false http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166668812m/14926.jpg 587248 356 Of all Jane Austen's heroines, Emma Woodhouse is the most flawed, the most infuriating, and, in the end, the most endearing. <I>Pride and Prejudice</I>'s Lizzie Bennet has more wit and sparkle; Catherine Morland in <I> Northanger Abbey</I> more imagination; and <I>Sense and Sensibility</I>'s Elinor Dashwood certainly more sense--but Emma is lovable precisely because she is so imperfect. Austen only completed six novels in her lifetime, of which five feature young women whose chances for making a good marriage depend greatly on financial issues, and whose prospects if they fail are rather grim. <I>Emma</I> is the exception: "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her." One may be tempted to wonder what Austen could possibly find to say about so fortunate a character. The answer is, quite a lot. <p> For Emma, raised to think well of herself, has <I>such</I> a high opinion of her own worth that it blinds her to the opinions of others. The story revolves around a comedy of errors: Emma befriends Harriet Smith, a young woman of unknown parentage, and attempts to remake her in her own image. Ignoring the gaping difference in their respective fortunes and stations in life, Emma convinces herself and her friend that Harriet should look as high as Emma herself might for a husband--and she zeroes in on an ambitious vicar as the perfect match. At the same time, she reads too much into a flirtation with Frank Churchill, the newly arrived son of family friends, <I>and</I> thoughtlessly starts a rumor about poor but beautiful Jane Fairfax, the beloved niece of two genteelly impoverished elderly ladies in the village. As Emma's fantastically misguided schemes threaten to surge out of control, the voice of reason is provided by Mr. Knightley, the Woodhouse's longtime friend and neighbor. Though Austen herself described Emma as "a heroine whom no one but myself will much like," she endowed her creation with enough charm to see her through her most egregious behavior, and the saving grace of being able to learn from her mistakes. By the end of the novel Harriet, Frank, and Jane are all properly accounted for, Emma is wiser (though certainly not sadder), and the reader has had the satisfaction of enjoying Jane Austen at the height of her powers. <I>--Alix Wilber</I> 3360164 book 12 1815 Emma (Penguin Classics) total:40092|5:13615|4:15737|3:8346|2:1840|1:565| 40092 160270 52324 2405 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 5 27 false Wed Dec 24 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sat Apr 12 09:55:33 -0700 2008 Wed Dec 24 14:27:17 -0800 2008 2
Don't take that the wrong way. I don't like the character, Emma, not the book. I consider it yet another proof of Jane Austen's staggering abilities that I can't stand the protagonist, but love the book. Well, I sort of love the book.

It's an Austen novel,...more...]]> 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 5 8 false Sat Jun 21 19:35:33 -0700 2008 Sat Jun 21 19:46:41 -0700 2008 more...]]> 157421 1593081529 9781593081522 132 18 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1172266123m/157421.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/157421.Emma 3 4 false Sun May 31 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Mon May 25 13:52:37 -0700 2009 Sun May 31 17:24:54 -0700 2009
Just like with P&P, it is easy to get caught up in the story and involved with the characters. That rea...more...]]> 468001 067940581X 9780679405818 66 12 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1175020357m/468001.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/468001.Emma 5 5 false Tue May 13 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Wed May 07 20:12:48 -0700 2008 Tue May 13 20:34:01 -0700 2008 Persuasion pining for lost love, Emma is far too busy meddling in everyone else's love lives to get too weepy about...more...]]> 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 5 3 false Sun Jun 01 00:00:00 -0700 1986 Mon Jun 11 21:25:03 -0700 2007 Mon Jun 11 21:48:49 -0700 2007 more...]]> 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 5 3 false Wed Apr 01 00:00:00 -0800 1998 Thu May 24 09:54:26 -0700 2007 Thu May 24 10:01:03 -0700 2007 more...]]> 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 5 4 false Sat Sep 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Tue Aug 28 17:16:22 -0700 2007 Fri Sep 14 07:27:08 -0700 2007 Emma is absolutely wonderful. It rivals Pride and Prejudice for my most-favored Austen. Emma Woodhouse, a sheep in the clothing of a wolf in the clothing of a sheep, is perhaps Austen's most perfectly-developed protagonist. She is complex, witty, scathing, and, in the context of the author's oeuv...more...]]> 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 1 5 false Fri Feb 01 00:00:00 -0800 2008 Sun Feb 03 14:02:25 -0800 2008 Wed Feb 06 08:00:04 -0800 2008 more...]]> 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 5 4 false Thu Mar 01 00:00:00 -0800 2007 Wed Sep 26 13:53:53 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 26 14:06:17 -0700 2007 Emma is my favorite, and so it's on my "Favorites" bookshelf.

Most people's favorite Jane Austen novel is Pride ...more...]]> 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 5 4 false Mon Oct 01 00:00:00 -0700 2007 Wed Sep 19 11:12:44 -0700 2007 Sun Jan 27 08:54:10 -0800 2008 Emma, I had the pleasure of reading it aloud with Stacey, which was lucky because hearing the words made th...more...]]> 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 5 4 false Wed Apr 16 13:56:06 -0700 2008 Wed Apr 16 22:52:51 -0700 2008 more...]]> 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 5 3 false Thu Jun 26 19:16:04 -0700 2008 Thu Jun 26 19:16:04 -0700 2008
S...more...]]> 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 4 2 false Sat Oct 04 02:33:47 -0700 2008 Sat Oct 04 03:01:46 -0700 2008 more...]]> 14926 0192802372 9780192802378 429 42 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1166668812m/14926.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/14926.Emma 5 3 false Fri Aug 03 14:15:58 -0700 2007 Mon Aug 06 11:59:33 -0700 2007 more...]]> 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 4 2 false Tue Mar 18 13:16:55 -0700 2008 Mon Aug 11 11:26:35 -0700 2008 more...]]> 894047 0192815040 9780192815040 2 1 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/894047.Emma 4 1 false Sat Nov 21 00:00:00 -0800 2009 Sat Nov 07 23:55:17 -0800 2009 Sun Nov 22 12:28:35 -0800 2009 1 Pride and Prejudice, I had very high expectations for the rest of her books. However, I really felt let down by Sense and Sensibility. But in Emma I again found the humor and...more...]]> 2886695 8401463114 9788401463112 4 1 4.00 http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1237474557m/2886695.jpg http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/2886695.Emma 4 1 false Sun Apr 19 00:00:00 -0700 2009 Thu Mar 19 07:47:32 -0700 2009 Mon Apr 20 07:26:25 -0700 2009 more...]]> 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 3 2 false Wed Jul 16 11:15:57 -0700 2008 Wed Jul 16 11:16:15 -0700 2008 111025 0375757422 9780375757426 101 14 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/111025.Emma 4 2 false Wed Feb 04 18:51:14 -0800 2009 Fri Nov 27 20:39:48 -0800 2009 more...]]> 6969 0141439580 9780141439587 35040 1977 4.00 http://www.goodreads.com/book/show/6969.Emma 4 1 false Fri Sep 19 00:00:00 -0700 2008 Thu Sep 04 18:33:24 -0700 2008 Fri Sep 19 11:05:32 -0700 2008 1 more...]]> http://www.goodreads.com/book_link/follow/8?book_id=14926