finally finishing this on the day that I handed the last ren-rev essay in is truly such a relief

Long but worth it

Je voulais lire Fanny Burney, Jane Austen se déclarant une de ses admiratrices.
Bon il y a des longueurs, surtout avec les aventures burlesques du Capitaine Marvin et Mme Duval, le débat sur les manières des français vs des anglais, et le comportement lourd des prétendants d'Evelina (surtout Sir Clement) qui ne veulent décidément pas la lâcher.
Mais sinon la plume est assez dynamique et amusante. Le format épistolaire permet de rentrer dans la tête de l'héroïne (qui conserve tout de même une certaine pudeur car elle écrit à son père adoptif).
Les éléments dramatiques ne manquent pas. La mère de l'héroïne meurt en couche et son père refuse de la reconnaître (mais en fait c'était parce qu'il avait été trompé et avait recueilli un autre bébé à la place de l'héroïne, celui de la nourrice). Encore mieux, l'héroïne sauve du suicide un pauvre homme dont l'histoire se rapprochait un peu trop de celle d'Œdipe (il tombe amoureux d'une fille qu'il découvre être sa sœur et blesse son propre père) mais tout est bien qui finit bien puisqu'il s'avère qu'Evelina est sa vraie sœur et la femme qu'il aime la "fausse" héroïne.
Sinon le héros Lord Orville montre of course comment être l'homme idéal et se comporter avec bonnes manières. Vu comment l'autrice écrit les autres personnages masculins, qui sont soit des gros beaufs, des coquets ou des pervers mal intentionnés, elle avait des comptes à régler avec la gente masculine de son temps.

Jane Austen may have read and been inspired by this book, but I'm really hoping she didn't like it. I found this book almost painfully dull, and Evelina herself so annoying I wanted to slap her. Sometimes it felt like I was reading a poorly done fanfiction or even YA novel in that she didn't seem to understand how all these men kept falling in love with her. I know her character's purpose is to be naive, especially at the start before London society starts to refine her, but there has to be a better way to do it than that. I also failed to see how any of her musings were a social commentary of the time as the blurb at the back of the book said. There were a few parts that did interest me--the reveal of Sir Belmont's true nature, for instance, and all that Evelina's infancy entailed--but not enough to redeem the book as a whole. I'm interested to see how discussion of this book in English class will go--assuming anyone besides me got through it, of course.

Oh, the folly of modesty and reserve; how much confusion is caused falsely in thy name?

I absolutely love this book! I can't believe I've only just discovered it.
It is one of the first romance novels, so do beware of ye olde language. But you do get used to it.

I found it amusing at how much chaos was caused by Evelina's purity and innocence.
How short this novel would have been if she lived today and was at once able to speak her mind!
But this is what makes the book so lovely.

There is absolutely no requirement for sex in this romance. I blush at even associating such an act with this work of refinement!

Evelina goes to balls and gatherings of all sorts, and her eyes are opened to the horrors and wonders of this world.

Every romance reader (or indeed author) should read this book.
I feel myself greatly affected by its contents. And I thank and honour Fanny for her bravery as it muct have taken great courage to write this way at the time. And in so doing she had paved the way for many romance novels ever since.

Incidentally, in today's terms one J Austen 'crowd funded' this book's publication (before she herself was published).
Oh, how much do we owe to this book?

I really enjoyed Evelina as a character! Genuinely #relatable with her earnest social awkwardness, but also endearing. An interesting contrast to Pamela, actually. I did not enjoy the interminable Captain Mirvin sequences, though they did make me think of Simon Dickie's work on cruelty & humour in the 18thC; I can only assume he was meant as comic relief...? The plot took a while to pick up but did manage to have a few interesting turns at the end. Overall I'm very glad to have finally read some of Burney's work!

read until end of vol 2

Sono morta dalle risate leggendo questo libro.

