Rating: ****
Those considering calling for a revolution if the American election doesn’t go their way, would do well to read A Tale of Two Cities, says my latest book review.
It is no secret that, today, American society is more divided than the cookie and brownie in a Trader Joe’s Brookie. And, without free donuts for all from the federal government, this situation is ONLY likely to get worse. So, perhaps, now is a great time to remind oneself of what the potential consequences of all this bickering could look like.
The book itself is a story of love and sacrifice, set in the opening acts of the French Revolution, which tracks the trials and tribulations thrust upon a young Franco-British family.
At the beginning of A Tale of Two Cities, we glimpse French aristocracy at its height – where people employ four others just to make them a hot chocolate and speed around in carriages that move so fast people can barely get out of the way in time.
Meanwhile, the common people go hungry and set upon anything they can find for a meal – even slurping spilled wine from cracks between the dirty street pave stones.
These painful divisions are not wholly unlike those cutting through America today – where the rich dine in only the best restaurants and live bi-costally, while the poor stay home and survive on fast food, with their health suffering immensely because of it.
In France, as perhaps in middle America, resentment quietly builds before it explodes into a Crescendo of Chaos.
At this point, the lesson for the woke ‘people who menstruate’ Democrat luvvies, the fanatical MAGA supporters and the Twitter addicts begins.
In the book, the people’s anger boils over into a fully fledge revolution – where first they destroy the great symbols of French monarchial power before dragging forward Madame Guillotine and slicing off the heads of the aristocracy.
That done, the anger quickly turns inwards, leading to some of the most heartbreaking and indescribably blood-letting that I have ever read about.
Trapped in the middle of this are our family, who – despite being blameless – quickly find themselves called to the gallows as neighbors attempt to settle scores. To find out what happens, I recommend reading the book. (Although, I would say, as it is a Dickens – the outcome is never too difficult to guess).
This text also provides a wonderful view into a London of 200 years ago. To say the city is unrecognizable, at this time, is quite the understatement. Picture, if you will, a city patrolled by burglars, courts rammed with spectators and people who are so desperate for money that they dig up graves at night. A far cry from today’s city, indeed, which is populated by drunken, exhausted and caffeine-fueled drones who spend most of their time staring at their phones rather than taking in the sights around them.
Overall, as we approach November 5, this book is simply a must-read – and a poignant reminder that all actions have consequences.
Read my restaurant reviews here!
