Sign in with Facebook
Loading...
5th out of 97 books
—
196 voters
The History of Tom Jones, a Foundling
A foundling of mysterious parentage brought up by Mr. Allworthy on his country estate, Tom Jones is deeply in love with the seemingly unattainable Sophia Western, the beautiful daughter of the neighboring squire—though he sometimes succumbs to the charms of the local girls. When Tom is banished to make his own fortune and Sophia follows him to London to escape an arranged...more
Paperback, 1024 pages
Published
September 27th 2005
by Penguin Classics
(first published 1749)
Friend Reviews
To see what your friends thought of this book,
please sign up.
Community Reviews
(showing
1-30
of
3,000)
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 book, written shortly after the failed second Jacobite Uprising of 1745 has more Authorial Voice than I can remember in any other novel, including even earlier works by Defoe Daniel 1661?-1731 and stands as a testament to why it is undesirable: At time the story drowns in it. We are treated to 18 books, the prefatory chapt...more
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 book, written shortly after the failed second Jacobite Uprising of 1745 has more Authorial Voice than I can remember in any other novel, including even earlier works by Defoe Daniel 1661?-1731 and stands as a testament to why it is undesirable: At time the story drowns in it. We are treated to 18 books, the prefatory chapt...more
Who reads this and laughs not at all may be forgiven only as a simpleton, and does not comprehend.
Who reads this and laughs but a little is too dour and prideful to be of much use, and only laughs when he cannot help it.
Who reads this and laughs a score is the wretched false-wit, and only laughs when it suits his crowd.
Who reads and laughs but once a chapter has a mirthful soul, if no great love for words.
Who reads and laughs at every page shall be my boon companion, and a kiss for each grinning...more
Who reads this and laughs but a little is too dour and prideful to be of much use, and only laughs when he cannot help it.
Who reads this and laughs a score is the wretched false-wit, and only laughs when it suits his crowd.
Who reads and laughs but once a chapter has a mirthful soul, if no great love for words.
Who reads and laughs at every page shall be my boon companion, and a kiss for each grinning...more
30 likes · like · see review
If a crazed literature professor ever holds a gun to your head and threatens to pull the trigger if you don’t read one of two interminable, gazillion-page satirical British novels (that would be Vanity Fair of the 19th Century or Tom Jones of the 18th Century), I recommend you choose Tom Jones. Tom Jones is more original (some say it’s the first modern novel), ‘way funnier than VF, and even has a few naughty bits to make you giggle—though tame by modern standards. To read Vanity Fair, you need t...more
Having recently re-watched Winterbottom's "Tristam Shandy: a cock and bull story", Coogan's dead-on quote regarding Sterne, that he "was post modern before there was any modernism to be post about." could equally apply to Fielding. OK, "Tom Jones" mightn't be considered exactly post-modern, however I agree with Amis's quote on the back cover of this edition when he states "Two hundred years have not dimmed Fielding's realism. His humour is closer to our own than that of any writer before the pre...more
2 likes · like · see review
Finally! I didn't think I'd ever finish! Since the novel is divided into "books" and each book is divided into chapters, I first set an overly ambitious goal of 10 chapters a day (about 40 pages). But Fielding is soooooooo windy that I soon fell behind, and eventually I changed my goal to half a book a day (usually 5 or 6 chapters). But each book began with a chapter on the nature of writing, dull as dishwater, and then the meat of the plot itself was surrounded by so much STUFF! Blah, blah, bla...more
I read this a long time ago and remember liking it. It was long, but I don't remember it feeling like a chore. I may have even liked it well enough for a five, but since I've forgotten some...I may just need to re-read it, or take the easy way and watch one of the movies or series. What I most recall was the things that they found so shocking weren't really all that shocking now. When you read a Victorian romance, somehow it makes you, while you are reading, feel outrage at a man making unwelcom...more
2 likes · like · see review
900 pages later, I can confirm what my friend Wales told me: this book has nothing to do with the Tom Jones who asked, "What's new, pussycat?"
