First book this summer

Having decided to read more books this vacation, I looked at my book shelf. One row is full of Engg books, the next row has novels, short stories, Tenali Raman, Akbar Birbal stories. In another cupboard was a couple of books, the sight of which makes my Mom scold me. Yea last year jan when I went to bangalore , I visited the Iskco temple there. It's Lord Krishna temple. Beautiful place to be. Statues in marble, I still remember the Krishna-Radha sculpt. I don't know, all of a sudden how did I become so damn spiritual. No idea...I insisted my Mom to buy the Bhagavad Gita and some couple of books which came along with it as a package. I seemed to have promised I would surely read it all. It's untouched as of now. C now giving another assurance to my Mom that I will read it, is foolish. So I didn't say a word. K so back to the novel shelf, thr were Chetan Bhaghats 2 books(read), Robert Ludlum's 2 books, GodFather, A Tale Of Two Cities(all unread). I choose the last one, it's just 150 pgs:) A Tale Of Two Cities by Charles Dickens. The story revolves around the period (18th century) which leads to the French revolution. How much do I love history...? Not much...revolutions, prisons,bloodshed. I remembered reading Scarlet Pimpernal in school days. The bottomline of this story was the French nobel atrocity towards the social class and how finally the power comes to the people and they take revenge. The characters Charles Darnay and Sydney Carton(lookalikes). Darnay though belongs to the French nobel family is kind to the peasantry. Carton is a lawyer in England, someone who has not lived for himself. He feels life has been really harsh to him. Then there is Dr.Manette who has been a prisoner for many years in France for no fault of his own. Both Darnay and Carton are truly in love with Lucie, the beautiful daughter of Dr.Manette. The first few chapters is the reunion of Manette with his daughter in England, Darnay's marriage with Lucie, and few pages on the aristocrats atrocities in France. In the last half, when the people take power, they start mercilessly killing all the nobels and their families. Since Darnay is a nephew of a cruel French nobel, he is also put in prison. To save Darnay, and having the love for Lucie in his heart Carton takes the place of Darnay and help the family escape from France. The story orbs with two places England and France and hence the name. Revolution, Injustice, Sacrifice, Anguish, Love are the keywords. My favorite character would be that of Sydney Carton, who sacrificed his life for the happiness of a family.the concluding dialog of the novel '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' says Carton before being beheaded by the guillotine. Some real facts like the prison 'Bastille', the revolution is subtly mixed with the right amount of fiction. Not a bad start at all, I liked it!!!