Book Description
'Lord Orville did me the honour to hand me to the coach, talking all the way of the honour I had done him! O these fashionable people!' Frances Burney's first and most enduringly popular novel is a vivid, satirical, and seductive account of the pleasures and dangers of fashionable life in late eighteenth-century London. As she describes her heroine's entry into society, womanhood and, inevitably, love, Burney exposes the vulnerability of female innocence in an image-conscious and often cruel world where social snobbery and sexual aggression are played out in the public arenas of pleasure-gardens, theatre visits, and balls. But Evelina's innocence also makes her a shrewd commentator on the excesses and absurdities of manners and social ambitions - as well as attracting the attention of the eminently eligible Lord Orville. Evelina, comic and shrewd, is at once a guide to fashionable London, a satirical attack on the new consumerism, an investigation of women's position in the late eighteenth century, and a love story. The new introduction and full notes to this edition help make this richness all the more readily available to a modern reader.
Customer Reviews:
What a page turner!.......2007-09-14
This book is fantastic! It is so entertaining and engages the reader from the first page. This is actually the first review I've written, but I just finished this book and had to tell someone what fun it was to read and what an excellent writer and character-developer Ms. Burney was. I am a big Jane Austen fan, but I have to say this was even more entertaining than my favorite Austen works. I usually read to relax, but this book kept me on the edge of the couch page after page wondering what crazy event would take place next. While I read, I kept imagining 18th/19th century women reading this book aloud to each other and gasping and swooning. I've finished this book with a big smile on my face.
Evelina.......2007-09-06
I enjoyed this book, my first by Frances Burney. I read Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice this summer and thought I would try Burney since she influenced Austin. It was a good read! That Captain was so incredibly ornery!
We've come a long way.......2007-07-14
When I read novels from the past, I am often struck by how similar the people are with people today in terms of motivation and character although different in how they think and act. As I read this book, I kept being frustrated at how passive and helpless Evelina was. It's clear that she is not wimpy, but just accepts the reality that she is totally powerless in her society. This book really brings out how corrosive the rules of that society were for both men and women. What is the same in the eighteenth century as in ours is the problem of how people with good manners keep from being run over by people with bad manners without resorting to using bad manners themselves.
I enjoyed this book a great deal better than I had expected to. You do have to skim past some real melodrama. But the characters ring true and it makes you think.
Evelina is charming and a fun read--but sometimes you will wish the heroine would get some backbone!!.......2006-11-17
Evelina details the coming of age of a young girl and her introduction into late eighteenth century London society. The entirety of the story is told through a series of letters, generally between Evelina and her father. This epistolary format makes the work very reminiscent of the conduct books which were in vogue in the period and taught young girls how they `ought' to conduct themselves. Indeed the book may have been regarded as an appetizing format of moral instruction for its readers as it delivers the same message as conduct books but in a more appealing and palatable format.
Evelina may be somewhat frustrating to the modern female reader (as I found her at times) due to her tendency to have a bit too much of that `feminine delicacy' which was all the rage in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. There are many instances when she is `overcome' and faint of heart or to put it colloquially cannot stand on her own two feet. Evelina whilst endearing, often falls upon the assistance of the eligible (and naturally dashing and good looking) Lord Orville instead of relying on her own intuition, she is certainly no Elizabeth Bennet (from Austen's Pride and Prejudice).
When making my way through this novel I sometimes questioned just how innocent Evelina is as her `delicacy' seems to fade considerably when it comes to interations with her cousins and grandmother, people who she for the most part disowns in favour of a higher class set of acquaintances. It seems to be more socially convenient and indeed attractive for her not to be associated with those who are her real relations. However I am not sure if my contempt for her disregard of her family is the influence of my own contemporary perspective on the novel.
I found Evelina to be a nice love story, full of misunderstanding, tender feelings and of course a few scoundrels to be saved from. I am sure to the adept reader, there is probably much more to this novel, I always worry when I am reading books such as Evelina which are from a time so removed from my own, that I am missing huge contextual witticisms or ironies which make the book so much cleverer or give it additional layers of meaning, however, even in the absence of a deeper understanding of the late eighteenth century this is still a good read.