Instead, it's a massive blow-up of a classic Shakespeare comedy that exactly follows the classic structure: our likable heroes are introduced; a series of miscommunications and devious acts by rivals conspire to rend them apart; you know how act V goes in these things, and you'll see it coming here as soon as you realize this book is a comedy, which if it'...more
Instead, it's a massive blow-up of a classic Shakespeare comedy that exactly follows the classic structure: our likable heroes are introduced; a series of miscommunications and devious acts by rivals conspire to rend them apart; you know how act V goes in these things, and you'll see it coming here as soon as you realize this book is a comedy, which if it'...more
4 likes · like · see review
Review in few words:
A brilliant (genius!) book. I think what placed this book above a number of others (in my eyes, at least) are not only the poignant essays at the beginning of each book/chapter, but also the keenness and delicacy in the narration that Henry Fielding uses to take me, the reader, into the topsy-turvy life of the most unfortunate (?) Tom Jones.
Other details I enjoyed/noticed about the book:
- Tom Jones is a simple, handsome, seemingly perfect young fellow with one glaring defect...more
A brilliant (genius!) book. I think what placed this book above a number of others (in my eyes, at least) are not only the poignant essays at the beginning of each book/chapter, but also the keenness and delicacy in the narration that Henry Fielding uses to take me, the reader, into the topsy-turvy life of the most unfortunate (?) Tom Jones.
Other details I enjoyed/noticed about the book:
- Tom Jones is a simple, handsome, seemingly perfect young fellow with one glaring defect...more
So, I give this five stars, but, you know, not every five star book should be read by every person. If you have great patience, and are willing to admit that your tastes have been formed by the nineteenth century novel and then by certain aspects of modern literature; if you're willing to test your (my) assumption that novels are best when they're realistic or modernist; if you don't mind a bit of slap and tickle... then you should read this. If you want to judge a book based on whether its char...more
Very unimpressive other than its considerable length. I feel like this was hundreds of pages of drivel. The characters were utterly forgettable. I got a bit tired of the characters singing Jones' praise of virtue when he's hopped into bed with a couple different women, one of whom he sleeps with while he's supposedly in love with Sophia. It's pretty clear, even by the end that he's in love with her physical beauty rather than with her. Sophia, for her part is actually virtuous, and has some sens...more
May 16, 2009
Catherine
rated it
5 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
lovers of Jane Austen and British wit.
I don't know if I've ever enjoyed reading a book as much as I've enjoyed this one. Fielding's narrator is absolutely delightful, showing a rare and wonderful combination of scathing wit and gentlest compassion. The reader is presented with a wide array of memorable personalities that still seem true to life 260 years after they were written. The hero, Tom Jones, remains consistently charming and admirable, despite his many flaws and lapses in judgment. Even Fielding's asides and plethora of pref...more
When I was a teenager, this book was forbidden. Naturally I had to buy it with my babysitting money to see what the fuss was about, especially as this was not long after the movie came out, which the adults all enjoyed.
My first reading? I saw the word 'bastard' and thought, that must be the problem. None of the rest of it made any sense. I abandoned it a couple chapters in.
Picked it up in college, found it quaint, the bed-hopping scarcely eye-brow raising. (This was the early seventies.)
That pap...more
My first reading? I saw the word 'bastard' and thought, that must be the problem. None of the rest of it made any sense. I abandoned it a couple chapters in.
Picked it up in college, found it quaint, the bed-hopping scarcely eye-brow raising. (This was the early seventies.)
