Remember When We All Used To Call It "Sale Of Two Titties?????????????????"

                                I learned that in seventh grade, when I was reading "Up The Down Staircase," darlings!  I also remember the students calling "Silas Marner" "Silly Ass Marner."

                               The other thing I learned from Bel Kaufman's book was the best written excuse for not handing in an assignment--"My dog pead on it."

                                 But we are here to discuss Dickens' "A Tale Of Two Cities."  Now, before I go on, let me say this is a milestone for me; having never read it hitherto, it was the last Dickens book I had to read.  Now, I can honestly say I have read all of his works.

                                  I never got 'Tale' in school.  Those in the advanced class, like myself, where you DO think, as opposed to the regular and dumb classes where one is not permitted to--and this is still the case today, dolls--got the better textured "Great Expectations."  It became, and still is, one of my favorites.

                                    I had seen the MGM Ronald Colman movie when I was a kid.  Yes, in the book it's all there--"It was the best of times, it was the worst of times," and, of course "It is a far, far better thing that I do, than I have ever done; it is a far, far, better rest that I go to than I have ever known."

                                    And, yes, of course there is Madame Defarge, whose first name, it is discovered, is Theresa.  How I love that crazy, crafty, bitch!!!!!!!!!!!  I am dying to play that role on stage!  Amy Sedaris should have her on her show in "Crafting Corner."

                                     Yes, girls, all that you know and have heard about this book is true, and here.
But what you do not know is that, while this is one of Dickens' shortest books, (390pgs.)  all the really good  stuff is not till almost the end, because Dickens gives us  so much exposition on the difference between the two cities--London and Paris--and the Darnay and Evremonde  families.  And Sydney Carton, whom may be described as an anti-hero turned hero at the end--is not as present as one might expect.

                                            So, I found this book, which I had preconceived, to have big surprises.  Not the least of which was the rampant pace at which this was written.  Dolls, I read this one with the speed and alacrity that I would contemporary fiction. I simply could not put it down.

                                              And if you are not crazy about it, the last two chapters are worth it!

                                             Knit one, pearl two, darlings!

                                              Greetings from Madame Defarge!