Emma (Classic Collection (Brilliance Audio))

Emma (Classic Collection (Brilliance Audio))

book data

23238 ratings, 4.01 average rating, 1468 reviews (more data...)

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published

September 28th 2002 (first published 1815) by Brilliance Audio Unabridged

binding

Audio Cassette

isbn

1590862902 (isbn13: 9781590862902)

description

The funny and heartwarming story of a young lady whose zeal, snobbishness and self-satisfaction lead to several errors in judgment. Emma takes Harrie...more

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All ratings | 5 stars (7847) | 4 stars (9012) | 3 stars (4598) | 2 stars (1035) | 1 star (295) | avg 4.01

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Kate

Kate rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

09/14/07

bookshelves: commonwealth, favorites, fiction, own, pre-1900

Read in September, 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 oeuvre, atypically un-self-aware. She features in the most well-executed character transformation I've seen yet in Austen's works (I've read this, P&P, S&S, and Persuasion)...more

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Rebecca

Rebecca rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

09/26/07

bookshelves: favorites

Read in March, 2007

recommends it for: Just about anyone

I'm a big fan of Jane Austen's work -- in fact, I have the Jane Austen doll from the Unemployed Philosophers' Guild Little Thinkers collection on my desk at work. But Emma is my favorite, and so it's on my "Favorites" bookshelf.

Most people's favorite Jane Austen novel is Pride and Prejudice, and don't get me wrong -- I like Lizzie Bennett just as much as the next middle-class white woman. But Emma does something for me that P&P just doesn't. Maybe it's beca...more

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Sarah

Sarah rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

06/11/07

Read in June, 1986

Emma I think is my favourite Jane Austen novel because Emma as a character is so misguided and yet perversely confident in her decisions. Identifying with and sympathizing with Lizzie Bennett and Elinor Dashwood is a walk in the park (although I understand that there are those in the world who prefer Marianne; there is no accounting for taste, but I freely admit that I am an INTJ) -- Emma is more challenging and therefore in some ways more satisfying. Hating that nice Jane Fairfax? Plotting to m...more

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Amy

Amy rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

06/21/08

Of all of Austen's books - and I've read them all several times - I learn the most from Emma. I believe that one of Austen's goals in writing is to teach us to view the rude and ridiculous with amusement rather than disdain. And in Emma we have the clearest and most powerful picture of what happens when we don't do this: when Emma speaks out against Miss Bates. Though rude on Emma's part, we can't help but love her for her mistake and feel her shame because we've all been there. When I feel I ...more

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Rosemary

Rosemary rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

07/16/08

Not my favorite Jane Austen

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Michelle

Michelle rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

09/19/08

bookshelves: favorites

Read in September, 2008

I despised Emma; her scheming, self-righteousness, impatience, imprudence, presumption, selfishness, and (worst of all) condescending characteristics really made her unpalatable. Mr. Woodhouse was too cumbersome to read with his non-stop worry and frailty. The text was cluttered with incessantly annoying characters chattering about the most trite banalities. Each new plot line that Austen introduced was immediately transparent and became stale after one paragraph to which, alas, Austen did no...more I despised Emma; her scheming, self-righteousness, impatience, imprudence, presumption, selfishness, and (worst of all) condescending characteristics really made her unpalatable. Mr. Woodhouse was too cumbersome to read with his non-stop worry and frailty. The text was cluttered with incessantly annoying characters chattering about the most trite banalities. Each new plot line that Austen introduced was immediately transparent and became stale after one paragraph to which, alas, Austen did not confine the tiring rehashing. I quit after Chapter 10.

The next evening I found myself stuck in the truck on the side of a mountain while my husband changed a flat tire. The kids were asleep and I had only this novel to keep me occupied. Under those circumstances, a tedious novel is better than no novel. In the time it took Loren and two Good Samaritans to futilely attempt the tire change, I began to enjoy the prospect of redemption in "Emma" the novel.

Emma slowly began to regain my respect in Chapter 12 with her humility (though it was slight) toward Mr. Knightley with regards to their discussion of Mr. Elton and Miss Smith. As Emma begins to honestly face her flaws and begins improving herself and her selfishness, the novel becomes more enjoyable. Emma is imperfect in her attempts at improvement, which rang quite true. Eventually she became self motivated to change and recompense. This was enough to soften me toward accepting the plethora of characters Austen introduced. Skilled writer as Austen was, I could easily identify the characters' unique beings and personalities. She never did come up with any unforeseeable plot lines, however; everything remained painfully obvious.