Evelina: Starts Out As Innocent & Finishes The Same Way.......2006-08-24
EVELINA by Fanny Burney was an immensely popular novel in its day (1778). Published as an epistolary novel, it built upon the tradition of Richardson and Fielding, both of whom wrote of their respective heroes learning to make their way into a hostile world to make their mark. The world as Fanny saw it was one inhabited exclusively by the upper middle class and full of rules that strictly delineated one's place on the social pecking order. Those who are familiar with Jane Austen's relentless focus on formal balls, flouncy bouncy dresses, and quests for marriage with suitably wealthy men will feel quite at home with Fanny. However, where Austen would have Elizabeth Bennett question the propriety of one rule or another, Fanny would have Evelina accept the underlying ideology that upheld the legitimacy of the heavy-handed patriarchy. As Evelina leaves the security of the home of Reverend Villars, who cares for her as his ward, she learns that she may be the daughter of the wealthy and high-born Sir John Belmont. At the beginning of the novel, as at the end, Evelina is the pure innocent. If one denies her flatness of character, it is only because her goodness is heavily diluted with a priggish sense of righteousness. The bulk of the book lies in her quest to find her identity, but the enduring appeal lies in the satiric peeks and pokes that Fanny Burney took along the way. With the exception of the Reverend Villars, nearly everyone else is flawed to one degree. Madam Duval, Evelina's grandmother, is a perpetual victim of ridicule by others, which goes a long way toward explaining her odious character. Her biological father, Sir John, is a pompous oaf who acknowledges his kinship only after he has no choice but to do so. Lord Orville, whom Evelina eventually marries as the supposed hero, is about as full of life as Evelina is of any trait other than her annoying goodness. The lessons that Evelina learns about life from the start to finish are superficial. She learns only how to move about in circles sufficiently well enough to climb that social ladder. Inwardly, she is more knowledgeable, but hardly wiser. Contemporary readers loved EVELINA because they could see that it was a rich vein of oafs, fools, and prigs, all of whom were ready victims, like Madam Duval, to be taken down a peg or two. Modern readers generally read it for the descriptions of a society that are so tightly wound in social caste that they resemble the nonsense world of the cartoon. There might not be such a big difference between the two after all.
Book Description
"A virtual bible of how economic indicators are constructed and used. Important tidbits of history are mixed with present-day nuances to explain why we should care about all the economic indicators."
Allen Grommet, Senior Economist, Cambridge Consumer Credit Index
"This book is an indispensable resource for anyone that wants a practical understanding of the economy and how it is measured. The information is clear, concise, and will help investors at all levels leverage the vast amount of economic data available."
Jesse Harriott, PhD, Vice President of Research, Monster Worldwide, Inc.
This updated guide to economic indicators -- what they are and what they really mean -- covers all major economic indicators, from GDP to the consumer price index. You'll not only learn what key economic measurements are and how to read and interpret them, you'll discover how to use them to make better, more-informed financial, trading, and investing decisions.
Download Description
Praise for Using Economic Indicators to Improve Investment Analysis THIRD EDITION ""Once again, Evelina Tainer has cleared the fog of economic confusion. Her work deciphers and encapsulates the metrics employed by professional speculators in the magnitude of George Soros and Edwin Lefvre. This thesis is a requisite desktop reference for every market participant."" John Alda, Managing Director, Alda Macro Fund Management ""Tainer's latest book is a tour de force through the world of esoteric economic numbers and jargon. Written in layman's terms, her latest book can be understood by anyone interested in navigating the world of professional economics."" Kathleen Camilli, founder and Principal of Camilli Economics, LLC ""A virtual bible of how economic indicators are constructed and used. Important tidbits of history are mixed with present-day nuances to explain why we should care about all the economic indicators."" Allen Grommet, Senior Economist, Cambridge Consumer Credit Index ""Tainer has produced an essential reference source for any economist and public policy analyst interested in the careful review of economic releases and their impact on capital markets. This work reflects her long experience in the profession and her feel for the financial market. I especially enjoyed her market reaction and key points sections on some of my favorite and sometimes infamous indicators."" John E. Silvia, Chief Economist, Wachovia Corporation ""This book is an indispensable resource for anyone that wants a practical understanding of the economy and how it is measured. The information is clear, concise, and will help investors at all levels leverage the vast amount of economic data available."" Jesse Harriott, PhD, Vice President of Research, Monster Worldwide, Inc.
