A Tale of Two Cities

Possibly Dickens' greatest work, certainly English literatures greatest opening AND closing lines 'A Tale of Two Cities' may also be the incomparable Martin Jarvis's greatest reading.
His characterisation enhances the written text, bringing life to the already lively players in this masterpiece.
Possibly the best of the hundreds of auido books I have enjoyed.

This audiobook is like a good symphony conducted by a really great director. It is an amazing work by Martin Javis: so many diferent voices that it seems as if he were 10 actors.

Martin Jarvis employs his great range in making each of the many characters in this book burst into life. And it's a great story of injustice and hate, full of initial mystery which unfolds layer after layer as it draws all the players togther in the final act. Some of Dickens lends itself to some judicially abridging but 'A Tale of Two Cities' all in all stays on track and is worth going the full distance.

A cultural heritage which places the Victorian novel at the centre of all we do and the trained voice as the medium through which it is delivered....it's a shame that we are giving this away and our kids aren't being taught this stuff at school isn't it? In our day it was one Dickens per year in the class-room, Martin Jarvis as Uriah Heep on the telly of a Sunday tea time and an illustrated version on the bookshelf in the parlour.
Now look at us....Facebook, MySpace and Britain's Got Talent...nice to escape back into those characters, that story and most of all that voice.

I loved this. I think it is my favourite Dickens novel. I got my friend who could never read beyond chapter 3 to listen to this. She enjoyed it so much that as soon as she finished she immediately began listening to it from the beginning. The narrator is excellent and his reading immerses you into the story that you are there. I will certainly listen to this again and I know my friend will, too. In fact she chided me for not telling her about listening to the audiobook before.

This was an absolute pleasure to listen to. Martin Jarvis is brilliant and keeps your interest in the long convoluted Dickensian passages as well as so cleverly playing all the characters. He even manages to say the well known opening and ending with new emphasis and meaning.

Martin Jarvis does the Tale of Two Cities brilliantly. I never thought I'd find Dickens so compulsive and I've listened to this more than once. Highly recommended. If you don't think you are a Dickens fan - try this!

This gripping, stirring tale deserves its accolade of 'literary classic'.

And Martin Jarvis' narration is a match for Dickens' genius with his mellifluous tone and versatile array of different character voices.

Loved it. You can't go wrong buying this audio book!

Having just finished listening to this I felt moved to write a review! I thought this was absolutely superb. Beautifully read by Martin Jarvis, he brought the characters alive and as you listened you felt they were there beside you. I can't recommend this too highly enough

I made the mistake of purchasing a cheaper (unrated) version of this book. I spent a good few hours slogging through it, with many rewinds to clarify the story, by the end of the first download I reached a point where I thought that this book was beyond me but I did not want to declare defeat. Having previously listened to Martin Jarvis narrate Great Expectations I decided to download his version of a Tale of Two Cities. I am so thankful I did so as it has been an enjoyable listen, and with some additional historical background information from a Dicken's site, an informative read. This is the version to download.