Belinda
(16 votes)Belinda, first published in 1801, is the story of a young woman who comes of age amid the distractions and dangers of London society. Belinda stays with both the extravagant, aristocratic Delacours and the sober, rational Percivals and molds her views on love and marriage from both. Admired by her contemporary, Jane Austen, Edgeworth tackles issues of gender and race in a comic and entertaining novel of manners.
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I have to agree with Susy's comment that, at times, this was tedious reading. I would NOT recommend it as none of the characters were endearing to me. In most classic books, the majority of characters are rather silly people, but make for interesting reading because of the writers ability to make them so, I did not find this to be the case in Belinda. Maybe I'm just a die hard Austen and Bonte fan, love their style of drawing the reader into their world. I found my mind wondering quite often while reading Belinda, not a good thing and does not happen to me if I find a book truly interesting. Overall, I would say don't waste your time with this book.
I have to say that the dialogue was too long. You could skip through four pages of just one person talking straight (and indeed i did start skipping through a lot especially when it came to characters who were boring). But it's still not natural; no one has a conversation where they give people so much time to talk. Some other instances also felt contrived;rather like i was reading a debate about femininity or race than watching it evolve through the plot and develop through the characters.
I am reading Belinda now and I don't understand the complaints here. My favorite novels are written in the first person and while this one is not, the very passages which some are complaining about are the ones I am enjoying the most because of this preference. To be sure, it is easy, light reading which I appreciate from time to time. I encourage readers to give it a try for themselves. The novel certainly is worth reading, in my opinion.