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Title: Tom Jones by Henry Fielding, John Bender, Simon Stern ISBN: 0-19-283497-5 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 July, 1998 Format: Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.75 (20 reviews)
Rating: 5
Summary: It's not unusual...
Comment: Tom Jones is probably one of the greatest novels in all of English literature. I imagine some might be put off by the length and by its designation as a classic (something which Mark Twain said was frequently praised and rarely read). Tom Jones does not deserve to be ignored since it is a riotous rollercoster of a book filled with comic vignettes and blows against the self-satisfied and pompous. It is a book that not only is instructional, but is considerate enough to give the reader a good time while doing so.
Though frequently termed an immoral book, Tom Jones holds up rather well in the early 21st century. Even Fielding's comic characters seem to have a dimension often lacking in 18th and 19th century novels. Fielding is a genius.
Rating: 4
Summary: The Story of a Foundling
Comment: It was about time I read "Tom Jones." Fielding's 1749 novel gives us a panoramic view of 18th century British life. Its titular hero journeys among the low- and high-born trying to find his way in a world in which he occupies a precarious position. Fielding uses the sprawl of 800 pages to explore a multitude of social, political, and literary issues, gluing them together with an exquisitely outlandish, fully embodied sense of humour.
The action of the novel begins with a view of the Allworthy family, a landed gentleman, Thomas Allworthy and his sister, Bridget. Into this family is dropped an orphan, a foundling - a child, if you will, of questionable parentage. This child, Tom Jones, is raised alongside Bridget's child, Blifil, as relative equals. Both are tutored by two ideologues, the philosopher Square and the theologian Thwackum. Jones is a precocious, free-spirited youngster, spoiled by Allworthy while Blifil, the heir apparent to the estate, becomes the favourite pupil and spoiled accordingly by his mother. As the two youths age, Tom develops a fondness for the neighbour's daughter, Sophia Western.
Tom's sexual development begins to get him in trouble, as it tends to throughout the novel, and as a result of one such incident, coupled with the goading jealousy of Blifil, Tom is driven out of the Allworthy home, left to seek his fortunes in the world. Meeting his supposed father, Partridge, on the road, the two begin a quixotic ramble across England. Sophia, meanwhile, pressured into marrying Blifil, runs away from home, beginning her own voyage of discovery.
"Tom Jones" begins with the narrator likening literature to a meal, in which the paying customer comes expecting to be entertained and satisfied. All 18 books of "Tom Jones" start out with such authorial intrusions, each cluing us into the writer's craft, his interactions with his public, and various other topics. This voice is actually sustained throughout the novel, providing a supposedly impartial centre of moral value judgments - each of which seems to tend toward enforce Fielding's project of a realistic, and yet, didactic portrayal of a world full of flawed characters.
Some of the issues the novel deals most extensively with are modes of exchange, anxieties over female agency, and the power of rumour and reputation. Exchange and the ways in which value is figured include a wide range of goods - money, bodies, food, and stories - and are integral to the story. The treatment of women is a great concern in "Tom Jones": from Partridge's perpetual fear of witchcraft to the raging arguments between Squire Western and his sister over how Sophia should be treated, to general concerns about sexuality and virtue. A novel that can be in turns hilarious, disturbing, and provoking, "Tom Jones" is never dull. Despite its size, the pace of the novel is extremely fast and lively. So, get thee to a superstore and obtain thyself a copy of this excellent and highly entertaining novel.
Rating: 5
Summary: an odd reading experience
Comment: Readers will probably be amazed at how modern this book is in a variety of ways. Virtually every sentence is dripping with hilarious irony, and the hypocrisy of various ostensibly pious, upright citizens is pointed out everywhere possible. It's a remarkably kind-hearted book, though, for a work of satire. What makes the experience of reading this odd is the mix of this modernity with the denseness of the writing style. Sprawling sentences abound and there's far more (often hilarious) commentary on action than actual action, though there is definitely no dearth of plot. I found myself spending a lot of time figuring out what the heck a long, convoluted sentence was trying to say quite often. But that said, once I figured it out, I was usually laughing hysterically. All that adds up to a curious creature - a rollicking, yet somewhat slow read. Fascinating and tons of fun.
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Title: Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded (Oxford Worlds Classics) by Samuel Richardson, Thomas Keymer, Alice Wakely ISBN: 0192829602 Publisher: Oxford University Press Pub. Date: 01 June, 2001 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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Title: Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne ISBN: 0679405607 Publisher: Alfred A. Knopf Pub. Date: 01 September, 1991 List Price(USD): $23.00 |
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Title: Clarissa: Or the History of a Young Lady by Samuel Richardson, Angus Ross ISBN: 0140432159 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 01 February, 1986 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: The Life and Opinions of Tristram Shandy by Laurence Sterne, Melvyn New, Joan New ISBN: 0141439777 Publisher: Penguin Books Pub. Date: 27 May, 2003 List Price(USD): $11.00 |
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Title: Evelina: Or, the History of a Young Lady's Entrance into the World (1778) (Modern Library Classics) by Fanny Burney, Elizabeth Kowaleski Wallace, Frances Burney, Audrey Bilger ISBN: 0375758054 Publisher: Modern Library Pub. Date: 04 December, 2001 List Price(USD): $11.95 |
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