This chapter of “A Tale of Two Cities,” is called “The Gorgon’s Head,” and is one of the more difficult chapters in the novel to narrate, at least in my opinion. It has more than its share of the long, meandering and prolix sentences for which Dickens was famous. Even when read with the eyes, it takes time to make sense of them. On top of that it has extensive dialogue intertwined with lines from the omniscient narrator. One saving grace is that the characters are typically “over the top” in their demeanor, either simon pure (Charles Darnay) or deeply evil (the Marquis de Evremonde), allowing for an “over the top” narrative style. One does not need to be an Olivier or a Meryl Streep to read these lines correctly!
In about six months the entire novel will be available, free of course, on the open source audiobook site, Librivox. org. I hope that you enjoy this sample.
Podcast: Embed