion despite his old age at the end. Now to finish David Copperfield which I have loved so far! Thanks for the lecture, you always point things out I missed and take things in another direction.

Samuel Thompson

So this was my first reading of this novel and quite honestly I really enjoyed it, but for me Dickens really challenges me for some reason, more so than even Dostoevsky or McCarthy or even David foster Wallace. Dickens has a glorious prose that always leaves me feeling like a missed something… so with that being said I re read the first part of this book 4 times before continuing on to book 2😂 I finally fell in love with the story near the end of book 2 and by the end of book 3 I had major chills, that last page was mind blowing and I can’t wait to reread this book again in the future knowing what I know now😊

Ylva

I didn’t want to part from France and potential comfort reads for me after The Three Musketeers right away, and so ended up finding myself grasping for Dickens. I expected a good book. I didn’t quite expect what I found, however, which might be one of my favourite reads this year so far, if not the most impressively intense and wonderful (leaving out Shakespeare … and maybe Proust 😂). I rushed through it within a few days after the initial stumbling over the syntax and complex structure, and have the kinds of tears in my eyes as I type this still that tell of having met an invaluable new literary companion. I might actually have to cuddle-hug my copy when I’ll go to sleep tonight. There is a magic to this book club that extends to the books we read and the authors we befriend. And though I’ve been part of our beautiful group here for a bit over a year now and had a feeling from the start that my membership would change me not just in my reading habits but would impact my life, I believe this is the read that shows to me how profoundly true this presentiment was. This was my second Dickens novel after journeying through David Copperfield with the club last Christmas season, and already picking up one of his books has become a ceremonial process that is sacred to me. It sometimes feels like I missed out on something profound by coming to Dickens not sooner in my life, and yet opening his stories is like being whisked away into a place where my heart is at its most true, vulnerable, and warm, and experiencing this now is like the best of treasures. To me, reading Dickens has become the equivalent of allowing myself to be hugged. What better gift is there? That being said, this novel nonetheless shocked me with its overpowering intensity, dark themes, and close dealings with the French Revolution. It initially didn’t feel like anything that I’d have expected of Dickens and actually gave me almost Dumas-esque vibes, until the second part really made the book kick off and Dickens’s cadence felt like it had settled within this story and its prose. It also surprised me by me tapping into knowledge from my reading during these past months that made me catch allusions and references that make the story all the more powerful. The coverflap of my Everyman edition spoiled Sydney’s ending to me so it didn’t come quite as the shock it might have been had I not looked at the summary; then again, a part of me is even grateful for the heads-up, and the “What” is not what I read for anyway. The How was something I was almost desperate to unravel; I could feel it sneaking up on me from the moment he confessed to Lucie, and from there on I had to insert breaks in-between chapters to process the magnitude of what Dickens was saying, and also brace myself for what felt increasingly inevitable. Full out sobbing by the end. The kind of emotional overflow that mark a life-impacting book to me. I very much appreciated the lectures here along the way. As always, they are incredibly informative, insightful, and guiding, not to mention simply a nice ritual to treat myself to as I read. In this case, knowing the lectures to be here was one of the reasons for my choice falling on this title earlier this week, and I’m so grateful for it since it gave me a new darling book. This, undoubtedly, was an A+ read for me. Oh, and aside from the many fantastic sections Benjamin quotes in the lecture series, the iconic first and last lines included, my favourite passage must be the entirety of Sydney’s nighttime walk in chapter 9, book 3, The Game Made.

Susan Kelley

It is December 2025 and I just finished this tale. I had no idea what the book was about and it was nothing I could have imagined. The ending just cut a hole in my heart as Carton held the hand and comforted the young woman with him. I loved the character of Dr. Manette so much, that he suffered and was able to go on living and loving though haunted by his trauma. I need to go hide under a blanket and debrief before starting the annual Christmas read of A Christmas Carol.

Ylva
>>197326438

Susan, it’s a haunting, devastating ending, isn’t it? And yet so warm. I read it a few months ago and am still not over it. Though it is a favourite read from this year for sure. What did you think of the rest of the book?