Mr. Sponge's Sporting Tour Book

I picked this up, and eventually read it, on a whim, mostly because of the Dickensian imagery (including the fantastic art work of 90 original illustrations from the first printing) and the overall description. And ultimately, it is best described as Dickens Light. It's long, features a wide array of rogues, pompous idiots, salty workers, comely daughters looking to be married and even the occasional decent bloke, the big difference compared to Dickens being it was fully absent a Hero. Just imagine Nicholas Nickleby or David Copperfield without Nicholas Nickleby or David Copperfield, but with everybody else. The main character, Mr. Sponge, is a bit of a cad and swindler, and an anti-hero throughout, not a lot better or worse than most everyone else in the novel. That did mean there was less heart and soul, rooting interest and plot than with Dickens, but there was definitely no less fun, eccentricity, or satire. And the plot mostly just consists of following Sponge on a series of Country Manor stays with the upper class, from conned invites to hand-offs to self-invites, and detailed descriptions of multiple Fox Hunts. The dude evidently wrote a ton of long books, mostly about Hunting, and seemingly as much for his own entertainment as anyone else's. I assume this is why the writing style is so idiosyncratic and self-indulgent at times, including some really odd punctuation, and the heavily detailed, in depth description of everybody's clothes. Also, a lot of the time, Mr. Sponge's dialogue reads like he's Stewie from Family Guy at his most indignant (including repeated use of the delightful phrase "What the deuce?!?"). But the really enjoyable indulgence here, for both author and reader, and also the strongest link to Dickens, is the amazing cornucopia of gloriously absurd names (I mean, what do you expect from a book written, like most of his books, at a place called Hamsterly Hall?). For example, Mr. Sponge's first name is evidently Soapey, and he crosses paths with: Mr. Waffles, Lord Scattercash, Miss Glitters, Mr. Joggleberry, Superintendant Grabberton…I could actually make this review nothing but these names and I'd be perfectly happy, so here are a few more: Lord Legbail (son of the Marquis of Loosefish), the hunting party of Mr. Slapp, Mr. Guano, Mr. Lumpleg, Mr. Crane and Mr. Blossomnose, Captains Seedybuck and Cutitfat and Ladofwax, Mr. Leather, Mr.Peastraw ,Puddingpote, Mr. Spigot, Mrs. Springwheat, and Masters Brick, Basket and Bulgey, just to name a few. Despite having zero inertest in Hunting or the culture surrounding it, the time, place and all those idiosyncrasies combined made this sooooo oddly compelling I still think about it (and smile). Recommended for all fans of Dickens and/or Fox Hunting. A happy, surprising 89/100.