Customer Reviews:
Fairly Good Introduction.......2006-07-12
From my point of view, this book consists of three parts. Part one, that is, Chapters 1-6, devoted to national accounts and their indicators. Part two, that is, Chapters 7-9, devoted to inflation and inflation related labor and production indicators, and finally part three, Chapters 10-11, is devoted to the central bank and treasury systems. The investment analysis part of this book seems to be the market reaction parts mentioned at the end of each section. Yet they seem to me a little too simplistic for the real world. In the real world, we mostly observe growth cycles rather than business cycles. In other words, business cycle recessions rather than growth cycle recessions are depicted in market reaction parts in this book. Nevertheless this is a good streetwise ECON 101 book. As a final note; although not updated, its second edition seems to me better.
A dictionary of economic indicators.......2002-08-23
This book might be a good compliment to an existing library, but I didn't find it very useful myself. I thought the comment of an earlier review's title, 'A Perfect Complement to an academic finance text!' fairly accurate. If you want to know what the talking heads on the financial news are touting, this is an excellent guide.
In other words, if you have bought into the conventional econometrics of the day, whatever that is, this is your guidebook. It ought to help get through a class, but outside the ivory tower, I'm not sure it will be much help.
Personally, the author didn't help me connect the dots. What do these indicators imply for the GNP 2, 3 or 4 years down the road? What connections do foreign indicators have with domestic ones?
These questions are not answered. It's just a dictionary. You get the nominal description, the publishing authority, a bit about why the authority thinks their indicator useful and maybe a few sample numbers. That is it. If you like academic economics or ever have to make a presentation to some government officials, this is probably an exceptional service, though.
Bringing theory to life - an easy read.......2001-11-01
This is not only an excellent reference source, but also a very interesting book. People who are not experts in the fields of economics or finance will have no problem grasping the concepts. I keep it in the office for reference and from time to time pick it up to read up on different topics. I've been impressed with Tainer's ability to make these concepts so easy to understand. Her "Did you know? and Market Reaction" sections are also very interesting and provide an inside view as to how government policymakers and financial marketmakers shape the economy in ways that are very relevant to the average consumer. I recommend this book to anyone who is looking for a good reference book or wants to complement his studies in this field. I think that college students can benefit a great deal from it. For those of you who watch CNBC or CNNfn constantly, you stand to benefit the most from a book like this as it will not only teach you the cause and effect of important economic indicators that are put on the screen on a daily basis, but what's more important, the reasons why they impact the economy and the markets the way they do.
A Perfect Complement to an academic finance text!.......1998-12-30
Anticipating a number of delays while traveling over the holidays recently, I picked up a few books from Amazon.com; one I never put down.
Dr. Evelina Tainer has managed, in a succinct manner, to offer academicians (particularly those without practical experience in the world of finance)a way to communicate ideas to students that is compelling and interesting.
I more carefully read about her background only after finishing her book. It make perfect sense that this book was written by an author who has worked in both academic and professional circles. Dr. Tainer integrates material from both perspectives in a meaningful way.
I was particularly fond of the "Did you know" sections where Dr. Tainer fine-tunes a specific notion or concept.
Her discussion of "Seasonal Adjustment" helped to clarify a nubmer of questions that once clouded my understanding.
Academic texts rarely allocate space (for obvious reasons) to details regarding economic indicators. This is where Dr. Tainer's book picks up to bring to light the relevance of the indicators to investment analysis.
I can readily see how Dr. Tainer's, "Using Economic Indicators to Improve Investment Analysis," would be a welcome text in the classroom -- as a stand alone text for an elective course or as supplement to other required texts. I think that students will take to its lucid approach.
