It is somewhat bemusing to me that the book I decided to read on my long journey to Australia is one recommended by another American who has recently visited your shores.  Oprah Winfrey, a great advocate of reading, has picked two Charles Dickens classics to recommend to her admiring followers.  Although A Tale of Two Cities was one title she charged her book club members to read, I picked up a paperback edition at my library in blissful ignorance of Oprah’s endorsement.  My…