I am taking forever to read this great classic by Henry Fielding. Not because it is a slow read (although it is certainly not an easy read) but mainly because it is a long book and my son interrupted it to ask me to read the Hunger Games trilogy. I knew that if I took a break from Fielding that it would be hard to get back into it.

I left off at a part in the story that is actually pretty difficult to read. The section is about halfway through the book, and is a story within a story. The teller (not Fielding, the character telling the story within the story) has an odd way of speaking, the story is full of new characters, constant (although amusing) interruptions from the listeners with stories of their own, and it goes on chapter after chapter.

Granted, it is an interesting and amusing story within a story. With Fielding, however, it's easy to miss the humor as it is very dry and his language is so rich, plus the times it is written in all make it something you must pay very close attention to and have a dictionary handy. This story within the story mirrors the general story and seems loaded with clues that may hint at solving the mystery of who the father of poor Tom might be.

That being said, I am anxious to get past the story within a story and on to the actual story of Tom Jones.