Friday Reads: A Tale of Two Cities

 Happy Friday! This week, Kelly finally gets around to reading a classic: Charles Dickens' A Tale of Two Cities. 

A few paragraphs past the famous opening line ("It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness..."), I looked up from this book and told my husband "I forgot how much I hate Dickens." 

It helped a lot that A Tale of Two Cities is one of Dickens' more plot-driven novels. All of the peril and gore helped to distract me from everything about his writing style that never clicked for me.

Eventually I also began to care about the characters; despite myself, I felt protective of that Victorian golden-haired angel of the house, Lucie Manette. Then I began hoping for a grim death for anyone who threatened the well-being of good old Mr. Lorry. I wished futilely that there were such a thing as 18th-century AA for Sidney Carton. My growing acquaintance with Madame Defarge became a growing horror. 

I knew the ending before I began the book, but spoilers didn't stop me from turning the pages. A grim end feels as inevitable as the next drop of La Guillotine's blade, but in the literal shadow of death, hope and goodness still peek defiantly. A Tale of Two Cities shows us both the best and worst of human nature and reminds us that, while we can't always choose our fate, we can choose how we will meet it. 

March DVD Spotlight: Selections from the National Film Registry

The National Film Preservation Board was established in 1988 to "ensure the survival, conservation and increased public availability of America's film heritage" (NFPB website).  One of the program's most important roles includes advising the Library of Congress in its annual selection of 25 films to be added to the National Film Registry.  With hundreds of films dating back to 1891 in the Registry, it's no surprise that Reeves Memorial Library's extensive DVD collection includes well over 100 of these landmark works of American cinema.  From silent classics like The Gold Rush (1925) and The General (1926), to modern masterpieces like Fargo (1996) and The Dark Knight (2008), our March DVD display includes only a portion of Registry titles in our collection, but there's something for everyone.

Featured titles include:

2001: A Space Odyssey (1968)

Stanley Kubrick's monumental science fiction epic is a challenging, beautiful work of cinematic art that still inspires awe 50 years after its release.

The Big Lebowski (1998)
The Coen brothers' goofy cult classic, a noir-tinged comic caper about a lazy, Southern California stoner who gets sucked into a kidnapping plot after being mistaken for a millionaire with the same name, has inspired hordes of devotees over the past two decades.

Citizen Kane (1941)
Still possibly the best film ever made, Orson Welles's groundbreaking and hugely influential portrait of a newspaper tycoon's rise and fall is a dazzlingly complex American masterpiece.

The Godfather (1972)
Far more than just a simple gangster film, Francis Ford Coppola's great mafia epic is both a sweeping family saga and an incisive examination of the corrupting influence of power.

The Hitch-Hiker (1953)

This unsettling film noir from pioneering female director Ida Lupino follows two Americans on a fishing trip in Mexico, where they pick up a hitchhiker who turns out to be a psychopathic serial killer.

A League of Their Own (1992)

Batter up!  Penny Marshall directs this winning sports comedy about the World War II-era All-American Girls Professional Baseball League.

Malcolm X (1992)
Spike Lee's stylish, sprawling biopic about the influential civil rights leader gives the great Denzel Washington the lead role of a lifetime.

Shadows (1959)
Maverick filmmaker John Cassavetes's exploration of interracial romance and sibling relationships is a landmark work of American independent film.

Singin' in the Rain (1952)
This glorious ode to Hollywood moviemaking, set during the transition from silent to sound film, remains the high-water mark of the American musical.

Stop by the library today and check one out!