That pap...more
1 like · like · see review
Fielding was doing well telling the story. I liked his style. I hated the subject and storyline and main character. It's all about a young man and his extremely promiscuous behavior. But all of his deeds are forgiven and he is rewarded with marriage to his true love after his rightful heritage is revealed. Absolutely appalling! But we all know what would have happened if it had been a woman--scorned and discredited, no matter how high her background. The whole thing made me sick and upset and I...more
This book, for something that's almost 1000 pages, is a breeze! It does drag in the middle a bit, but the first 400 pages and the last 300 seemed half as long. For something written in the 1740s, there's sure a lot that happens. And it is FUNNY! Fielding is observantly wry and sarcastic about himself, his story, and society. Sarcasm, of course, is my forte, but I think it is a sort of humor that can stand the test of time. That is, Fielding isn't too referential, topical, or situational that his...more
Feb 07, 2012
Candace
rated it
2 of 5 stars
·
review of another edition
Recommends it for:
novel theory enthusiasts, students of 18th century literature
It would probably be impolitic of me to say anything particularly mean-spirited about this novel, as it is my intention to study 18th-c novels for a living, but I just could not get into this book. I'm sure that it is incredibly significant for critical purposes -- and as someone interested in the history of novel theory I loved Fielding's addresses to the reader in the first chapter of each book -- but on a personal level it is not a book for me, nor, I think, will it ever become one, no matter...more
Destestable. Just tedium punctuated with banalities. The hero's a guilded void. And the heroine is praised for never attempting opinions or wit. *aspires*
Fielding belittles other writers whilst citing critics as worse than murderers.
*shakes fist at hypocrisy*
Plus, it's supposed to be socially subversive but the hero is revealed as an heir.
My copy only escaped the cleansing flames cos I'd been indoctrinated with carbon footprint consciousness.
*refrains from underwear-throwing*
Fielding belittles other writers whilst citing critics as worse than murderers.
*shakes fist at hypocrisy*
Plus, it's supposed to be socially subversive but the hero is revealed as an heir.
My copy only escaped the cleansing flames cos I'd been indoctrinated with carbon footprint consciousness.
*refrains from underwear-throwing*
5 likes · like · see review
تام جونز یکی از مشهورترین کلاسیک های رمان است که از قرن هژدهم هم چنان همراه آثار کلاسیک دیگر به دفعات چاپ شده. در فارسی اما زمانی خلاصه شده ای از "تام جونز" در مجله ای چاپ شد. سال ها بعد، چاپ قدیمی انگلیسی اش را، در پنج جلد، دایی ام به من داد، به گمانم چند تکه ای خواندم و منصرف شدم. تا اواسط دهه ی شصت که دوستی ترجمه ای از تام جونز به فارسی را برایم فرستاد. کتابی عظیم در هشتصد صفحه! با مقدمه ی چهل صفحه ای مترجم؛ احمد کریمی حکاک. اما باید تا سال 2000 و یک تعطیلات چند روزه منتظر می ماندم تا همت خوا...more
Added 12/7/12.
On 12/7/12 I posted the following at my GR group:
=============================
I currently have the following DVD from Netflix and intend to watch it soon:
The Netflix title is: "Tom Jones" (1997) (Season One)
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Tom-Jone...
"Henry Fielding's classic novel charts the rise of a charming orphan who's raised among the well-bred and blossoms into a handsome womanizer. But he ultimately meets his match upon falling for a beautiful heiress."
The IMDb title is: "The H...more
On 12/7/12 I posted the following at my GR group:
=============================
I currently have the following DVD from Netflix and intend to watch it soon:
The Netflix title is: "Tom Jones" (1997) (Season One)
http://dvd.netflix.com/Movie/Tom-Jone...
"Henry Fielding's classic novel charts the rise of a charming orphan who's raised among the well-bred and blossoms into a handsome womanizer. But he ultimately meets his match upon falling for a beautiful heiress."
The IMDb title is: "The H...more
To be honest, I don't think I read this book very well. My memory of later events is sketchy, to say the least. Discussing it in the class I read it for helped a bit.