And yet, I really liked it. The heroine redeems herself completely. All the loose ends are tied up nicely and with no contrivance. There was a foil to every character; each person had depth and personality and each had their opposite to set off the difference. There was a wide range of personality, also, from extreme to mild; contemptible to amiable. (Uh-oh. I'm using language that sounds like Austen. Retreat!)

Anyway, a well-crafted book. Sit with the uncomfortable feelings you may or may not have when beginning, and you'll find yourself enjoying it eventually....less

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Mike

Mike rated it:

(review of isbn 067940581X)

05/13/08

Read in May, 2008

Continuing our trip down Jane Austen Blvd! Emma has much the same style that Persuasion does, but with a much, MUCH lighter tone. It can afford it; while Anne spends pretty much all of Persuasion pining for lost love, Emma is far too busy meddling in everyone else's love lives to get too weepy about her own. Where they ever to meet, Emma would role her eyes, tell Anne to get over herself and then arrange some meeting with a local gentry that would probably involve a chapter-long scene wh...more Continuing our trip down Jane Austen Blvd! Emma has much the same style that Persuasion does, but with a much, MUCH lighter tone. It can afford it; while Anne spends pretty much all of Persuasion pining for lost love, Emma is far too busy meddling in everyone else's love lives to get too weepy about her own. Where they ever to meet, Emma would role her eyes, tell Anne to get over herself and then arrange some meeting with a local gentry that would probably involve a chapter-long scene where everyone farcically talks past each other and ends with said gentleman proposing - to Emma. For her part, Anne would probably have enough sense to politely avoid Emma altogether, but admitting as much would ruin the allegory. Work with me here, people.

Emma also manages to have what may be one of literature's first unreliable narrators. True, Emma and the narrator are generally distinct, only occasionally bleeding together, and even when her internal monologue manages to hijack the story it never comes even vaguely close to what Humbert does in Lolita. Still, I was shocked when I discovered in retrospect that the book had lied to me. I look for that kind of thing in modern writing, but I frankly wasn't expecting it from Austen. The whole joke of Emma is that she imagines herself to be a matchmaker without equal while simultaneously managing to have an astonishingly poor understanding of everyone's actual affections, including her own. She finally, FINALLY comes around in the end, but only after deluding herself (and maybe the reader too, if they're thick like I am) for most all of the story. Despite the rampage of unnecessary emotional destruction Emma leaves in her wake, you can't help but love her by the end of the book. Deep down, she does mean well after all.

The other thing I have to give Austen kudos for here is, once again, excellent characterization. Emma has an unfortunate habit of deciding that other people are conceited, overbearing and annoying, not like her at all! Why, she'd never act like that! And when she inevitably does, she of course rationalizes it and swears, in any event, not to do it again. And then she goes and does it again. If you can read Emma and not find that you have a few character traits in common with her, chances are you're lying to yourself.

Hey, just like Emma does!

...less

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Emily

Emily rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

02/14/08

One of the disadvantages of being a fast and early reader is missing out on books that are, at 13 or 14, too long, too old, too formal, too boring, and not taking into account how much better they might be in ten years; they’re boring forever. (This, incidentally, is one of the reasons I don’t think late or reluctant readers should be pushed too hard into reading the classics). I tried Pride and Prejudice in middle school, Sense and Sensibility a little later, and didn’t like...more

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Chelsea

Chelsea rated it:

(review of isbn 0140430105)

07/26/08

Read in July, 2008

I just like the way Jane Austen's characters talk. It induces me to wish that I were such a respectable young woman as to talk so well, and be so amiable! All kidding aside, Austen's good characters, the ones who are rewarded in the end, are always the ones who are conscientious, respectful, and aware of what they are saying to others. In other words, they are kind and don't rush forward saying everything that comes to their mind without thinking about it first. Perhaps such speech and manners a...more

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Matthew

Matthew rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

01/27/08

Read in October, 2007

I'd been meaning to read Jane Austen for such a long time, because whenever I'd seen part of one of the films based on her work I got completely caught up in the language. When I finally read Emma, I had the pleasure of reading it aloud with Stacey, which was lucky because hearing the words made them that much more wonderful. I have a theory that the terse and stilted style in which most modern fiction is written comes about as much because people don't read aloud anymore as because of ...more

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Kelly

Kelly rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

05/24/07

bookshelves: brit-lit, favorites, fiction, worth-rereading

Read in April, 1998

recommends it for: Jane Austen fans, all women

This is one of the Holy Trinity of Austen (yes, I just made that up). And in my opinion, deservedly so. Emma is far and away the heroine that I identify the most with of all the Austen women. Jane Austen thought that nobody would like her when she wrote Emma... except maybe she underestimated how many people have things in common with her. She has so many deep flaws that are so easy to completely hate, but she means so very well, and is really a deeply caring person. She just has absolutely no s...more