Customer Reviews:
A well needed book!.......2007-09-21
Finally ~ A book for people deciding about egg donor. When I went through egg donor 5 years ago, there was VERY LITTLE info available, so this is wonderful to finally have a resource. Also, a woman commented on who in their 30's need egg donors. Actually, I was in my 20's and needed an egg donor. Many women have POF (Premature Ovarian Failure) and cannot have their own children, so this is the next best option.
good info, bad editing.......2007-05-16
This book contains some useful information but is so full of typographical and grammatical errors that I could not finish it. In some portions, there is at least one typographical, spelling, or grammatical error on every page; sometimes there are multiple errors on a single page. I find it difficult to believe that the publisher allowed it to go to print in this form. That said, the book did stimulate my thinking on various issues related to the decision whether to undergo IVF with egg donation. If you can get past the bad editing, then it is worth perusing.
Having Your Baby Through Egg Donation.......2007-05-15
This is by far the best book written on considering having a child through donated ovum. It was informative and interesting. I liked the fact that the authors are pro disclosure regarding telling the child and that they delineate what the donor should know about the child as well. The authors do not use a lot of medical lexicon but they still remain infromative about the process.
Conflicted.......2007-05-04
I was excited to find a book that addressed my issues of infertility exactly, but this book made me feel that even those in the "infertility family" did not approve of my decision. There is a tremendous amount of information and the book covered every possibility of reaching the egg donation decision. However, the authors were not supportive of mothers considering egg donation if they were over 45 years old and repeated that lack of support throughout the book.
The beginning of the book has a section discussing seemingly all ways of arriving at the decision of egg donation and they were positive about all of them except women who need both a donated egg and donated sperm, which happens to be my situation. The authors dismissed this option as "unfair to the child" and barely discussed it in the rest of the book.
I would recommend this book for a good overview of the emotional ups and downs, but take it with a grain of salt if you are older or are not lucky enough to have family to donate for you.
Snarky Comments Against Older Mothers.......2006-04-25
I was really looking forward to reading this book. However, I was really disappointed and disturbed by the bias that the authors have against older mothers. At times you hear a running theme about how older parents "will be feel out of the loop at school activities and functions" and how a radiologist friend snarked how these older moms are getting mammograms with young children in tow. Just who do they think egg donor recipients are? Are only younger women in their 30's the only ones who deserve to get egg donation. I thought they would be more objective.
Customer Reviews:
Ms. Mohr touches upon the heart of Puerto Rican pride........1998-10-27
In this book, Ms. Mohr gets at the heart of Puerto Rican pride with the touching story of a young girl sent to the mainland, so her family on the island of Puerto Rico won't be so burdened financially. Evelina Lopez is 11 years old at the start of the story. She is saying her good-byes to her mother and two sisters. She is leaving to live with her aunt and uncle in New York during the Depression Era. Evelina faces this event with great courage, albeit with great sorrow at having to leave her family. When she gets to New York, her aunt and uncle greet her and she is taken to their home and shown her room. The school year has begun and soon Evelina is enrolled and attending her first classes in English. She is smart and learns quickly. She has run-ins with some girls but handles herself well and makes friends easily. Evelina is a doer. She has a clear way of seeing things and acts on her beliefs. She is strong, fair, helpful, and good. She figures out a way to get food for many neighbors who are too proud to accept charity. During this time of great hardship, Evelina is a symbol of hope. I would like to have met Evelina Lopez. Her life seems to have been an inspiration.
Book Description
Investigating the complex interrelations between culture and politics in a wide range of social movements in Latin America, this book focuses on the cultural politics enacted by social movements as they struggle for new visions and practices of citizenship, democracy, social relations, and development. The volume explores the potential of these cultural politics for fostering alternative political cultures and social transformations. Theoretical and empirical chapters assess and build upon novel conceptions of culture and politics in a variety of disciplines and fields-particularly anthropology, political science, sociology, feminist theory, and cultural studies. The notion of the cultural politics of social movements provides a lens for analyzing emergent discourses and practices grounded in society and culture, the state and political institutions, and the extent to which they may unsettle, or be reinscribed into, the dominant neoliberal strategies of the 1990s. Contributors explore how social movements-urban popular, women's, indigenous, and black movements as well as movements for citizenship and democracy-engage in the cultural resignification of notions such as rights, equality, and difference, thus altering what counts as political. By highlighting simultaneously the cultural dimensions of the political and the political dimensions of the cultural, the book transcends the distinction between "new" and "old" social movements and thus significantly renews our understanding of them.
