Tom Jones (Paperback)

Henry Fieldings novel. The History of Tom Jones, a Founding, is a thousand times better than the recent adaptation on PBS. It is hilariously written, thanks largely to the essential commentary by the narrator, the author Fielding himself. Fielding was a master at describing a comical scene and at inventing increasingly complicated and convoluted circumstances that turn the plot in unexpected ways. To read this novel is to be in the presence of a brilliant comic genius. Anyone who has seen the most recent PBS adaptation, and then reads the novel, will be sorry that Fielding isnt alive to sue for the twisted misuse of his brilliant work. This particular edition, it must be noted, is the Dover Thrift Edition, with an emphasis on thrift. Serious readers may prefer an Oxford or other scholarly paperback edition with notes and commentary.