What I do remember is a book that looks in two directions. Much of this book is devoted not specifically to the narrative of its title character, but instead to the philosophy of Henry Fielding. The author spends a great deal of time writing on the concept of a novel, how it should be read, how it should be written, etc. Considerin...more
What I do remember is a book that looks in two directions. Much of this book is devoted not specifically to the narrative of its title character, but instead to the philosophy of Henry Fielding. The author spends a great deal of time writing on the concept of a novel, how it should be read, how it should be written, etc. Considerin...more
I finally finished reading Tom Jones on Monday - the 1749 novel by Henry Fielding, that is - not the Welsh Singer. I've been wanting to read it for quite some time, but never got around to it. It seems I was reading it forever, but at 346,747 words, perhaps that's not a surprise. My daily commute has seen me read as much in the past fortnight as in the past two months. I enjoyed it. It wasn't as bawdy as I seem to remember the tv series starring Max Beasley and Samantha Morton was, but maybe my...more
http://nwhyte.livejournal.com/1962065...
The classic novel of 1749, whose prose style is in places a bit tedious but also in places very funny. The plot is a basic romantic comedy, but it is enlivened by the authorial asides which open each of the individual books within the novel, and by the author's grasp of character which must have inspired Dickens. There are also a couple of passages which pastiche Homer, Vergil and I think the King James Bible, and there must have been others that I missed....more
The classic novel of 1749, whose prose style is in places a bit tedious but also in places very funny. The plot is a basic romantic comedy, but it is enlivened by the authorial asides which open each of the individual books within the novel, and by the author's grasp of character which must have inspired Dickens. There are also a couple of passages which pastiche Homer, Vergil and I think the King James Bible, and there must have been others that I missed....more
This great novel begins as it means to continue, in a grand, yet conversational, style so characteristic of the 18th century.
I warmed to the fine style quite quickly yet Fieldings digressions (though not his prefatory chapters) started to drag towards the middle of the book, which, compounded by my impression that he is not a great writer on 'the road', where that part of the book is set, meant that the book sagged a little towards the middle and i abandoned it for some weeks before taking it up...more
I warmed to the fine style quite quickly yet Fieldings digressions (though not his prefatory chapters) started to drag towards the middle of the book, which, compounded by my impression that he is not a great writer on 'the road', where that part of the book is set, meant that the book sagged a little towards the middle and i abandoned it for some weeks before taking it up...more
One of the earliest--and probably still the greatest of English novels, Tom Jones is still a delight to read and savor after 250 years. Richardson's film, which captures the world of 1750 England with extraordinary fidelity, is still a must--and one of the greatest movies of all time, by the way. But the book itself! I read it first in a lit class in my pre-med undergrad days--and I was astounded! Astounded that this fellow Fielding was chatting with me wittily and poignantly through the centuri...more
This was one of those thousand page books I had three days to read before moving on to the next masterpiece when I was an undergraduate English major. I remembered almost nothing about it, except for scraps from my professor's lecture, when my hunt for copyright-free classics for my e-book reader led me here. It was the first English-language novel, as we define them today, or one of the first, my professor told us. I'm pretty sure I also read a John Irving book once in which a main character ta...more
I've seen a lot of people telling writers to build a platform. I disagree. What they should be building is a personality.
Writing experts drone on about an author's voice. They're not wrong. But your voice is just a means to express your personality.
Misled by writers of genius like T.S. Eliot and Flaubert, some authorities stress revision. They force you to focus on smoothness of style. They want you to rewrite everything until your personality completely disappears.
That's okay if you have been w...more
Writing experts drone on about an author's voice. They're not wrong. But your voice is just a means to express your personality.
Misled by writers of genius like T.S. Eliot and Flaubert, some authorities stress revision. They force you to focus on smoothness of style. They want you to rewrite everything until your personality completely disappears.