Customer Reviews:
great empirical evidence for political anthropological theory.......2006-02-21
Cultures of Politics, Politics of Cultures is a very useful book for any political theorist, activist, or anthropologist interested in Latin America. It provides a wide array of cross-cultural examples which deliver empirical substance for the somewhat nebulous arguments of political theory. I would highly recommend it.
Customer Reviews:
Singer's Italian.......2003-11-16
Colorni's book has stood the test of time. But it's complexity is indeed more suitable for aspiring classical singers rather than amateur singers. Colorni approaches everything in much detail, which is both good and not so good! The information is there for the taking but the format is somewhat intimidating. Although the Italian language seems to be one of the easiest for singers to pronounce, it is full of exceptions at every turn. Whether there is a better way around this subject remains to be found. In the meantime. Colorni's book is the one to choose for detailed information on this subject.
Eileen Davis, Author of Sing French
It is way, way over my head.......2001-05-19
I did not expect the book to be so detailed and comprehensive. It would perhaps be useful for a professional opera singer, but for a fellow such as myself who takes a private singing lesson once a week and does all his exercises and songs in Italian, this book is simply too much. I wouldn't know where to begin with this book. It has entire chapters on topics that I would be satisfied to have a two paragraph explanation of. In order for it to be useful to me, it would have to be re-organized so that the important points stand out and can be read whilst skipping over the lesser points. In this day and age, a book with such ambitious pretensions as this should really include a CD that has examples of males and females actually pronouncing operatic Italian.
Average customer rating:
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Evelina Chao
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Yeh Yeh's House: A Memoir
ASIN: 0446513032 |
Book Description
When a restaurant review referred to a Filipino child as a "rambunctious -little monkey," Filipino Americans were outraged. Sparked by this racist incident, Screaming Monkeys sets fire to Asian American stereotypes as it -illuminates the diverse and often neglected history and culture within the Asian American diaspora. Poems, essays, paintings, and stories break down and challenge "found" articles, photographs, and headlines to create this powerful anthology with all the immediacy of social protest. By closely critiquing a wealth of material, including the judge's statement of apology in the Wen Ho Lee case, the media treatment of serial killer Andrew Cunanan, and the image of Asian Americans in major U.S. marketing campaigns, Screaming Monkeys will inspire all its readers.
Customer Reviews:
PALH-EZINE'S REVIEW (by Rocio G. Davis).......2004-02-04
Screaming Monkeys enacts one of the most challenging, yet culturally rewarding, subversions of prevailing stereotypes of Asian Americans in contemporary mass media. The title of the anthology comes from a controversial incident that sparked the editor's anger: in a restaurant review published in Milwaukee Magazine in 1998, the reviewer calls a young Filipino American boy a "rambunctious little monkey," leading to a flurry of indignant responses by Asians. The key issue was simple: the writer's ignorance of Filipino and Filipino American history led her to frivolously write what she probably considered a cute anecdote. How exceedingly misguided she was is evidenced by this amazing anthology, a dramatic work of creativity and resistance to uninformed cultural categories and a vital document that professors of Asian American studies or anyone interested in the complex history of Asians in America will appreciate.
Sunaina Maira, noting the "rise of Indo-chic" in the last couple of years, "part of a wider marketing of `Asian cool' in fashion, music, and film," asks the crucial question: "So what kinds of representations do we, and can we, construct in response?" Here is the answer: M. Evelina Galang and her amazing team of editors have constructed an anthology of a wide range of texts and images that illustrate how Asian America has been uncritically represented in the media and in art, to challenge those representations with art itself. The juxtaposition of creative modes-fiction, poetry, essay, art with advertisements and critical pieces-provides a nuanced perspective of the vexed position of Asian Americans in mainstream America, and obliges us to rethink our manner of cultural classifications. The range and quality of the contributions is to be applauded-texts by established writers such as Carlos Bulosan, Maxine Hong Kingston, Gish Jen, Hisaye Yamamoto, and Li-Young Lee dialogue with work by young artists, "found" images and texts that include a Skyy Vodka ad, a photograph of Madonna "channeling her inner geisha" (488), a reproduction of a Newsweek article from 2000 that claims that Asian men are the latest trophy boyfriends, Bill Clinton's apology to Japanese America, and critical or personal essays, like Wen Ho Lee's account of his interrogation by the CIA and an essay by David Mura where he explains why he's glad he didn't get a role in Fargo. As such, the anthology's vital metacritical design is to make Asian American voices (screams!) heard-loudly! These texts subvert stereotypical images by presenting them in a new strategic light: they show how the media invents, advocates, and sustains the stereotypes of Asians in America precisely because they have misunderstood, ignored or trivialized the presence of Asians in American history, culture, cities, sports, and entertainment. And it allows Asian Americans to speak for themselves, though an extraordinary assemblage of artistic modes. The selections are warm and funny, cynical and offensive, suspect and strange, but, as a whole, the anthology will not leave one indifferent. Galang's intelligent and thoughtful anthology is a vital contribution to the development of Asian American cultural studies.
