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A review by daja57
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling by Henry Fielding
4.0
Squire Allworthy is surprised when a baby boy appears in his bed. Having made enquiries which point to the mother as one Jenny Jones, a servant girl, the good squire decides to bring Tom up in his own household. Tom grows up, with the Squire's nephew, Blifil, a nasty boy, and falls in love with Sophy, daughter of the neighbouring Squire Western (although Tom, being a young man, has amours with other ladies too). But Sophy is engaged to marry Blifil so that the two neighbouring estates can be joined and Tom is sent away. Sophy, who very much hates the idea of marrying Blifil, runs away to London and Tom, after various adventures, particularly in Upton, follows her. But even in London the course of true love never runs smoothly. Will our tomcat of a hero gain his true love? Will the mystery of his parentage be solved? Will Sophy be forced by her father to marry for money? Will she forgive Tom's infidelities? All this and more will be resolved over the course of eighteen books (800 pages of quite small print in my edition).
It's a classic. Why?
It's quite funny, there was even one moment when I laughed aloud, and Squire Western, obsessed with hunting ("Mr Western grew every day fonder and fonder of Sophia, insomuch that his beloved dogs themselves almost gave place to her in his affections"; 4.13) and with a sometimes variable Zummerzet accent, is a brilliant comic character. But Fielding writes as such length! Each of the eighteen books is introduced by a chapter which comments on what is to come without in any way being part of the plot; these chapters are eminently skippable. And Fielding is so prolix that even when there is action the relentless flow of words was putting me to sleep. The plot itself twists and turns and I sometimes lost track of the characters but at least there is a plot which is more than you can say of Tristram Shandy (although Jones doesn't have that wonderful surreality of Shandy).
It is interesting as a social document. It reinforces the notion that Englsnd was class-ridden with a wastrel aristocracy who either hunted their landed estates or fought duels if they were young men about town; the purpose of the lower classes is to serve them. It mentions "the toasts of the Kit-Cat" club and Hogarth (describing people as being like a certain character) and "Dr. Donne" and Pope and Garrick playing Hamlet and "the famous author of Hurlothrumbo"). It was written only four years after the 1745 Jacobite rebellion in which Bonnie Prince Charlie and his troops invaded England from Scotland, reaching as far south as Derby before turning back, and there are references to this, as when Tom volunteers to join soldiers going to fight the rebels, and when Sophy is mistaken for Bonnie Prince Cahrlie's mistress. Politically, it must have been very daring, since Squire Western is a Jacobite, drinking toasts to "the King over the Water" (7.4) and regularly excoriating Hanoverians.
One of the lovely things about this book is that it explores all the weaknesses of human character in such a tolerant and, indeed, compassionate way. Georgian society may have been class-ridden and hugely sexist, riddled with extremes of poverty and wealth, and plagued by criminality, but (perhaps like today) if a young fellow is good-looking he can charm the pants of others and get away with all sorts of roguishness.
There are lots of great moments but it was hard work.
It's a classic. Why?
It's quite funny, there was even one moment when I laughed aloud, and Squire Western, obsessed with hunting ("Mr Western grew every day fonder and fonder of Sophia, insomuch that his beloved dogs themselves almost gave place to her in his affections"; 4.13) and with a sometimes variable Zummerzet accent, is a brilliant comic character. But Fielding writes as such length! Each of the eighteen books is introduced by a chapter which comments on what is to come without in any way being part of the plot; these chapters are eminently skippable. And Fielding is so prolix that even when there is action the relentless flow of words was putting me to sleep. The plot itself twists and turns and I sometimes lost track of the characters but at least there is a plot which is more than you can say of Tristram Shandy (although Jones doesn't have that wonderful surreality of Shandy).
It is interesting as a social document. It reinforces the notion that Englsnd was class-ridden with a wastrel aristocracy who either hunted their landed estates or fought duels if they were young men about town; the purpose of the lower classes is to serve them. It mentions "the toasts of the Kit-Cat" club and Hogarth (describing people as being like a certain character) and "Dr. Donne" and Pope and Garrick playing Hamlet and "the famous author of Hurlothrumbo"). It was written only four years after the 1745 Jacobite rebellion in which Bonnie Prince Charlie and his troops invaded England from Scotland, reaching as far south as Derby before turning back, and there are references to this, as when Tom volunteers to join soldiers going to fight the rebels, and when Sophy is mistaken for Bonnie Prince Cahrlie's mistress. Politically, it must have been very daring, since Squire Western is a Jacobite, drinking toasts to "the King over the Water" (7.4) and regularly excoriating Hanoverians.
One of the lovely things about this book is that it explores all the weaknesses of human character in such a tolerant and, indeed, compassionate way. Georgian society may have been class-ridden and hugely sexist, riddled with extremes of poverty and wealth, and plagued by criminality, but (perhaps like today) if a young fellow is good-looking he can charm the pants of others and get away with all sorts of roguishness.
There are lots of great moments but it was hard work.