HVL_TaleOfTwoCities

Classic Book Group - A Tale of Two Cities

The first meeting of the Harbury Village Library Classic Book Group will be on Tuesday 22nd October at 7.30 p.m. at Harbury Village Library. Drinks and nibbles will be provided.

Based on the results of our survey we have decided to start with a Dickens novel, and have chosen A Tale of Two Cities, not least because it is Dickens' third shortest novel!

At the meeting, in addition to discussing our chosen book, we will decide which book to read next and when the next meeting will be. We can also review the criteria we use when deciding which classic book to choose. In his book "Why read the Classics" Italian writer Italo Calvino produced 14 definitions of a "classic". You can find a summary on the Harbury Village Library blog.

If you do not already have a copy of the book there are several options for acquiring a copy, including from your local book shop.

You can borrow a copy from Warwickshire County Libraries who have 6 copies, one of which is Large Print. They also have two talking books, one on tape cassette, the other on CD.

Since the book is out of copyright there are several Public Domain locations from which the book can be downloaded.

The eBook is available in several formats, including Kindle, from the Project Gutenburg website.

Several talking book versions are available from Librivox. These books are read by volunteers and we recommend sampling a few to decide which suits you best.

There is a 1980 film version of the book on YouTube at no charge. We haven't watched it, so can't vouch for its quality. YouTube also has the 1935 Ronald Coleman version which is available for £3.49.

Finally, if you are not familiar with them, SparkNotes is an American company that provides study guides for literature, poetry, history, film, and philosophy. There is a short animated video guide on YouTube about A Tale of Two Cities. The guide is intended for American college and high school students.