Margaret Atwood on Charles Dickens's A Tale of Two Cities
"The devil has all the best lines. If there's no fall in the Garden of Eden, there's no redemption."
The Knitting and the Cage
Dickens freed his women to act only by denying them children — Atwood reads the pattern from Madame Defarge all the way to Gilead.
Read the introduction →- 1 A Paradigm-Shift Book Episode 1 • 14 min • Members
- 2 Recalled to Life Episode 2 • 16 min • Members
- 3 Doubles Episode 3 • 11 min • Members
- 4 Monseigneur Episode 4 • 16 min • Members
- 5 The Angel in the House Episode 5 • 14 min • Members
- 6 The Real Hero Episode 6 • 13 min • Members
- 7 The Resurrection Men Episode 7 • 10 min • Members
- 8 Payback Episode 8 • 17 min • Members
- 9 A Hand at Cards Episode 9 • 15 min • Members
- 10 The Knitting Episode 10 • 17 min • Members
- 11 A Far, Far Better Thing Episode 11 • 16 min • Members
In Conversation With – Where this book meets another
Prison and Cemetery
Margaret Atwood watches a revolution devour its makers in real time. Megan Marshall watches one win, settle, and build a prison and a graveyard first.
Go deeper →The Knitting and the Eagle: Nietzsche, Dickens, and the Morality of Vengeance
Madame Defarge's knitting is ressentiment made visible, Atwood and Martin show — legitimate rage metastasized into a register that cannot stop expanding.
Go deeper →
The Questions these books keep starting →
Sydney Carton, Darnay's Shadow: Atwood on the Real Hero of A Tale of Two Cities
Atwood reads Sydney Carton as Darnay's shadow self and an addict, not a sentimental martyr — the real hero Dickens was writing toward.
Go deeper →What A Tale of Two Cities Is Really About
A Tale of Two Cities is Dickens's 1859 warning to England, dressed as a French Revolution novel — a warning Atwood argues is running again.
Go deeper →- Was Charlotte Lucas Right to Marry Mr. Collins? Sadie Stein on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice
- What Does the A on Hester's Chest Actually Mean? Megan Marshall on Nathaniel Hawthorne's The Scarlet Letter
- Was Thoreau Selfish? The Question of Self-Reliance John Kaag on Henry David Thoreau's Walden
- What Is Kant's Categorical Imperative? Paul Guyer on Immanuel Kant