Tom Jones (1749)

AG-4

Wowzas! What a lot of waffle!

The history of the novel is perhaps one of a decline in the use of the Authorial Voice, which was still quite prevalent in the Victorian era.

THIS REVIEW HAS BEEN CURTAILED IN PROTEST AT GOODREADS' CENSORSHIP POLICY

See the complete review here:

http://arbieroo.booklikes.com/post/334825/post

In 2015 The Guardian published a list of the 100 best novels published in English, listed in chronological order of publication. Under Covid inspired lockdown, I have taken up the challenge. Tom Jones is book 5 in the list.

I started Tom Jones as respite from Clarissa (book 4 in the list). Clarissa is LONG, unbelievably LONG, and after investing something over three weeks, I was only half way through - about 1,100 of 2,250 pages. While I was engaged with the book, the plot was getting nowhere - the heroine kept facing similar trials.

I'm glad I paused. While Tom Jones is from the same era (published in 1749, one year after Clarissa), the style is much fresher, and more modern. Clarissa is like an extended sermon on good and bad, while Tom Jones paints realistic characters trying to live realistic lives.

Tom Jones is still LONG - 1,000 pages in the Penguin edition, 800 in my ebook from Project Gutenberg, but the plot seems to make progress. By the last 100 pages it was becoming a page-turner!

The combination of believable characters and lots of colour depicting life and society in England nearly 300 years ago makes this book stand out. While the language and idiom are clearly dated, I loved finding phrases and usages that are still in use ("short and sweet", for example). I enjoyed the book immensely, and don't begrudge the hours invested. A worthwhile classic and worthy of its place in the top 100 novels list. ( )

An adopted bastard loves a girl above his station.

3/4 (Good).

It's a silly book. (Some of the humor holds up, some doesn't. It took a couple hundred pages for me to get enough of a handle on Fielding's perspective to be able, for instance, to tell when he was being sarcastic.) And it's way too long for a silly book. But it can be fun. The plot weaves together into a satisfying conclusion (despite being assembled from stock tropes). The style is completely unlike anything I've ever read (featuring a third-person narrator who's the best character in the book). If I were to make a list of books where you'd be missing out on something if you never read them, this would definitely be on it. ( )

Storia di un trovatello abbandonato in circostanze misteriose dentro la dimora del buon giudice Allworthy, un ricco proprietario terriero del Somerset. "Tom Jones" segue le vicende del suo eroe durante l'adolescenza spensierata, ma insidiata dalle trame del nipote di Allworthy, il perfido Blifil e dei suoi alleati. Sensibile alle grazie femminili Tom si innamora, corrisposto, di Sophia, la figlia di un nobile vicino di casa. Cacciato infine di casa, Tom si aggira per l'Inghilterra, accompagnato dal prete Partridge, suo presunto padre. Infine tutti i personaggi si ritrovano a Londra e qui si compie il destino del trovatello.