My new favorite book...

     I was wrong. There. I said it. I thought that great English literature would be as difficult to read as other great works I have read. The Count of Monte Cristo was excellent but it was work to read. Well, it was French after all. Dante’s Inferno was hard to follow, well worth it, but I had to go slow and use a dictionary half the time.

     So when my wife recommended Charles Dickens I resisted for a while. Not that I didn’t want to have such an important English writer under my belt, but I was preparing myself mentally to slog through pages of difficult prose and literary imagery.

     I was wrong. I borrowed a copy of A Tale of Two Cities on CD from my sister and I’ve been listening to it the last week and a half. I love it. Let me be clear. This is one of the best books I have ever read. I don’t mean best in the English Major’s sense of the word. I mean it is actually enjoyable.

     From the first sentence, I was hooked. Dickens has it all. The language is beautiful and he wields it so effectively to create images and moods. His settings and characters are perfect. The story has a depth you can get into and swim around in. I’m almost finished with it and I’m already thinking about when I’ll read it again.

     My wife, as I’ve alluded to, has already read a couple of books by Dickens and she’s told me he’s good. I didn’t know. People say books are good all the time. I trust her judgment, but labeling a book a classic can be the death of that book for popular fiction readers. I have no doubt anyone willing to give it a shot will be delighted by what they find in this excellent book.

     Needless to say, I’ll be trying a few other Dickens books in the future. As antagonistic as I’ve been toward French writing, it feels good to be vindicated by one who is a master of my own language. I’m sure this won’t be the final word on this particular book, but for now, enjoy a little hero worship of Dickens and my ringing endorsement of A Tale of Two Cities.