Joseph Andrews Tough-o-Meter

(6) Tree Line

Think of Joseph Andrews as a choose-your-own-adventure book in terms of toughness. If you feel like chuckling a bit, you can just read Fielding's book for its slapstick humor. After all, Parson Adams could put Charlie Chaplin to shame.

On the other hand, there are all sorts of buried historical tidbits and sly references that can make Joseph Andrews into a pretty tricky read. Oh, yeah—and how about when the narrator digresses completely from the plot to get on some kind of soapbox? We'd suggest bookmarking the more difficult parts to return to and reading Fielding's masterpiece with a study aid (ahem—like ours).