Evelina
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a selection from the ORIGINAL PREFACE:
IN the republic of letters, there is no member of such second-rate rank, or who is so much disdained by his brethren of the quill, as the humble Novelist; nor is his fate less hard in the world at large, since, among the whole class of writers, perhaps not one can be named of which the votaries are more copious but less respectable.
Yet, while in the annals of persons few of our predecessors, to whom this species of writing is indebted for being saved from contempt, and rescued from depravity, we can trace such names as Rousseau, Johnson, 1 Marivaux, Fielding, Richardson, and Smollett, no man need blush at starting from the same post, though many, nay, most men, may sigh at finding themselves distanced.
The following letters are open to the Public-for such, by novel writers, novel readers will be called,-with a very singular mixture of timidity and confidence, resulting from the peculiar situation of the editor; who, though trembling for their success from a consciousness of their imperfections, yet fears not being involved in their disgrace, while happily wrapped up in a mantle of impenetrable obscurity.
To draw characters from scenery, though not from life, and to mark the manners of the times, is the attempted plot of the following letters. For this purpose, a young female, educated in the most secluded retirement, makes, at the age of seventeen, her first appearance upon the fantastic and busy stage of life; with a virtuous mind, a cultivated understanding, and a feeling heart, her ignorance of the forms, and inexperience in the manners of the world, occasion all the small incidents which these volumes record, and which form the natural progression of the life of a young woman of obscure birth, but conspicuous beauty, for the first six months after her Entrance into the world.
Perhaps, were it possible to effect the total extirpation of novels, our young ladies in all-purpose, and boarding-school damsels in particular, might profit from their annihilation; but since the distemper they have spread seems incurable, since their contagion bids defiance to the medicine of advice or reprehension, and since they are establish to baffle all the mental art of physic, save what is prescribed by the slow regimen of Time, and bitter diet of Experience; surely all attempts to contribute to the number of persons which may be read, if not with advantage, at least lacking injury, ought rather to be encouraged than contemned.
Let me, therefore, prepare for disappointment persons who, in the perusal of these sheets, entertain the gentle expectation of being transported to the fantastic regions of Romance, where Fiction is coloured by all the gay tints of luxurious Imagination, where Reason is an outcast, and where the sublimity of the Marvellous rejects all aid from sober Probability. The heroine of these life tale, young, natural, and inexperienced, is
No faultless Monster that the world ne’er saw;
but the offspring of Scenery, and of Scenery in her simplest attire.
In all the Arts, the value of copies can only be proportioned to the scarcity of originals: among sculptors and painters, a fine statue, or a gorgeous picture, of some fantastic master, may deservedly use the imitative talents of young and second-rate artists, that their appropriation to one spot may not wholly prevent the more all-purpose expansion of their excellence; but, among authors, the back is the case, since the noblest productions of literature are nearly equally attainable with the meanest. In books, therefore, imitation cannot be shunned too sedulously; for the very perfection of a model which is frequently seen, serves but more forcibly to mark the inferiority of a copy.
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This novel doesn’t compare to Jane Austen. Evelina was a silly and mindless heroine I could not become interested in, much less in her quest for marriage. I was tired, by page 20, of hearing how gorgeous she was. Stay away from this book.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
While this novel was obviously a large influence on Austen, it doesn’t really count for much else. A meandering, pointless plot about a naive girl maturing in the city gets ancient long before you’ve finshed the first of three volumes. Flimsy characters, dull writing, and a perfect lack of plot make tis one something to stay far away from.
Reader’s Rating: 1 / 5
I would recommend this book to anyone looking for a sweet and sentimental classic. All in all an enjoyable read, but the writing style never dares equal the skill of Jane Austen.
It has an appealing plot which, once you get wrapped up in it, is hard to straighten out yourself. Yet, I feel the plot could have been better developed by a more skilled novelist. Due to the fact that the book is written in passive letters (most of them Evalina’s), the characters are regularly flat, and real active emotion is missing. Several brilliant opportunities for dramatic events are glazed over in a “re-telling”.
But what the book lacks can be overlooked, and take the tale at its face value: a gentle like tale.
Reader’s Rating: 3 / 5
I thought this was a fabulous novel. When I first got it; I did not imagine it would be very excellent. That it was done in letters was one of the major thing that discouraged me. But, when I ongoing reading it it was a very excellent book with an equal amount of drama, romance, suspense and humor. But, my only tiny disapointment was that in some scenes it repeated itself. Like a name is permanently falling in like with her, taking her hand, or begging at her feet. It can get a bit annoying. Al in all, but, the ending is very pleasing and pleased.
The characters are wonderfully done in a way that intently know them. Mrs. Sewlyn, Madame Duval, the Braghtons were all done wonderfully. This is a gret thing to read.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5
Fanny Burney lived from 1752 – 1840. Evelina was the first book she wrote when she was twenty-five. The first publication had to be published under the name of a man before the publishers would look at it, but it didn’t take long for Fanny to aver ownership. The book was wildly successful, even though it didn’t’ make much money for Fanny. She wrote three more books after this one, but none of these really remains readable today. Evelina stands alone in this regard. The book is another one that is written as a series of letters. Evelina is not your usual heroine. She is bashful and to some extent deficient in charm. But she is gorgeous and young, and because of this there is a lot of optimism in the novel that things will turn out alright for her. That is why the book is so enjoyable. The reader sees all the difficulties in her path in her quest for a brilliant marriage, but somehow we know she’ll make it and things will be OK. This is reasonably a readable book, and I loved it.
Reader’s Rating: 4 / 5