Author: Jim
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The Custom-House: A short story by Nathaniel Hawthorne
Hawthorne always struggled making a living as a writer, and often had to resort to working actual jobs and keep writing as a side gig. One of these jobs was at a Custom-House in Salem, MA. This is the place where taxes and dues are assigned and collected on imported goods. At the start of… Read more
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Introduction to The Scarlet Letter
Unlike the last two books I summarized, this is a book that I have actually read before, though I read it back in high school, which is more than half my lifetime ago at this point. The only thing I really remember about it is the surprise ending, which I will not reveal here, lest… Read more
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A Tale of Two Cities Complete Summary
A Tale of Two Cities Or The Worcesterhires Welcome friends and neighbors and thank you for joining me on my inaugural journey of Charles Dickens’ 1859 classic novel. To start, here is a comprehensive list of all the things I know about A Tale of Two Cities: 1) It starts with the line “It was the… Read more
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A Tale of Two Cities: Part the Last
Chapter 9 The Game Made While Carton and Barsad converse in a side room, Mr. Lorry looks suspiciously at Jerry: Lorry: Jerry, what were you besides a messenger? Jerry: Definitely not a grave robber. L: I am much distrust. If you were, I would denounce you when we got back to England. J: I just… Read more
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Reflections on A Tale of Two Cities
Dickens wrote to the audience of his day, so the settings, events, objects, etc. are all taken for granted without any explanation. It’s basically like if you wrote a novel about a roadtrip today, you wouldn’t bother describing what getting a flat tire is, you would just say they got a flat tire. Now picture… Read more
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A Tale of Two Cities: Part the Sixth
WARNING: This part is pretty dark. Did my best to try to add some levity but it deals with the parts of the French Revolution called the September Massacres and the Reign of Terror, which both have very deserved names. BOOK THE THIRD The Track of a Storm Chapter 1 In Secret The French Revolution… Read more
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A Tale of Two Cities: Part the Fifth
Chapter 17 One Night The Manettes sit alone on the eve of Lucie’s wedding: Lucie: Are you happy with this arrangement? Dr. Manette: Quite happy. L: Because I couldn’t be happy if you weren’t happy. D: Well I couldn’t be happy if YOU weren’t happy. L: But I would be fine with being unhappy if… Read more
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A Tale of Two Cities: Part the Fourth
Chapter 11 A Companion Picture Carton and Stryver have been working and drinking through the night, as is their custom. They maintain this untenable habit by covering their heads in wet towels to keep their hangover heads from throbbing too much while they work. Stryver: I need to tell you something: I’m getting married, and… Read more
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A Tale of Two Cities: Part the Third
Forward In the course of reading this book, I find myself stopping every few pages to look up a word, phrase, or just to place the meaning in a historical context. I discovered a site called Discovering Dickens: A Community Reading Project that does just that, and have found it immensely helpful. If you are… Read more
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A Tale of Two Cities: Part the Second
BOOK THE SECOND The Golden Thread Chapter 1 Five Years Later Tellson’s Bank was “very small, very dark, very ugly, and very incommodious” and its owners were very proud of this. Looking disreputable is the best way to look reputable by their logic. It “was the triumphant perfection of inconvenience.” Dickens then spends almost a… Read more