双城记的Book Review 英文读后感(1000左右)

Book Review: A Tale of Two Cities

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A Tale of Two Cities (published in 1859) is one of the greatest novels on the French Revolution. Partly inspired by Thomas Carlyle’s French Revolution, it is a mammoth work of imagination, giving a fictional account of the events and causes leading up to that fateful summer of 1789. I t is quite difficult to write about the novels written by Charles Dickens (7 February 1812 –9 June 1870). He was an British novelist, generally was considered the greatest of the Victorian period. when he was 12 years old, his father was put in prison, he had to withdraw from school and forced to work in a factory. As a young man, he worked as a reporter. His fiction career bega n with short pieces reprinted as Sketches by “Boz” (1836). A Tale of Two Cities (1859) appeared in the period when he achieved great popularity for his public readings. Dickens's works are characterized by an encyclopaedic knowledge of London, pathos, a vein of the macabre, a pervasive spirit of benevolence and geniality, inexhaustible powers of character creation, an acute ear for characteristic speech, and a highly individual and inventive prose style.

It is the year 1775, and England and France are undergoing a period of social upheaval and turmoil. The forces that are leading to revolution in France are colliding with a circle of people in England, causing their destinies to be irrevocably intertwined, Dr. Manette was picked up and sent to the Bastille prison by the noble Marquis St. Evremonde. 18 years after in 1775, his only daughter, Lucie Manette, fell in love with Charles Darnay, the nephew of the Marquis St. Evremonde, which abandoned the noble degree to live by himself. “Let the past be past.” Thought Dr. Marnette, and was preparing to have a happy new life with his daughter and her husband. But the revolution of France broke, and because of his family, Charles Darnay was denounced by a letter which was wrote by Dr. Marnette himself 18 years ago. But Sydney Carton, the lawyer of England, who took after Charles very much, finally was killed instead by his own mind.

Alexandre Manette made a deep impression on me, he was a kind doctor with mercy. He once saw the Evremondes’ violence to the sl aves eighteen years ago, he wanted to report their crimes. But unfortunately, the Evremondes framed Manette in the Bastille Prison. Also according to the description of the time he just played: “He had a white beard, raggedly cut, but not very long, a hollow face, and exceedingly bright eyes. The hollowness and thinness of his face would have caused them to look large, under his yet dark eyebrows and his confused white hair, though they had been really otherwise; but, they were naturally large, and looked un-naturally so. His yellow rags of shirt lay open at the throat, and showed his body to be withered and worn (2008,p33).” We can see the faintness was not the faintness of physical weakness and we can deeply imagine how this old man had been harmed. In addition when you asked him questions, his first words are always "what do you say?(2008,p5,p33...)",we can infer that he had used to talking to nobody everyday and he could not reflect others' words quickly. All these had implied that his character and spirit were much easier to be influenced especially when he met with the