Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded (Oxford World's Classics)

The problem with most kindle editions is that you only get the text with a couple of introductory pages, which is good if you just want to read the novel. For school I would recommend something like this. This book has an excellent introduction dealing with the changes made to the novel in subsequent editions and the social and political implications of the text. The notes are also very useful in explaining things said or done in the novel that otherwise would be missed.

This really is a beautifully written book. It takes a little longer to read than most of its length because of the wording, but its worth it. You just want to savor every word. The best part is how unchanging pamela's values remain throughout the whole book. Her feelings toward other characters change but never her morals. Great read.

This is one of the earliest full-fleshed epistolary novels of the 18th Century. I will not comment on the Pamela vs the Anti-Pamela argument, but only address the publication itself, which is true to the original. It does not feature any footnotes, so it will be more difficult to understand for anyone not familiar with 18th century English culture, customs, language, and traditions. There is an awkward glossary in the back, but is not annotated by line number, only by page number, and does not elaborate sufficiently to be helpful to the first time reader.

Love this book!!! I ended up buying it a second time to give as a gift. It’s a very simplistic story that has a nice build.

the thing I liked about this book was how the main character, who is essentially the most powerless person in the story,manages to change all the other characters and her unfortunate circumstances into fortunate ones by her dogged determination "not to yield", or to say " well it is what it is - better make the best of it and get with the program".She has her values, and she hangs onto the one thing that she values most, regardless of how much bullying she encounters, because she is not going to aid her oppresors by giving them her consent. If they want to take it , then they will have to take it by force, because she wont hand it over or make it more palatable to them by accepting their terms. She doesn't want rewards or admiration, she just wants to return to her parents so that she can continue to live her life in a way that allows her to respect herself. She gets much more than what she wanted, in the end.

This is a true classic that reaches over 250 years and shows how our culture for women is vastly different. No so for men. Tedious reading throughout but still captivating along the lines of very early Dounton Abbey.

Copy arrived earlier than expected and in great condition. Preface and footnotes helpful for a novel that is often a slow read .Richardson was a favorite author of Jane Austen but not her literary equal !

Don't waste your time and money on this novel. It is a prototype for "Clarissa" and where "Clarissa" was brilliant, this is the failure. Pamela is a 15-year-old ladies maid who is very religious, very virtuous, very gullible, and not too bright. Her very rich "Master" decides to corrupt her so he kidnaps her and imprisons her on an isolated estate. She makes some lame attempts to get away, spending her time writing her story, and complaining of the abuse she receives at the hands of her horrible Master. Her Master is just a rank scumbag. He easily tricks her and tries repeatedly to sexually assault her, even employing such juvenile tricks as dressing up in a maid's clothes or hiding in a closet. At the end of the first volume, he finally realizes it won't work and decides to let her go. Clarissa decides she is passionately in love with him and decides to stay. Stockholm Syndrome?Volume 2 is just incredibly tedious. Pamela preaches a lot, proclaiming how good, wonderful, and kind God is, when she is not carrying on about how good, wonderful, and kind her Master is, and he is not telling her how good, wonderful, and kind she is. They marry. The neighbors come around and whole dinner parties are devoted to them all complimenting one another on how good, wonderful, and kind they all are. The only crisis is when the Master's sister shows up and she is as much a jackass as her brother, but of course, Pamela quickly wins her over and she is also good, wonderful, and kind. Near the end of the book, her Master preaches to her on how perfect parents should behave and she writes down these rules. I thought that was amusing coming from him. After the sister shows up, I started skimming because I can only take so much monotonous repetition. I don't understand Richardson's need for the characters to compliment one another on their virtues on nearly every page.I understand the themes here of class stratification and the "power of the pen," but these themes are much better treated in "Clarissa."

This is one of many novels I’ve needed to buy for uni, and it is a great price and in excellent condition. Very happy with my purchase.

Sinceramente non capisco quelli che lasciano recensione negative per i libri solo perchè non erano di loro gusto. Pamela or virtue rewarded è qualcosa di diverso, forse nuovo per alcuni, ma la capacità, fra l'ironico e il morale, con cui affronta le vicende di Pamela è qualcosa di meraviglioso.Straconsigliato.

Very good edition

Nun gut, man kann von dem Inhalt dieses Romans halten, was man möchte (aus heutiger Sicht stehen mir als Frau beim Lesen mehr oder minder die Haare zu Berge), jedoch sollte man diesen Klassiker der englischen Literatur auf jeden Fall gelesen haben. Und das nicht nur Anglistik-Studentin.Flüssig geschriebener Briefroman, welcher auch einen guten Einblick in den historischen Kontext der damaligen Zeit gewährt.

Good condition.