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A review by eaborum
Tom Jones by Henry Fielding
3.0
This massive book was just ok. I can appreciate it’s historical context but it just didn’t wow me. At least 50 pages could have been removed from this book alone if they took out the first chapter of each book where the author defends himself from any criticism he foresees the book receiving. Just because you recognize the problems in your story doesn’t give you a pass, Fielding. It just makes you look like a self-conscious guy who can’t take criticism. And it offered nothing to the plot. So that got tiresome real quick.
The worst aspect of this book was definitely the old language. The language made me struggle to feel anything during even the most shocking moments. Everything was just told in such a matter of fact way I struggled to care because I was tired from slogging through useless excess words. There was also hardly any dialogue and it was never broken up on the page. Reading page after page of solid blocks of text doesn’t help the book feel like it’s moving quickly. This book could have been really good if written in a modern style and with modern language. The storyline was actually pretty interesting once you get past all the unnecessary parts. The themes of this book did age surprisingly well, with a few exceptions. So, while I can appreciate this book for its history, it’s age was also its downfall.
The worst aspect of this book was definitely the old language. The language made me struggle to feel anything during even the most shocking moments. Everything was just told in such a matter of fact way I struggled to care because I was tired from slogging through useless excess words. There was also hardly any dialogue and it was never broken up on the page. Reading page after page of solid blocks of text doesn’t help the book feel like it’s moving quickly. This book could have been really good if written in a modern style and with modern language. The storyline was actually pretty interesting once you get past all the unnecessary parts. The themes of this book did age surprisingly well, with a few exceptions. So, while I can appreciate this book for its history, it’s age was also its downfall.