(by Rocio G. Davis, for PALH-EZINE)
Book Description
Are You Seeking Relief from PCOS Symptoms?
If so, you join the estimated 10 million American women who have PCOS—polycystic ovary syndrome. If you’re like most of these women, you may not know a lot about the hormone disorder, but you’re probably painfully aware of its symptoms: irregular menstrual cycles, excess facial and body hair, weight gain, and adult acne. PCOS is also a leading cause of infertility. If left untreated, the condition carries long-term risks for endometrial cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and stroke. However, with proper treatment, the syndrome can be managed.
Living with PCOS sheds light on this underreported, underdiagnosed endocrine disorder and leads women to treatment that can rid them of troublesome symptoms. The authors, both of whom have PCOS, along with a nationally-recognized physician, cover such topics as:
• Causes of PCOS
• Overcoming symptoms
• Choosing a physician
• Getting a diagnosis
• Receiving the best medical treatment
• Infertility and getting pregnant
• Coping with the emotional impact of PCOS
This book is a reader-friendly tool for gaining control over PCOS.
Customer Reviews:
Basic, but one of the better PCOS books.......2007-05-27
A few years ago it was hard to find books about PCOS, and even when you did- most likely your book store did not carry them. I read a lot of PCOS books that were not very well written. SO when I saw this one I decided to see if it was at my local library. It was. I read it, and then went out and bought it. This is one of the better books for understanding PCOS. The tone is positive, unlike some other PCOS books. It is divided well, and has a lot of good information, and references.
For someone who had been newly diagnosed this is definitely the book to start with.
This is a lame book. There is a better choice!.......2006-01-08
I got this book and another "PCOS the Hidden Epidemic" It was nearly embarassing to own this one once I'd read the other. After being diagnosed I received care from a specialist with this disorder. It isn't widely understood and most doctors are fairly ignorant about the issues of PCOS. This book simply offers some of the same poor information that standard doctors have. If you are facing this issue, I recommend the other book. It is much more indepth and answers questions this book doesn't even know to ask.
Have PCOS?-Read this book.......2005-09-15
My new doctor recommended this book. This book is really helpful, both for those people recently diagnosed and for those who are trying to manage their PCOS. My favorite thing about the book is the fact that the authors go through each stage of a woman's life and discuss how the PCOS can affect it. I also like the descriptions of the symptoms and the options on how to best deal with them.
too basic, not comprehensive.......2005-08-08
I did not like this book at all since it had very limited explination of what PCOS is about and treatment options.
Easy to understand, but not comprehensive enough... .......2005-01-15
Very simple to understand for the newly diagnosed... but if you are the slightest bit knowledgeable about PCOS, this book won't do. There are clear, but generic explanations for the hows and whys of your bodies processes, and the role of hormones and how hormone imbalance will affect your entire body. There are also some good tips on how to deal! So if you have some of the symptoms and wonder if this might be you, or if you have just been diagnosed, you can get some general information here in an easy to understand format...
If you already know much about this syndrome and are looking for answers, I would look elseware!
Book Description
A work by turns hilarious and grim, Evelina tells the story of a young woman’s education in the ways of the world, vividly rendering life in eighteenth-century England. Raised by a pastor after her mother died and her father abandoned her, Evelina leaves the seclusion of the country for her first season out, encounters all manner of people–from prospective husbands to rakes to vulgar relatives–and endures all manner of trials before she achieves her final triumph.
