A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens

I've had to reread this novel for my class, which I was alright with, since it's by far my favourite Dickens novel (not that I've read that many, but he gets on my nerves). I liked it even better the second time, because a lot of the novel makes more sense and is more interesting when you know what will happen later. I also read a very interesting article about Victorian periodicals, and thinking of the novel as being published in instalments really helped me see its pacing and action differently than I did previously. I really appreciated Dickens' mix of humour and seriousness this time around, again, probably due to rereading. I don't think I understood why Jerry Cruncher was supposed to be funny the first time around, because we don't find out what his second job is until halfway through the novel. The theme of 'recalled to life', so creepy and mysterious when applied to Doctor Manette, gets a humorous spin once we know that Jerry is a 'resurrection man'. It's interesting that Dickens clearly wrote this novel with rereading in mind, because periodical publication isn't really conducive to rereading, so he must have known that people would want to return to his work having read it before. I really like many of the characters in this novel, especially Sydney Carton and Jarvis Lorry. It's also fascinating for its portrayal of mental illness, such as Doctor Manette's and Miss Pross's PTSD and Carton's depression, portrayals that show a surprising amount of delicacy of understanding for its time. I found the depiction of Carton's depression particularly troubling and puzzling, because it seems like it's inescapable, part of his personal and others' destiny, and indeed Carton becomes a sort of prophetic figure at the end, but to depressed people it actually does feel as if their state is inevitable, that they are condemned to it, they are born that way and can't escape it. So is it really destiny that drives Carton to live the life he does and make his final sacrifice, or is it his depression? Anyway, he's my favourite character, even though he does become a bit Jesus-like towards the end.