A Tale Of Two Cities, Four Month Read Along. (Title edited by MNHQ at request of OP)

[DesdamonasHandkerchief]

Welcome to a 6 month read along of Dicken’s 12th novel A Tale of Two Cities
We will be reading it using the following format, and discussing the chapters on the first day of the following month: (So January chapters discussed from 1st Feb onwards etc)

A Tale of Two Cities

6-Month Read-Along Calendar

Start: 1 January 2026
Finish: 30 June 2026

🗓️
JANUARY 2026

Book the First: Recalled to Life
(Chapters 1–7)

✔ Book the First complete

🗓️
FEBRUARY 2026

Book the Second: The Golden Thread
(Chapters 1–6)

🗓️
MARCH 2026

Book the Second: The Golden Thread
(Chapters 7–12)

✔ Midway through Book the Second

🗓️
APRIL 2026

Book the Second: The Golden Thread
(Chapters 13–18)

🗓️
MAY 2026

Book the Second: The Golden Thread
(Chapters 19–24)

✔ Book the Second complete

🗓️
JUNE 2026

Book the Third: The Track of a Storm
(Chapters 1–15)

✔ Novel complete

I know very little about this book other than its set in revolutionary Paris and London, let’s hope it’s a goodie!

That’s interesting @MagicSpaceTurtle
I asked ChatGPT about reviews from the USA airing and the summary agrees with you with regard to the changes:

I'm in! I've never read 'Oliver Twist'.

I think Oliver Twist is about 600 pages. I would be happy with either six months or three months - although if it was three months, I'd quite like to check in fortnightly rather than monthly so I don't get too far behind!!

I’m happy to go with the majority for timings. I don’t mind if it overlaps the Middlemarch readalong.

I’m in! Slight preference for 3 months but don’t mind either way

Thank you @DesdamonasHandkerchief - I'm in as I have never read OT (despite having a copy on my shelf). I don't mind which approach we take.

Thanks @DesdamonasHandkerchief - I failed miserably with ATOTC and regretted it (there were good reasons but even so…) - however I’ll do my very best with OT as I think its theme of an unmothered/un-cared-for young boy was a very personal one for Dickens. So it’s interesting!

Hopefully the link to new thread is here. I’ve gone for a 3 month time scale as that seemed to be slightly favoured

https://www.mumsnet.com/talk/what_were_reading/5576573-oliver-twist-readalong-october-to-december-everyone-welcome?utm_campaign=thread&utm_medium=app_share

On dramatising the book, my family has been watching The Dark Knight rises:

SPOILER ALERT

At the end after the final battle, Michael Caine has a very moving funeral speech, ending:

”It is a far, far better thing to do…”

According to the film’s Wikipedia entry, the book was a great influence on the film & there is a character called Stryver. I can remember an ATOTC-style courtroom scene, but I’m going to have to watch it again to spot the links (I wasn’t paying too much attention at the beginning of the film not being especially fond of comic book superhero films, but was drawn in towards the end).

As said, I’m not a particular fan of superhero comic book films, but I suspect I’ve got rather more tolerance for a Dickens inspired superhero films (likely to benefit both plot & dialogue) than a traditional adaptation “deviating” too much from the text.

Oooh that is interesting Benvenuto I’ve never seen TDKR but might have to seek it out.