“Before
Evelina,” W. D. Howells proclaimed, “the heart of girlhood had never been so fully opened in literature.” Samuel Johnson called Burney “a real wonder” and Thomas Babington Macaulay wrote, “We owe to [Burney], not only Evelina, Cecilia, and Camilla, but also
Mansfield Park and
The Absentee.”
Download Description
A work by turns hilarious and grim, Evelina tells the story of a young woman's education in the ways of the world, vividly rendering life in eighteenth-century England.
Raised by a pastor after her mother died and her father abandoned her, Evelina leaves the seclusion of the country for her first season out, encounters all manner of people -- from prospective husbands to rakes to vulgar relatives -- and endures all manner of trials before she achieves her final triumph.
Samuel Johnson called Burney "a real wonder."
"Before Evelina," W. D. Howells proclaimed, "the heart of girlhood had never been so fully opened in literature."
Customer Reviews:
Not perfect, but pleasing.......2005-02-12
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 interesting plot which, once you get wrapped up in it, is hard to disentangle 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 often flat, and real active emotion is lacking. Several excellent opportunities for dramatic events are glazed over in a "re-telling".
However what the book lacks can be overlooked, and take the tale at its face value: a gentle love story.
The first and best from this author........2005-02-03
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 claim 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 somewhat deficient in charm. But she is beautiful 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 quite a readable book, and I enjoyed it.
Still Fresh, Relevant, and Thoroughly Enjoyable.......2004-08-25
Like another reviewer, I too was introduced to "Evelina" through a college course. Naturally I recommend this book to those who enjoy the novels of Jane Austen, though I'd imagine her fans would already be familiar with Burney since she was Austen's predecessor and inspiration. But specifically, as a male reader, I'd like to point out what men could gain from reading a novel about "a Young Lady's Entrance into the World."
First, the novel is written as a collection of letters--mostly Evelina's, though we do get to read many of the replies--which allows us to experience the story through the mind of a young woman in a personal, intimate way. Male readers, both in Burney's time and ours, are given a vivid picture of how women experienced the social world of eighteenth-century England. I must admit that at several points in the novel I was embarassed to witness things I have said and done to "court" a woman today done pretty much the same way toward Evelina--and realized how ridiculous it looks from the other end. The experience has been educational, to say the least.
Secondly, the plot is well-developed and keeps your interest throughout. The two big mysteries of the novel are whether Evelina will be officially acknowledged by her biological father and be reunited with him (he refused to raise her, and her mother died during childbirth), and which of her suitors she will end up with. A note on the two principal suitors: one could be seen as Burney's picture of a man who knows how to treat women right, and the other is quite the opposite. I certainly learned much from both examples.
Thirdly, Burney was one intellectually sharp lady and no man should think this novel is a sappy romance. Far from it. Her exposure of the hypocrisy and contradictions of society are cleverly woven throughout the novel, though of course with careful subtlety since as a female author she was in a vulnerable position (she wrote in secret and didn't even tell her father, with whom she was very close, that she had the book published until well after the fact).
Lastly, the book is just one damn good read. Burney has a wonderful mastery of language and characterization, and everything sparkles with life and vigor.
I'm hesitant to give anything a full score; but this novel not only hooked for me for days but made me want to move onto Burney's other novels, such as "Cecilia," "Camilla," and "The Wanderer." In short, Frances Burney is one of the great British writers and deserves a place on every bookshelf as one of the founding mothers of the English novel. Her first book "Evelina" is the perfect place to begin enjoying her work.
A fun, easy read.......2004-06-14
"Evelina, or The History of a Young Lady's Entrance Into the World" is an entertaining story of a girl's 'coming-out' into society as well as a fascinating record of the genteel and not so genteel diversions of the middle and upper classes in Georgian England. Frances Burney published it anonymously in 1778, setting a precedent for Jane Austen both by this anonymity and by making writing a respectable pastime for women, thus allowing women to turn the novel into a medium of their own. The extent to which writing was considered improper for respectable women during this time is revealed in the author's own life: when Fanny was 15, her stepmother made her burn her writings, which consisted of odes, plays, songs, farces, and poems as well as a story about the character Evelina's mother. And while writing "Evelina," Fanny had to keep her work private, writing at night and even disguising her handwriting so that it would not be recognized at the printer's, who would certainly have been a man familiar with her father, a renowned music historian.
