A Tale of Two Cities (Charles Dickens)

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Warning: This is sappy. More of a reflection than a review, honestly. The thing about reading classics is you're not sure if you're qualified to critique it. That, and the difficulty that most of us have in understanding the language that they usually use. A Tale of Two Cities is exactly that kind of classic. Thus, I will not attempt to be objective in this review (not that I claim to have been entirely objective in my reviews of the last two books I read). As any book, it has parts where it grips you hard and parts that make you want to put it down. But I liked the idea of a love caught in between the horrific setting of the French Revolution. Most specifically, it makes you realize that such great events are more driven by the dynamics of close, intimate relationships than motivations that extend beyond the personal. Something that is not entirely bad, unless that drive happens to be hate. A good scene to show this would be the confrontation between Miss Pross and Madame Defarge. Evidently, just like any classic, its core themes remain relevant across times. Until now, there is still a wide gap between the rich and poor. It might be even wider than before. And just like in our history, we also know that the tables will eventually turn in thr future. We can hope that such a change will not happen through a bloody revolution, but I believe we are all in agreement that we're headed towards emulating the past. Such is a sad note to be playing in your head. But if it's any consolation, people have died for love. People are still dying for love. And in their sacrifice, we have to believe that we can be better.