The History of Tom Jones a Foundling

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The History of Tom Jones a Foundling by Henry Fielding

I actually enjoyed this story more than I expected. At just over 1000 pages you would think this novel was looking at the minutiae of one man’s life however that is not the case.

The story is split into 18 separate books each of which begins with a look at fiction and how it should or shouldn’t be written along with some critique of modern and ancient writers the “history” then proceeds to follow one of the key players before switching to one of the others and back again. The story moves backwards and forwards in time as we see events from the different participants.

When the author decides that events are irrelevant to the history the story skips years at a time. In fact Tom’s early years pass by in the blink of an eye while his ill-fated romance and several affairs take up whole books. The later years of Tom’s life are also glossed over with a brief summing up of what has happened to each character.

The fact that most of the book concentrates on womanising and romance would lead me to categorise this as a romance story at its heart as well as a story of family, misunderstandings and manipulation.

This seems like a daunting read if you just look at the page count but when it is split down there is enough in each section to keep most readers interested. A good book for those long winter months where leaving the house seems like a challenge too far.

[Amanda]

I enjoyed this book but wasn't blown away by it: it doesn't really stand above or below the fairly large selection of "18th century long form noble family dramas" I've read at this point. I does have it's funny and intriguing moments, though. I gave it 3 stars.

One thing I loved about it was the way Fielding dissects the conventions of the time in what constitutes a 'good' person. The way he sets god-fearing, proper, but uncompassionate and manipulative aristocrats as the villains, and a sexually-loose and hedonistic- but mostly kind hearted- man believed to be from 'lower' origins as the hero and more-so moral center of the book must have been amazingly controversial for the time.

However, one thing I found unintentionally hilarious is how dated some of the literary conventions used have become. Like, there are many interspersed chapters where Fielding addresses the audience to explain things like time jumps or that something licentious is coming up, or apologizing for something tragic. The best was when it would be something like "oh I am so sorry reader, I shouldn't have committed something so scandalous to paper, be wary of what you are about to consume..." and then its just...vaguely described pre-marital sex XD. And to think, the Marquis de Sade was writing just a few decades later.