Product Description

This captivating tale, set in London and Paris at the time of the French Revolution, reveals the central choice confronting every society and each individual: Should a person work to change society or should the revolution occur within his heart?

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #226070 in Books
• Published on: 2005-03
• Format: Unabridged
• Original language: English
• Number of items: 12
• Binding: Audio CD

Customer Reviews

Beyond Simple Narration
I read the one-star review and was hesitant to purchase this product, but the price was compelling enough, and I bought it. I have been pleasantly surprised by it's quality.

The narrator is Frederick Davidson (1932-2005). His back-of-box bio reads: "He was born in London, trained at the Royal Academy of Dramatic Arts and performed in BBC radio plays before coming to America in 1976." He has earned multiple awards, including the Golden Voice Award, numerous AudioFile Earphone Awards, and a Grammy nomination for his readings. His reading of this novel goes beyond simple narration, as opposed to the monotonous readings of other narrators of other audiobooks. He immerses himself into the reading and assigns various tonal qualities & vocal patterns for the various characters, including French and British accents. It is a dramatic performance rather than a simple reading. I continue to find it a delight to listen to while reading my textual copy.

As for the one-star rating given before, I cannot understand the comment, "He does not vary his voice sufficiently to make it interesting". The fact that he DOES take on the different roles in unique vocal patterns and rhythms totally contradicts that claim. Davidson also provides a smooth flow throughout the chapters, providing not just narration, but a dramatic monologue that is reminiscent of Patrick Stewart's one-man-show, "A Christmas Carol". I have given it only a four star rating due to some background noise I heard in the various discs. It is not terribly noticeable, but does exist nonetheless.

All in all, I'm pleased with the price and performance.

The Best of Times
(Review of MP3 CD version)
This unabridged reading of Charles Dickens's "A Tale of Two Cities" (1859) is outstanding. The two cities, of course, are Paris and London, and the drama of the story centers on the terror of the French Revolution in 1789-92 when the Guillotine was put to frequent use against those judged to be enemies of the new republic. The reader, Frederick Davidson, does an excellent job of characterizing the voices in the story. The voice he uses for each character is easily identifiable in dialogue between characters, and brings out the traits Dickens built into them. The one exception, in my opinion, is the voice Mr. Davidson chose for Lucie Manette, the passive heroine of the story. Her lines in the novel are mostly insipid because she is the classic Victorian delicate, fainting beauty, and of course her first language is supposed to be French, but I found her voice and character difficult to warm up to (unlike Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton, whose love for her drives much of the plot). Still, her speaking part is small, and Mr. Frederickson's virtuoso performances of Jerry Cruncher, Jarvis Lorry, Miss Pross, and Sydney Carton, not to mention the charming Defarges of Saint Antoine, render this a very small shortcoming in an otherwise clear, consistently interesting, and suspenseful performance. I listen to a lot of audio books, and for my money this one easily deserves a 5 star rating. 87 tracks plus a short credits track at the end. 14.5 hours in MP3 format. Originally published in 1988 by Blackstone Audiobooks.

Yikes!
I did not enjoy this particular audio book. The reader has a way of reading that breaks the sentences in odd places making the already difficult book even more difficult to understand. He does not vary his voice sufficiently to make it interesting. All in all-an audio cd to be avoided.