"Though I have been a very wild young man, still in my most serious moments, I am a Christian."
This dense, battered paperback has taken me nearly a month to complete, which is pretty much average for me as classics go (not counting East of Eden, which only took me 2 weeks).
This cover is certainly a lot more interesting than the one on my Penguin Classics copy; it hints at the good-natured debauchery that goes on throughout the novel. I might argue, though, that it doesn't fully convey the story's other themes of appearances and honor - but then again I might just be reading into it too much.
When the honorable and kind-hearted Mr. Allworthy discovers a baby in his bed one night, he decides that the only right thing to do is raise him as his ward. After the purported mother and father are banished from the county, the newly christened Tom Jones grows up to become a high-spirited and handsome young man - the exact opposite of the pious and fussy Blifil, Mr. Allworthy's nephew. His teachers, Mr. Thwackum and Mr. Square, look down at Tom even as Tom charms nearly everyone else. He falls in love with Sophia Western, the girl next door with a boorish father who is all id and no superego. Disaster strikes when Tom gets tangled up in a love affair with the gamekeeper's daughter, and after a series of misunderstandings, he is banished from the estate. Then he goes on a winding road trip in which he briefly becomes a soldier; gets swindled out of room and board; meets up with the cowardly but faithful Partridge; rescues (and is seduced by) a mysterious older woman; and pursues his beloved Sophia, who runs away from home shortly after her father tries to force her to marry the odious Blifil. Finally, Tom and the entire cast of characters wind up in London, where long-kept secrets are revealed and love conquers all.
It's a pretty heady trip right from the beginning. Tom is an irrepressible figure, fun-loving but truthful and honest; he more or less knows his place in the Allworthy household, but his passionate temper is his biggest flaw. His love for Sophia (who seems to have no flaw at all) remains pure even while having affairs with peasant girls and grand madams alike. But he proves his goodness in his actions - how he treats those who are in stations below his; for example, he reforms a highway robber after an attempted robbery. A very important theme here is how other characters remark on the good-looking Tom's features: he looks, speaks, and acts every bit the gentleman (especially to ladies, a particular creed with him) even when he has little fortune and no rank. Yet he is also naive enough not to realize when he's become, in essence, a kept man for a London socialite. Does he learn anything at the story's end? Not exactly, but his kindness and general sense of good definitely makes you root for him, and the happy ending is well-deserved.
The book itself was only a little less enjoyable - there were some subplots and minor character scenes that drifted away from the main plot that made me impatient, and not in a good way. The road trip is a really long stretch in particular. But it helps greatly that Sophia, along with her thunderous father and superficial aunt, is given much screen time - as well as a bit of a backbone. Most of these characters are two-dimensional at best, and the character with the most tragic and complex history, Blifil (his mother hated him because of his deceitful father), is hardly explored. There's also a short but disturbing scene with Sophia and an older suitor which says a lot about how meanly women were treated. Fielding's message is clear: good will always triumph and be rewarded. It is the satirical and occasionally whimsical tone of the book that really sets it apart, even if some of the humor is dated and the flowery language may distract readers from the punchlines. But bawdiness is pretty timeless, and in the end the reader is just having a good time, which was Fielding's main goal.
Read it for its fun plot and giddy tone, and don't worry about the little details that you don't understand. There are plenty of jokes to get here. Rating: 4 duels out of 5.