Whew, that was a long one. The History of Tom Jones, A Foundling by Henry Fielding was the first book that I picked up this year and it took me a whole month to get through it, mostly through it's sheer size and the fact that 18th century language just takes longer to read. Tom Jones is considered one of the first true English novels and it;s wild popularity has stood the test of time. Fielding has an undeniable wit and such a perfect, dry sense of humor that I found myself smiling almost on every page.

While I had quite a few issues with the double standard Fielding mocked but still upheld regarding sexuality for men and women and the sexist ideals to which Sophia Western was held, I still found the novel enjoyable overall, mostly due to Fielding's humor. It's not exactly subtle. He spends several chapters outright railing against literary critics and names his characters things like Allworthy and Thwackum.

Overall, I was pleased to have read such an important work of British literature and to have enjoyed it as much as I did. I probably won't be rereading, but I'm certainly glad to have tackled it. Confession: Halfway through I turned to the audiobook for some help. One month with the same book is rather a long time and I was ready to be done.