That's okay if you have been w...more
I got very little actual pleasure out of reading this book, which was kind of a surprise and disappointment to me, because usually, when I get around to reading the classics, I find them to be a hoot, and easy to understand their long term appeal. And I guess the second part of that axiom is true: Fielding is, I'm convinced, a serious thinker about novels, and he gives you a lot to work over. Really, he makes someone like Richardson look like a child, and the complexity of this book, just on the...more
Tom Jones is hands down the dumbest book ever written. Before reading this dreck, I had thought Pamela had that title on lockdown, but I was mistaken. I still think Pamela is horrible (all 500 pages can be summarized in two sentences: Master attempted to sexually assault me in the gazebo, o most wretched PAMELA. Master proposed marriage to unworthy PAMELA, o virtuous Master and most blesséd PAMELA.) but Tom Jones is longer - almost 1300 pages of pain - and stupid. Really, really stupid. Stupid i...more
Great romp, but it left me wanting moral resolution. Farce is fine, but I guess I'm just more partial to Dickens' method of weighing the scales of justice more carefully. I felt unsatisfied that 2 characters who colluded in planning a rape, walk off scot free. Indeed, the Lord actually takes a heroic turn in the end. Although he tried to rape Sophia, he helps free an imprisoned Tom at the end and it's as if he's paid his dues.
It's not as if I'd expect either the characters or plot to punish the...more
It's not as if I'd expect either the characters or plot to punish the...more
Somehow I managed to make it through four years of a graduate program in English literature eluding Henry Fielding's Tom Jones, the dimensions and page count of which seemed pretty daunting, and led me to think Tom Jones might be better used as a paperweight, doorstop, or a formidable means of personal defense in desperate circumstances.
But I'd heard it was hilarious, and so this summer I finally gave in, long after I had any classes to read it for or professors to assign it. And I'm glad I did...more
But I'd heard it was hilarious, and so this summer I finally gave in, long after I had any classes to read it for or professors to assign it. And I'm glad I did...more
This is a romantic story and there is a little bit mystery. Thomas Allworthy finds a baby boy in his bed and decides to raise him as his own son. He names him Tom Jones. Tom gets bigger and becomes an attractive man. He and the next-door neighbor’s daughter, Sophia, fall in love. However, her father does not accept this love because Tom does not come from a noble family. Her family wants her to get married to Blifil who is the nephew of Altworthy. Blifil does not like Tom and makes plans to put...more
| topics | posts | views | last activity | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 18th Century Enth...: Tom Jones by Henry Fielding | 1 | 5 | Oct 19, 2012 05:10am | |
| The 1700-1939 Boo...: Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (Book 4-6) | 3 | 20 | Dec 25, 2011 06:21pm | |
| The 1700-1939 Boo...: Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (Book 1-3) | 30 | 37 | Dec 08, 2011 09:17am | |
| The 1700-1939 Boo...: Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (Book 13-15) | 2 | 7 | Nov 29, 2011 10:49pm | |
| The 1700-1939 Boo...: Tom Jones by Henry Fielding (Book 16-18) | 1 | 5 | Nov 16, 2011 12:14am |
Henry Fielding was born in Somerset in 1707. The son of a army lieutenant and a judge's daughter, he was educated at Eton School and the University of Leiden before returning to England where he wrote a series of farces, operas and light comedies.
Fielding formed his own company and was running the Little Theatre, Haymarket, when one of his satirical plays began to upset the government. The passing...more
More about Henry Fielding...
Fielding formed his own company and was running the Little Theatre, Haymarket, when one of his satirical plays began to upset the government. The passing...more
Share This Book
8 trivia questions
2 quizzes
More quizzes & trivia...
2 quizzes
“No one hath seen beauty in its highest lustre who hath never seen it in distress.”
—
21 people liked it
“For I hope my Friends will pardon me, when I declare, I know none of them without a Fault; and I should be sorry if I could imagine, I had any Friend who could not see mine. Forgiveness, of this Kind, we give and demand in Turn.”
—
10 people liked it
More quotes…
Apr 07, 2013 02:13pm
Thanks!
Yes - I'm certain that how much...more
Apr 07, 2013 04:20pm