Tom Jones - Still Rocking For Over 260 Years
Just finished, Tom Jones, a Foundling. A picaresque story of sex, treachery, hypocrisy, deceit, dishonour; honour, moral fibre; set in the time of the Jacobite upraising of 1745-6.
Two of the many themes I found interesting were that of, arranged marriages and true love over parental greed.
The plot of the book does indeed live up to its reputation; brilliantly written and laid out.
It’s a plot that will keep you on your toes for sure.
The humour of the book takes many forms: mutual misunderstanding, slapstick, irony, burlesque, banter…
It is hard to fault the novel; however, one annoying thing was that Sophia Western’s father, Squire Western’s speech was written in local Somerset dialogue and hard at times to decipher.
On more of a personal level, I am pleased to have read the book which was so influential on Charles Dickens’ earlier work.
I highly recommend Tom Jones to anyone who would like a very comic book with a brilliant plot. A cornerstone of English Literature written by Henry Fielding who was not only a novelist, but championed for the abolishment of public hangings and helped form the first police forces
It's not unusual to be loved by anyone
It's not unusual to have fun with anyone
but when I see you hanging about with anyone
It's not unusual to see me cry!
The great 60s movie of Tom Jones was very popular and
brought the book back into the mainstream of readers. A paperback was produced, and that was the first time I read the book. A young Albert Finney was Tom Jones and Squire Western was admirably played by Hugh Griffith. A&E eventually produced a miniseries for tv, but I always thought it was a shame that this was one Masterpiece Theatre didn't do. Since the movie was produced, I have had three very nice copies of the book,
The only other of Fielding's novels which approaches the irony and comedic drama of Tom Jones is Joseph Andrews. It doesn't quite reach the stature of Tom Jones, but I would reccomend it.
In the nineteenth century, one US senator called another one Black Bart, and the result was a duel. Today's lawmakers would not be literate enough to understand this insult.
I saw the movie fifty years ago ....
so I can't remember everything about it. For a more detailed movie, try the one made for TV. It was produced by A&E and goes into a lot more detail since there are 5 or 6 DVDs.
The Folio Society published all of Fielding's novels inserted in a single slipcase. I have read them all: Tom Jones, Joseph Andrews, Jonathon Wilde, and Pamela. I read them all because I had them, but I would only recommend Tom Jones and Joseph Andrews.
Fielding's popularity crossed the pond to America. He was one of Thomas Jefferson's favorite authors.