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Katherine

Katherine rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

01/25/08

I adore Emma Woodhouse. And for my money Mr. Knightly is a better romantic hero than Mr. Darcy -- only Colin Firth didn't come out of a pond as Knightly. Knightly has a bit of humour about him. Emma is Elizabeth Bennett with a little less wit and a lot more money -- strong willed, good-natured and just fine without a man, thank you very much. That having been said, I don't think the two would have gotten on very well, though out-and-out dislike would have been beneath each of the ladies. Em...more

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Kerry

Kerry rated it:

(review of isbn 0192547046)

10/23/08

bookshelves: about_a_woman, fromthelibrary, romance

Read in October, 2008

Okay, this is my favorite Austen so far! (Just two more to go.)

At first it was okay. Then I realized it was "Clueless," which was distracting for a while (and spoiled the ending, though I guess I would have figured it out anyway.) There's a lot more to this story, though, than I remember being in "Clueless" (though I do have the urge to watch that movie again), so once we got past all that, it was okay again, but Emma is something of a stuck up bitch. BUT, just when s...more

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Erin

Erin rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

07/13/07

Read in July, 1999

recommends it for: Anyone

I've always loved reading, but I think this is the first book I read that really taught me something. Part of that was probably because I read it at an age where I was beginning to get to know who I was a little more. But I remember reading Emma and comparing Emma's character traits to myself. I guess I had always thought I was the only one in the world who thought and did certain things, but as I read this book, there were many of my traits in the characters. I guess it confirms the wo...more

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Jes

Jes rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

01/10/08

Read in January, 2008

LOVE!

I love this book. Emma - well-intentioned but haughty, at times caring and other inconsiderate - is a proud, rich, intelligent and beautiful young woman who vows never to marry while devoting herself to matchmaking for her friends (with unintended consequences!). This is the story of a girl growing up - expanding her consciousness to include those around her, not just her own whims and desires.

I love Emma's independence and wit. I love her transformation - the subtle changes th...more

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Elli

Elli rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

09/05/07

bookshelves: classics

i have to agree with the description of this book. i love jane (just look at my reviews of P&P, persuasion), but i have trouble not throwing emma across the room. she aggravates me. in fact, almost everyone in the book angers me (the one exception being knightbridge), so though i've read every other jane austen book several times a year, i have to push myself to actually finish emma. i find it amazing that an author i love so much was so multi-faceted that she could write books so ve...more

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Dildar

Dildar rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

02/16/08

Read in January, 2008

First foray into reading a Jane Austen, which all my English teacher friends 'adore'. I found the voice difficult to read for the first 100 pages, then relaxed and enjoyed the voice of Emma, tangled in her own biased views, explaining what goes on in the society of her era.

Austen did create quite a picture of the upper classes, caught in their mired caste systems, with their rituals and ignorance of the general people's lives. Very witty, perceptive picture of the upper, self absorped st...more

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Jenice

Jenice rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

02/21/08

Read in February, 2008

I have seen and enjoyed all the movie adaptations of Jane Austins books so I expected to enjoy the book. While I really would not consider Emma a page turner(maybe because you need to think more while reading it)I did enjoy it very much. Mr. Knightly is a terrific hero. A mans man while remaining the perfect gentleman for the ladies. I especially love the way Miss Austin pokes fun at the middle and upper class of her day. Emma, being one of Austins most flawed female characters is a delight t...more

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Michael

Michael rated it:

(review of isbn 0141439580)

10/04/08

I love Emma's journey of discovery. Emma, so protected by wealth and privilege, believes she understands so much and can control events, yet she gets it all wrong. It's just such a subtle book - the first time I read it was when I was 18 and I missed so many of the intricacies of this novel; it wasn't till I read it again 15 years later that I discovered (to my delight) most of them. It's also a good study of English country life of the time. Outwardly genteel, Ms Austen reveals the snobbery and...more

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Simone

Simone rated it:

(review of isbn 0192802372)

08/06/07

bookshelves: desert_island

This one I love because Jane Austen is the hardest on her protagonist in this book...she gives her more character flaws than any of her other heroines, and in so doing, makes her more like most of us than any of her other heroines. Much as most of us would like to believe we are Elizabeths, it's likely that most of us have a lot more in common with Emma than we would like to admit. For all the outer action in this story, most of the change and discovery comes from within Emma herself, which is...more

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