Pamela, or Virtue Rewarded MP3 CD – Unabridged, April 19, 2016

This novel begins in the form of letters from Pamela Andrews to her parents (John and Elizabeth Andrews). Her employer died so she’s now working for her former employer’s son, the squire. Pamela was a waiting maid who is easy to like and the reader commiserates with her as she needs a job.SPOILER ALERT: Don’t read this unless you want to know the entire plot. After the squire makes inappropriate advances, Pamela resigns. Naturally her parents are worried sick when she fails to arrive at their house. The manipulative and self-centered squire has kidnapped her. When he proposes to Pamela in Volume II, the reader naturally wants her to punch him instead. But Victorian England is not "Kill Bill" and I found it to be a rather sad novel.Pamela winds up married to an aristocrat and raised from her poor condition, even ostensibly talking the crafty squire into reforming. But in all honesty I just wanted the virtuous and sweet-tempered Pamela to escape the creep.

Although this book is historically important, it is for me totally unreadable. The book was written by a man pretending to be a girl of 15 years of age, a child of the poor working class who is sent into servitude in the household of a wealthier family. She has no education beyond the bare minimum needed to mouth pious screeds offered by her narrow religion. We are told that she is quite pretty, though, which is the fact that interests the male author and which is what prompts his interest in her. We are supposed to follow the trials of this sad person as she struggles to "save her virtue" and reap the reward, namely, marriage to someone above her "station in life". What this novel does is uphold the class structure of the English society of its day , the oppression of women and the narrow-minded puritanical religion pervading the culture while appealing to the most prurient interests of the reading public. Do yourself a favor and give this book a pass unless you are a scholar forced to examine the work critically .

Pamela was a bestseller in the 18th century and is still considered a classic today. Pamela is written in the Epistolary style (story presented in a series of letters), and this style of writing was very popular in the 18th century. Epistolary style is still used by modern authors. The virtuousness of Pamela was a common and important theme was considered exciting and innocent when it was written. This novel offers modern readers a window into the past and that makes it invaluable to historians, readers and writers.I recommend this book to anyone who is interested in or curious about classic literature. You may find you prefer classic literature to the vulgar blood and guts novels which are being spewed out by modern authors. Readers are treated to profanity free book in which the language is innocent and virtue really is a treasure to the characters.It is a shame that the other reviewers slammed this classic read, but if you look at the other books reviewed by those reviewers, you can see the other books they have read and rate highly are in an entirely different genre. They are comparing apples to oranges. Don't let the naysayers fool you. This is a great book and discerning readers appreciate its style and substance.

Pamela is a strong woman, kind to all but steadfast in her principles. Though she is a poor teen, at the bottom of the British class system, she struggles valiantly and successfully against any violation of her person. She is humble, not arrogant, intelligent and kind to all.This novel was written during the Enlightenment period, in the 1700s. There is little in the way of a criminal justice system, so conscience and social pressure were the main restraints agains bad behavior. And of course the Master of the land did pretty much as he chose. In fact he was quite a rake. He wanted Pamela, and because of her low degree, he thought it made sense to take her by force. In his defense, I must say that if he had really wanted to rape Pamela, he could have. Still he behaved dreadfully toward her.Over a long time, he kept her confined hoping to wear her down. Eventually, he comes to understand what suffering he has put her through, he reforms, and Pamela comes to love him. And they marry.Now we see why he did not think of this in the beginning. Everybody in the upper classes, and other classes too, was scandalized.But Pamela's goodness and intelligence win them over. Then she and her husband start making changes that will make life better for the people under his authority.

The book could be read as a historical piece. It feels like a step into the past and is informative of the differing rolls and rights of men and women of this time period.

At first I found the letter style of this book a bit confusing (instead of chapters the protagonist 'Pamela' writes letters to her parents) however the more i read the better it was. That being said however to begin with the shortness of the letters make it seem somewhat disjointed and didn't allow you to connect with any of the characters. This disconnect with the characters I found does continue throughout the novel however I found myself caring little about it as it made me focus more on Pamela. I, at the moment am still hanging around the 70% mark in the book as i have still got around 7 hours left to read and the story seems all wrapped up. This however gives me more incentive to read as i am curious at the next plot twist. I have enjoyed this book gradually more and more but sometimes it does seem monotonous and you really have to wade through the difficult beginning.

I only bought this book, as one of my university lecturers recommended we read it. I've only read the first chapter I'm afraid, hence the 3 stars. I have been told that this book is one of the first examples of telling a story from a first person perspective, if not actually the first. It is based on letters to and from a young lady called Pamela, who works as a servant for a wealthy family. The mistress of the house has just died and she is writing to tell her parents about it. She also tells them that the mistress' son has been very nice to her and has promised to take care of her. Her parents write her back to tell her they are worried about the intentions of the mistress' son towards her and... well, that's as far as I got. Not for lack of wanting to read on and find out what happens though. I hope that I will at some point, but decided to write this review just in case I don't get around to it anytime soon. Definitely worth a read (if you have the time!)

By today's standards long winded and repetitive; I wouldn't claim to have read every word but, nonetheless well worth the effort to get to the end. The image of this 16 year old rushing off to her closet to churn out another few hundred words recording the day's events... Yes, she did lose her virginity - under entirely proper circumstances - but blink and you'll miss it!

So many books of this age, including Jane Austen's of course, refer to Pamela that I had to read it. Also all the other books whose names crop up - Childe Harold, The Vicar of Wakefield, the Mysteries of Udolpho and so on. Except for Byron, who is still brilliant, most of the others are more or less tedious, but Pamela is without doubt the most tedious so far. The author has one idea - the attempted seduction/rape of the angelically virtuous Pamela - and manages to stretch it over chapter after chapter ad infinitum ad nauseum. Luckily all these books are free for Kindle, so admirers of the period can do their background research painlessly - as far as the pocket goes - and feel able to stop when exhausted. The amazing thing is that Jane Austen was so head, shoulders, torso and legs above anything else of the period in writing skill, wit and reality.

Written around 1750. A fictitious story and therefore an exaggeration of real life but interesting to note the acceptance of bad behaviour towards women that must have been prevalent at the time of writing. Now, 270 years later, the storyline that someone is capable of allowing excuses for such bad behaviour is rather far fetched.