A Tale of Two Cities (version 2)


Read by Paul Adams

(4.8 stars; 620 reviews)

A Tale of Two Cities (1859) is a novel by Charles Dickens, set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. With well over 200 million copies sold, it is among the most famous works of fiction.

The novel depicts the plight of the French peasantry demoralized by the French aristocracy in the years leading up to the revolution, the corresponding brutality demonstrated by the revolutionaries toward the former aristocrats in the early years of the revolution, and many unflattering social parallels with life in London during the same time period. It follows the lives of several protagonists through these events. The most notable are Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Darnay is a French once-aristocrat who falls victim to the indiscriminate wrath of the revolution despite his virtuous nature, and Carton is a dissipated British barrister who endeavours to redeem his ill-spent life out of his unrequited love for Darnay's wife, Lucie Manette. (Introduction by Wikipedia) (15 hr 29 min)

Chapters

Bk1 Ch01 - The Period 7:29 Read by Paul Adams
Bk1 Ch02 - The Mail 13:02 Read by Paul Adams
Bk1 Ch03 - The Night Shadows 11:19 Read by Paul Adams
Bk1 Ch04 - The Preparation 28:56 Read by Paul Adams
Bk1 Ch05 - The Wine Shop 28:18 Read by Paul Adams
Bk1 Ch06 - The Shoemaker 27:45 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch01 - Five Years Later 16:44 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch02 - A Sight 15:53 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch03 - A Disappointment 31:47 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch04 - Congratulatory 14:54 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch05 - The Jackal 14:26 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch06 - Hundreds of People 30:19 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch07 - Monseigneur in Town 23:18 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch08 - Monseigneur in the Country 13:05 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch09 - The Gorgon's Head 28:13 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch10 - Two Promises 19:22 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch11 - A Companion Picture 9:05 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch12 - The Fellow of Delicacy 16:35 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch13 - The Fellow of No Delicacy 11:48 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch14 - The Honest Tradesman 25:24 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch15 - Knitting 28:12 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch16 - Still Knitting 27:18 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch17 - One Night 12:41 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch18 - Nine Days 16:21 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch19 - An Opinion 19:06 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch20 - A Plea 8:57 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch21 - Echoing Footsteps 30:47 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch22 - The Sea Still Rises 15:23 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch23 - Fire Rises 19:36 Read by Paul Adams
Bk2 Ch24 - Drawn to the Loadstone Rock 31:30 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch01 - In Secret 30:52 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch02 - The Grindstone 17:51 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch03 - The Shadow 12:16 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch04 - Calm in Storm 14:43 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch05 - The Wood Sawyer 16:03 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch06 - Triumph 17:12 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch07 - A Knock at the Door 12:52 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch08 - A Hand at Cards 31:00 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch09 - The Game Made 31:20 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch10 - The Substance of the Shadow 38:45 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch11 - Dusk 9:52 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch12 - Darkness 21:40 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch13 - Fifty-two 29:35 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch14 - The Knitting Done 31:28 Read by Paul Adams
Bk3 Ch15 - The Footsteps Die Out For Ever 16:12 Read by Paul Adams

Reviews

Nearly 43,000 Downloads, and I'm the First to Write a Review?


(5 stars)

To Mr. Paul Adams, thank you so much for recording A Tale of Two Cities. It is a wonderful story made even more special by your brilliant performance. I'm the first to write a review, but I'm confident the other 41,999+ listeners would agree it is simply one of the best audio books in the public domain today. There are so many positives about this recording, it's difficult to know where to begin! I loved the fact that the entire novel was read by one narrator. I also loved the fact that the "one narrator" was so incredibly talented and devoted to this project. I was amazed at Mr. Adams' ability to bring each character to life with slightly different intonations and voicings, and to remain consistent in his portrayals throughout the entire story. I was also amazed by the quailty of the recording iteself--certainly on the same level as anything produced commercialy. Again, thank you Mr. Adams! You are clearly a talented and generous individual. Please record more if your schedule allows!


(5 stars)

Thank you Mr. Adams for making me fall in love with Dickens. I am very easily distracted and find it hard to read for long periods at the time. You're work made Dickens accessible. I will devour the rest of your work too!


(5 stars)

a moving tale with a brilliant narrator. I always enjoy having a single reader for an entire book, as the voice really sticks with me, and Mr Adams has given the world a perfect rendition. Bravo

fantastic listen


(5 stars)

The consistent and remarkably engaging tone and voice of the narrator Paul Adams makes this book a must listen. Dickens is poetical and wordy, eliciting much imagery. The plot I found a bit lacking in depth and sporadic, which is surprising given the authors mastery of description and the English language, but an amazing story nonetheless with very emotionally gripping moments.

The perfect book


(5 stars)

This book is just perfect in every way the story is brilliantly written and characters have life and depth to them. The events are breath taking and the language is the best resemblance of a beautiful era of writing I swear i almost shed tears at the end.

Superb reading, recording & book


(5 stars)

This book is hard to comprehend in the beginning. But it builds up suspense until the very end and It's language is so incredibly rich and deep! What a masterpiece.

Perfection


(5 stars)

Paul Adams did a truly exceptional job with this book. It's obvious that he had read this book many times before because he never stumbles over words (even though he reads at a fairly fast pace) and he emotes with the characters almost automatically. I appreciate that he unselfconsciously goes falsetto for the female character voices and really gets into the text. This is probably my favorite Dickens novel. Admittedly I've only read two others (Great Expectations in high school and and David Copperfield recently) but A Tale of Two Cities really stands out. Unlike other Dickens novels, the pace of the story is fast. I don't think I've ever been as eager to get to the next chapter, the next page of any "classic." The characters are fairly two dimensional​ but they are woven together in a truly touching and exciting story. It makes the history of the French Revolution so much more real than you could imagine.

Tale of Two Cities


(5 stars)

Paul Adams' reading of A Tale of Two Cities, by Charles Dickens was a joy. As the others have said the quality is very good but the style of the reader makes the day. This is the most enjoyable reading I have ever listened to for this work. It beats my imagination from a forced Junior High School read by far. I'm much older now and can appreciate the work by Charles Dickens as spoken by Mr. Adams. I too hope that he is not a one off reader but volunteers his talents to some other work for our enjoyment.