THE BASICS A Tale of Two Cities by Charles Dickens is a novel set in London and Paris before and during the French Revolution. It has sold more than 200 million copies, most fobbed off on schoolchildren, who doubtless would appreciate the work more if they came to it on their own. The author cites as his primary source The French Revolution: A History by Thomas Carlyle.
THE PLOT Most of the protagonists are peasants under the thumb of the French aristocracy, or, conversely, aristos brutalised by the rebels who toppled them. Dickens adroitly makes many unfavourable social comparisons to life in London in the same era.
THE CHARACTERS No fewer than 28 characters play roles of significance in the novel - and that is less than in a typical work by Dickens, who, it must be said, did love to overpopulate his pages. The principal two are Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton. Darnay is a former French aristo victimised by the revolution despite his principled nature. Carton is a British barrister out to redeem his life of dissipation over his unrequited love for Darnay's wife, Lucie Manette.
THE THEME Carlyle's view that history cycles through destruction and resurrection was a major influence on Tale, as illustrated by Carton's life and death. And as the astute reader will infer, Dickens also foresees a resurrected social order in France, rising from the phoenix of the old one.
THE BEGINNING Who doesn't know the first sentence (or at least the first 12 words)? "It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the epoch of belief, it was the epoch of incredulity, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything before us, we had nothing before us, we were all going direct to Heaven, we were all going direct the other way - in short, the period was so far like the present period, that some of its noisiest authorities insisted on its being received, for good or for evil, in the superlative degree of comparison only." As The Instant Expert noted in M's Literary Issue on March 12: "Such euphonious parallel construction!"
SERIALLY SPEAKING, PART ONE The 45-chapter novel ran in 32 weekly instalments in Dickens's periodical, All the Year Round, starting with the first issue, on April 30, 1859.
SERIALLY SPEAKING, PART TWO So successful was the phenomenon of serialisation - which the savvy businessman Dickens realised - that passengers arriving in New York from Europe in 1841 would be greeted on the docks with the question: "Is Little Nell dead?", referring to The Old CuriosityShop heroine. In the introduction to his own serialisation of The Green Mile 155 years later, Stephen King tells the story of Dickens fans who were swept off the dock and drowned in Baltimore when the crowd surged towards the ship carrying the magazine with the final instalment of Curiosity Shop.
THE ADAPTATIONS Whew. The book has spawned five feature films, three full radio adaptations, three television miniseries, four stage musicals and one opera. Noteworthy are the 1935 black-and-white MGM film starring Ronald Colman, the 1938 Mercury Theatre radio version with Orson Welles and the 1958 film version with Dirk Bogarde.
THE ENDING As famous as the opening. Carton goes to the guillotine knowing, the narrator opines, that "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".
Other noted serial writers
WILKIE COLLINS Mentored by Dickens, he invented the English detective novel and serialised most of his works.
SIR ARTHUR CONAN DOYLE He created the Sherlock Holmes stories originally for serialisation in The Strand magazine.
BOLESLAW PRUS Among the many works of the acclaimed Polish author are the serialised novels The Outpost (1885-86), The Doll (1887-89), The New Woman (1890-93) and his sole historical novel, Pharaoh (the exception to the rule; written entirely over a year's time in 1894-95 and serialised only after completion, in 1895-96).
STEPHEN KING He issued The Green Mile as a six-book serial in 1996. He began The Plant as an online serial in 2000 but suspended the project after six instalments.
ORSON SCOTT CARD The science-fiction writer re-released his out-of-print 1979 novel, Hot Sleep, as a serial in his InterGalactic Medicine Show magazine beginning in October 2005.
TRACY AND LAURA HICKMAN The husband-and-wife team are on book two in their direct-to-internet serialized fantasy trilogy, Dragons Bard.
Results:
Women:
1. Rhiannan Iffland (AUS) 322.95 points
2. Lysanne Richard (CAN) 285.75
3. Ellie Smart (USA) 277.70
Men:
1. Gary Hunt (GBR) 431.55
2. Constantin Popovici (ROU) 424.65
3. Oleksiy Prygorov (UKR) 392.30
Gertrude Bell's life in focus
A feature film
At one point, two feature films were in the works, but only German director Werner Herzog’s project starring Nicole Kidman would be made. While there were high hopes he would do a worthy job of directing the biopic, when Queen of the Desert arrived in 2015 it was a disappointment. Critics panned the film, in which Herzog largely glossed over Bell’s political work in favour of her ill-fated romances.
A documentary
A project that did do justice to Bell arrived the next year: Sabine Krayenbuhl and Zeva Oelbaum’s Letters from Baghdad: The Extraordinary Life and Times of Gertrude Bell. Drawing on more than 1,000 pieces of archival footage, 1,700 documents and 1,600 letters, the filmmakers painstakingly pieced together a compelling narrative that managed to convey both the depth of Bell’s experience and her tortured love life.
