Tips on Reading A Tale of Two Cities by
Charles Dickens
 The novel begins rather slowly and, often times, one
sentence (with many semi-colons) may compose an
entire paragraph.
 As such, you will have to reread some of the sentences twice or three
times to fully grasp the details that Dickens is describing.
 Instead of being frustrated, try to consider why Dickens chose to compose
the narrative in this fashion and take solace knowing that this initial
struggle will help to highlight the major issues being explored.
 Some of the diction that Dickens uses is quite dated and/or obsolete; you
may choose to read the novel with a dictionary (hard copy or on-line)
until the narrative moves more quickly.
 Keep in mind, Dickens narrative does not adhere to a linear structure.
Characters that are introduced come back at different points in the
novel; a solid grasp of the different characters at the point of their
introduction will help your understanding of the novel as it progresses.