Camilla: Picture of Youth (Oxford World's Classics) (Paperback)

Though long, the novel is not wearing, as the scenes and locations change throughout and the detail and breath of Burney's writing benefit from her expansive style. Whilst Austen-lovers will certainly find this novel a rewarding read, I would argue that Burney deserves independent recognition for her work, which, though less succinct than Austen's, is as rewarding. Of all her novels, Camilla is both the liveliest and the most accessible - Evelina's humour is disrupted by the epistolary style, whilst Cecilia and The Wanderer are both more serious in tone. As an introduction to this fascinating author's work, if letters aren't for you, Camilla is a great place to start, and if already a fan, an engrossing text with which to continue your reading. It is a novel I will certainly return to for many more reads in the future.

Burney might have inspired Jane Austen, but Austen exceeded and outsmarted her in every way. Where Austen’s plots are tight without any unnecessary subplots and going-ons, just for the sake of writing another 200 pages, Burney keeps repeating events, her characters find themselves over and over in similar circumstances without adding anything new to plot or to characterization, making the whole novel very tiresome after a while. I admit that Jane Austen also used cliché characters but her genius breathed life into them – they are well-drawn and have depth – while Burney’s characters – even or especially the main characters, with the exception of the wonderful Eugenia – stay flat and common place, as if cut out from a newspaper.
In my opinion, Camilla, the heroine is simply one of the most frustratingly perfect female cliché characters that appeared in print. Besides some very common place deeds she doesn’t seem very special at all. What is apparent right form the start that her family, friends and admirers assume her perfect without any other ground that her being pretty and good-humoured. And it seems the author was quite satisfied with this kind of characterization for she didn’t feel the need to emphasize Camilla’s good qualities with any external actions really but what is cliché and boring. As a result, Camilla remains a rather one-sided, flat character without any real progress than being understood rather than misunderstood by Edgar at the end of the painfully long 1000 pages. The most incredible and discrediting thing to me was when at a social assembly the boorish suitor of Camilla – not at all a gentleman – starts abusing Eugenia’s appearance and Camilla instead of putting him to place or at least leaving him on the spot if she is such a coward to say anything – like I am sure Elizabeth Bennet, Elinor Dashwood or Emma Woodhouse would have done – just remains there sitting stupidly and mutely. So much for sisterly love!

I tend to agree with my fellow reviewers that Eugenia is a far more interesting and profound character, her personal tragedy and the courage she bears it with make her endearing. Hers was the –unfortunately only – subplot that I followed with the most excitement and sympathy.

Still, the novel was an interesting experience for me to know what was considered popular reading in that period and as such, quite useful with my studies.