Books, letters and archives
Two biographies have been written about Bell, and both are worth reading: Georgina Howell’s 2006 book Queen of the Desert and Janet Wallach’s 1996 effort Desert Queen. Bell published several books documenting her travels and there are also several volumes of her letters, although they are hard to find in print. Original documents are housed at the Gertrude Bell Archive at the University of Newcastle, which has an online catalogue.
MATCH INFO
Real Madrid 2
Vinicius Junior (71') Mariano (90 2')
Barcelona 0
Paatal Lok season two
Directors: Avinash Arun, Prosit Roy
Stars: Jaideep Ahlawat, Ishwak Singh, Lc Sekhose, Merenla Imsong
Rating: 4.5/5
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In-demand jobs and monthly salaries
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Newcastle United 0 Tottenham Hotspur 2
Tottenham (Alli 61'), Davies (70')
Red card Jonjo Shelvey (Newcastle)
The specs
Engine: 2.7-litre 4-cylinder Turbomax
Power: 310hp
Torque: 583Nm
Transmission: 8-speed automatic
Price: From Dh192,500
On sale: Now
A MINECRAFT MOVIE
Director: Jared Hess
Starring: Jack Black, Jennifer Coolidge, Jason Momoa
Rating: 3/5
Formula Middle East Calendar (Formula Regional and Formula 4)
Round 1: January 17-19, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 2: January 22-23, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 3: February 7-9, Dubai Autodrome – Dubai
Round 4: February 14-16, Yas Marina Circuit – Abu Dhabi
Round 5: February 25-27, Jeddah Corniche Circuit – Saudi Arabia
THE SPECS
Engine: 1.5-litre turbocharged four-cylinder
Transmission: Constant Variable (CVT)
Power: 141bhp
Torque: 250Nm
Price: Dh64,500
On sale: Now
Singham Again
Director: Rohit Shetty
Stars: Ajay Devgn, Kareena Kapoor Khan, Ranveer Singh, Akshay Kumar, Tiger Shroff, Deepika Padukone
Rating: 3/5
The specs
Engine: Four electric motors, one at each wheel
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Transmission: Single-speed automatic
Price: From Dh825,900
On sale: Now
Specs
Engine: Electric motor generating 54.2kWh (Cooper SE and Aceman SE), 64.6kW (Countryman All4 SE)
Power: 218hp (Cooper and Aceman), 313hp (Countryman)
Torque: 330Nm (Cooper and Aceman), 494Nm (Countryman)
On sale: Now
Price: From Dh158,000 (Cooper), Dh168,000 (Aceman), Dh190,000 (Countryman)
Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
Developer: Treyarch, Raven Software
Publisher: Activision
Console: PlayStation 4 & 5, Windows, Xbox One & Series X/S
Rating: 3.5/5
HER%20FIRST%20PALESTINIAN
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The White Lotus: Season three
Creator: Mike White
Starring: Walton Goggins, Jason Isaacs, Natasha Rothwell
Rating: 4.5/5
Key facilities
- Olympic-size swimming pool with a split bulkhead for multi-use configurations, including water polo and 50m/25m training lanes
- Premier League-standard football pitch
- 400m Olympic running track
- NBA-spec basketball court with auditorium
- 600-seat auditorium
- Spaces for historical and cultural exploration
- An elevated football field that doubles as a helipad
- Specialist robotics and science laboratories
- AR and VR-enabled learning centres
- Disruption Lab and Research Centre for developing entrepreneurial skills
The bio
Who inspires you?
I am in awe of the remarkable women in the Arab region, both big and small, pushing boundaries and becoming role models for generations. Emily Nasrallah was a writer, journalist, teacher and women’s rights activist
How do you relax?
Yoga relaxes me and helps me relieve tension, especially now when we’re practically chained to laptops and desks. I enjoy learning more about music and the history of famous music bands and genres.
What is favourite book?
The Perks of Being a Wallflower - I think I've read it more than 7 times
What is your favourite Arabic film?
Hala2 Lawen (Translation: Where Do We Go Now?) by Nadine Labaki
What is favourite English film?
Mamma Mia
Best piece of advice to someone looking for a career at Google?
If you’re interested in a career at Google, deep dive into the different career paths and pinpoint the space you want to join. When you know your space, you’re likely to identify the skills you need to develop.
COMPANY%20PROFILE
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The specs: 2018 Volkswagen Teramont
Price, base / as tested Dh137,000 / Dh189,950
Engine 3.6-litre V6
Gearbox Eight-speed automatic
Power 280hp @ 6,200rpm
Torque 360Nm @ 2,750rpm
Fuel economy, combined 11.7L / 100km
The five new places of worship
Church of South Indian Parish
St Andrew's Church Mussaffah branch
St Andrew's Church Al Ain branch
St John's Baptist Church, Ruwais
Church of the Virgin Mary and St Paul the Apostle, Ruwais