Frances - Fanny - Burney, romanziera georgiana contemporanea - ma più anziana - di Jane Austen, voleva fare la drammaturga. In Evelina la cosa si nota tantissimo, soprattutto la preponderanza dei dialoghi rispetto alla narrazione, i personaggi al limite e forse oltre lo stereotipo, la vena comica marcata (non mi stupisce affatto che Jane Austen leggesse e amasse questa scrittrice).
Ad oggi Evelina forse non regge granché per la trama (soprattutto per gli uomini che cadono ai piedi della protagonista come mosche) né per la caratterizzazione dei personaggi, ma rimane assolutamente delizioso: oltre ad essere un perfetto fix per chi è in astinenza da Jane (anche se la sua acutezza rimane imbattibile), è come ho detto divertentissimo e fa fare grasse risate - io ho apprezzato in particolare la signora francese che viene da tutti apostrofata Frog e litiga con gli inglesi per questioni patriottiche, e che usa perennemente i doppi negativi; inoltre Evelina ha un valore linguistico non da poco, poiché in esso si registrano per la prima volta nello scritto tantissime parole in uso all'epoca (in questo senso secondo me è indispensabile leggerlo in lingua originale e in un'edizione con numerose note al testo).
Come sempre l'edizione Oxford* è bellissima dal punto di vista estetico (ho comprato un altro Burney e Belinda della Edgeworth quasi esclusivamente per le copertine), e ne ho apprezzato molto l'introduzione (io di solito evito le introduzioni/prefazioni come la peste) e le tantissime note.

*quando sono stata ad Oxford e sono entrata nella libreria della Oxford University Press, sono dovuta uscire quasi subito perché mi provocava una orribile sensazione d'impotenza non potermi portare a casa tutta la collezione World's Classics.

3.5 Stars. What a sweet and surprising novel it was strangely funny and great commentary on the 18th century mannerisms and society. Also Reverend Villar's is one of my new favorite literary father figures.

Read my full review here.

I struggled to get into Evelina, oh my did I struggle. The pacing at first is slow so I put the book down for awhile. I didn’t come back to it for a few weeks, but I picked it up again because I was determined to finish it. And I’m glad I saw it through because I was absolutely riveted.

Evelina is, first and foremost, a comedy. There are so many ridiculous characters who are rude and dramatic and think so highly of themselves and it was entertaining to a point. Though at times I felt these dramatics were dragged on for too long. Yet these characters are equally frustrating which makes the comedic element more of a commentary on people’s behaviour. Captain Mirvan assaults - violently shakes - a woman he doesn’t like in what he calls a joke. Sir Clement doesn’t listen to ‘No’ or ‘Leave me be’. He’s sexist right until the end of the novel, as are many of the male characters.

Evelina is our heroine and it was wonderful to see her become more vocal and strong over the course of the novel. She changes in this way because of necessity for all that happens on her travels. I would have liked to see her be even more vocal about her feelings because men still tend to control her life, but I understand it was common in the time period. And her esteem for Lord Orville grows steadily rather than being an instantaneous affection. And while she doesn’t understand at first that what she’s feeling is romantic love, she comes to realize it when it pains her to lose his friendship and be parted from him when she returns to Berry Hill. Lord Orville is a sweet man, for the most part - though he does sometimes behave forcefully too, though not at all like the other males characters. It was clear that he, too grew to care for Evelina and from friendship grew romantic love.

The narrative style is in the form of letter amongst some of the characters, mainly between Evelina and her adoptive father, Reverend Villars. At first it was difficult to enjoy this narrative, but by the end I quite liked the narrative strategy as it also served to build upon the relationship between Evelina and Rev. Villars though the two are not together often on the page. And theirs is one of the most beautiful relationships in the novel since they respect and love each other though they are not blood related.

Evelina is a riveting and entertaining novel about people, love, and family. It’s a bit difficult to get into at first, but give it a chance and you’ll be glad you read it.