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.
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Tale of two cities. Dickens
“There were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a plain face on the throne of England; there were a king with a large jaw and a queen with a fair face on the throne of France.”
A Tale of Two Cities, Charles Dickens.
A random bit of Dickensian trivia inspired by this: what’s the name of the endless court case that’s the subject of “In Chancery,” the first chapter of Bleak House and the only chapter I’ve actually read, since all lawyers apparently have to? ;-)
Dave J – grrrr. I cannot remember. Good one, though. Someone’ll get it
All the original parties are dead, all the original lawyers are dead, the case has been going on for so long that no one even remembers what it’s about any more…it’s a great description of the legal system at its most byzantine and insane. Feel free to ask this along with the “unsolved” first lines when you invariably post that.
Jarndyce and Jarndyce. I remember reading somewhere Dickens based it on an actual case or cases.
The Crud would be proud of ye, little Sheila….
A gold star and a cookie for graboy. And a cookie for Beth, too, just because I’d be afraid not to share. ;-)
DaveJ- Thanks for the cookie!!! And Sheila, I still stand by the fact that the Crud would be proud of ye- We read “A Tale of Two Cities” in that class- didn’t we?????