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Tom Jones is a 1749 novel by English writer Henry
Fielding. It is considered one of the first novels.
"The same animal which hath
the honour to have some part of his flesh eaten at the table of a duke, may
perhaps be degraded in another part, and some of his limbs gibbeted, as it
were, in the vilest stall in town. Where, then, lies the difference between the
food of the nobleman and the porter, if both are at dinner on the same ox or
calf, but in the seasoning, the dressing, the garnishing, and the setting
forth? Hence the one provokes and incites the most languid appetite, and the
other turns and palls that which is the sharpest and keenest."
Along with these observations, we follow the life and
adventures of Tom Jones, an abandoned orphan with the good fortune to be
brought up in the household of wealthy gentry.
The baby is found in the bed of the land owning squire,
whose housekeeper advises:
For my own part, if it was
an honest man's child, indeed—but for my own part, it goes against me to touch
these misbegotten wretches, whom I don't look upon as my fellow-creatures.
Faugh! how it stinks! It doth not smell like a Christian. If I might be so bold
to give my advice, I would have it put in a basket, and sent out and laid at
the churchwarden's door. It is a good night, only a little rainy and windy; and
if it was well wrapt up, and put in a warm basket, it is two to one but it
lives till it is found in the morning. But if it should not, we have discharged
our duty in taking proper care of it; and it is, perhaps, better for such
creatures to die in a state of innocence, than to grow up and imitate their
mothers; for nothing better can be expected of them."
The squire, however, is determined to care for the child;
occasioning a change of heart in the housekeeper:
Such was the discernment of
Mrs Wilkins, and such the respect she bore her master, under whom she enjoyed a
most excellent place, that her scruples gave way to his peremptory commands;
and she took the child under her arms, without any apparent disgust at the
illegality of its birth; and declaring it was a sweet little infant, walked off
with it to her own chamber.
Isn't it funny how one of the first novels is also one of
the best? Or as one Amazon Reader
Reviewer puts it:
"Rather than go into a
long analysis of the story, characters and style of writing, I'll just say that
this has always been one of my favourite novels, and to be able to get a free
copy for my Kindle was a very pleasant surprise."
This blog is a guide to the best free
and inexpensive classic literature for the US & UK Kindle. If you enjoy my
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