The Book Vipers discussion

The discussion thread is now open. Spoilers are allowed on this thread. Don't read on if you haven't finished the book.

Oh dear! So I finished it a day late, but appear to be the only one! And I nominated it!! Hoping others weren't put off!!

I have found Dickens to be a bit hit & miss. I LOVED Great Expectations, but found Bleak House to be too long winded. I found A Tale of Two Cities to be a bit of both. The beginning was fine, but took me ages to read. I lost motivation a few times, and found it hard to pick up again. The second section got better and better, so by the final section I was hooked in.

There were some fantastic scenes, particularly the Doctor's note detailing the events leading up to his imprisonment, and the bloodlust of the three Jaques and the knitting women prior to the family's escape. Really gruesome and frightening.

Les Miserables gives a very different account of the Revolution, causing me to feel great sympathy for the young men fighting the cause. This work, however, highlighted how monstrous leaders just replaced other monstrous leaders. The Reign of Terror polished off tens of thousands of innocents from all backgrounds, with the majority being peasants.

I can't say I fully accepted Carton being prepared to sacrifice himself for Lucie and Charles. He loved her beyond words, and never saw himself a fit match for her, or any woman. He did lead a miserable existence at times, but seemed happier in later years than he did in at the original trial at the Bailey.

I think a second read down the line would improve my enjoyment of the first half of the book.

This was not my favorite Dickens either. I liked David Copperfield and Great Expectations better. I had to keep looking my history up to understand what was going on. A queen of plain face, a queen of fair face; had to Google it.

Also not my absolute favourite. I enjoyed great expectations a lot.
Just started listening to an audio book of Our mutual friend.
So far i have no clue what is going on:)