How very fortunate we are that this did not keep her from writing, and how very fortunate too that "Evelina" was so well received by everyone from common readers to Dr. Johnson! Burney continued to write fiction, setting a precedent for Jane Austen and the female novelists of the 19th century, and continuing to entertain her readers.
Although I came to "Evelina" with some lamentably negative preconceptions, expecting it to be inferior to Austen and, worst of all, tedious for every purpose but the literary historian's, I have found the book fascinating, fun, and refreshing. The story centers around the eponymous heroine, a beautiful 17-year-old girl who has grown up in the country under the guidance of her parson guardian, Mr. Villars. Her family background is less than spotless. Evelina's mother, pressured by her own vulgar and ill-bred mother into a distasteful marriage, eloped with a highborn rake who subsequently deserted her and burned the proofs of their marriage. Evelina's mother died in misery, leaving an infant daughter unclaimed by her own father.
Evelina grows up provincially, and when an unprecedented series of events brings her into London with some friends, away from the company of her guardian Mr. Villars, she is launched into an unfamiliar world of dances, balls, operas, and outings. Evelina, though uncertain and uncomfortable in this new and flashy world, is not merely na?ve, but a young woman of understanding and feeling, so that it's a pleasure to read what she thinks of the places and people she sees. As a modern reader, I loved to encounter references to the places where people would enjoy themselves in Georgian London, like Vauxhall Gardens and museums of mechanical curios.
Evelina has the misfortune to become acquainted with many vulgar and persistent personalities, some of the most repulsive of whom are her very own relatives, like her grandmother Madame Duval. This is the very same embarrassing and insensitive figure who tried to bully her own daughter (Evelina's mother) into an unwanted marriage years before, who suddenly wants to become reconciled with Evelina and foist from the girl's father an acknowledgement of her position-as well as a hefty estate. On top of Madame Duval, there are Evelina's lowly cousins, the Branghtons, who live in the commercial area of London (gasp!), and even a repulsive and shameless suitor that plagues the poor young woman to no end. Oh yes, there's also the xenophobic and graceless Captain Mirvan, father of Evelina's friend, who enjoys nothing more than tormenting Madame Duval (often brutally); and the satirical and witty Mrs. Selwyn, one of the best characters in the book, who always has something pertinent to say to the fops and fools around Evelina -- and even to Evelina herself
But it's not that poor Evelina has only the troubles and setbacks of relatives and rude acquaintances. Since this is a comedy of manners, one of its ends is, like in Austen's books, marriage. The relationship between Evelina and her love interest is very interesting and sweet, and one can see the way that Evelina grows and develops as a character. I won't spoil the story anymore; I will only add that there are some other interesting subplots along the way, one of which deals with a mysterious and depressed Scotsman, so the story in no way merely hinges on marriage.
I would recommend "Evelina" to anyone, but most especially to those who consider themselves fans of Jane Austen, or who are at least patient with unfamiliar styles of writing. It is an epistolary novel, a kind that was very popular in the 18th century, meaning it is written in a series of letters between the characters. This takes a little bit of acclimatizing to enjoy thoroughly, but I found that after I was about 20 pages in, it came naturally, and became, for all practical purposes, a first person narrative from the engaging point-of-view of a pleasant young heroine to whom I could relate, with her candor and good breeding. Whenever I was unfamiliar with some of the details of late 18th-century life, my Signet edition of the book provided some helpful footnotes. And I must say that Burney's writing style really grows on me. Like the best 18th century writing, it has an elegance and beautifully organized lucidity that is such a pleasure to read after the postmodern crap modern authors churn out. Furthermore, Burney uses paragraphs like a modern, so you don't have to plod through long dreary passages or unbearable run-on sentences.
A good place to start.......2004-04-14
If you are wondering whether you would like eighteenth-century novels, this is a good one to try. Some of the others are immense! This one you can read over breakfast in a week or two.
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- History: Fiction or Science? (Chronology, No. 1)
Books Index
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Pamela: Or Virtue Rewarded (Oxford World's Classics)
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