The fourtieth book: #40 The Vicar of Wakefield - Oliver Goldsmith
So far I've been down on more of the serious books, while appreciating the satires and funnier books. That's not a pattern that always holds, but it certainly influences my initial thoughts.
WIth the Vicar of Wakefield, the reverse applied. There are two parts - starting with a satire, playing with the ideal life novels and adventuring with its ups and its downs. Partway through, however, it moves to become more of a melodrama, as the problems and bad decisions that have been building up in the past chapters become a real problem ending up with the titular vicar in debtor's prison. It ends up with a happy ending, but goes deep and serious for a while.
The second half felt more compelling to me. The first, describing country life of the day, doesn't really connect because it's so far away. It's fine, but intentionally a bit too far up itself and it didn't work. In the second part, the characters become more and more human and interesting. And while there are some deus ex machina, it makes for a better story.
That's not to say the first half isn't bad - it was still decent, but not as compelling and I found myself staring out of the train window more often. It's unfortunate, but it worked out well in the end.