Emma in Book Riot's Read Harder Challenge

Mar 19, 2009 Arianna rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: 1001books

Ah, Emma. I'd put off reading this book for so long, because I figured having seen Clueless a zillion & one times (not to mention the Gwyneth Paltrow/Toni Colette version), I easily knew the story. Well, of course I was dead wrong! I knew the basics, but the book itself is so much more - as per usual. There were more characters, more intricacies; there was more of a story. I enjoyed this book, although it wasn't my favorite Austen. And I was anxious to be done with it when I had about 50 pages l ...more

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Jul 19, 2012 Chinoiseries rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: historical-fiction, 2012, owned, romance, ebooks, united-kingdom, regency, classics-club, 18th-century, 1001-books

[This review was originally posted on my blog.]

The first time I read Emma was in my early teens, in a Dutch translation. At my young age (and with the translation modernising a lot of the language used) I could not help but read Austen's novel only superficially, considering it as nothing more than a briefly entertaining romance novel. Adam's Austen in August event encouraged me to pick up where I left off and to explore more of Jane Austen's books. How different this second time of reading was [This review was originally posted on my blog.]

The first time I read Emma was in my early teens, in a Dutch translation. At my young age (and with the translation modernising a lot of the language used) I could not help but read Austen's novel only superficially, considering it as nothing more than a briefly entertaining romance novel. Adam's Austen in August event encouraged me to pick up where I left off and to explore more of Jane Austen's books. How different this second time of reading was to the first!
Austen truly has a talent for apt characterisation. Protagonist Emma is not only a vivacious young lady, whimsical in her pursuits of music and self-cultivation, but she also has an honest wish to help those who are less fortunate. She visits the elderly Mrs Bates and her spinster daughter Miss Bates with nothing but altruism in mind. Harriet Smith's dubious parentage is no obstacle to Emma wanting to refine her socially. Unfortunately, despite her good intentions, she commits one mistake after the other, being too blinded by her own convictions. I really liked the way she learned from her errors and her constant willingness to improve herself.
I also enjoyed the many social gatherings and the clever, funny and awkward conversations. The battle of the wits between Mr. Knightley and Emma, the affirmation seeking talks between Harriet and Emma, the understanding and softening words of Mrs. Weston and Frank Churchill's deceitful flirtations were all skillfully penned.
My favourite scene in the book is the dinner attended by the John Knightleys and Mr. and Miss Woodhouse. Much to John Knightley's chagrin, Mr. Woodhouse loudly laments Isabella not visiting Hartfield sooner, not having called in the ever reliable Dr. Perry, etcetera. I loved the way Emma and Mr. Knightley kept intervening in order to keep the peace between them all.
Ah, Mr. Woodhouse, the insufferable bore of good breeding. I suspect that if he were of any lower social standing, his particularities would not have been tolerated to such a ridiculous extent. The same holds true for Miss Bennet, if she had been born into a lower "rank of life", her incessant chatter would perhaps be curbed by her peers. In both cases, however, the annoyance is indulged and feelings are usually spared. The contrast between Mr. Woodhouse and Miss Bennet on the one side - respectable though a little ridiculous - and the Eltons is vast. Mr. Elton shows his true colours soon enough, while his arrogant wife imagines herself elevated to the social standing of the Knightleys and the Woodhouses. The Eltons are just another much needed shade to the watercolour canvas of Highbury society and for that, I can appreciate them.
Emma's world is in essence a microcosmos in which English gentry life in the late 18th century is magnified, to be scrutinised by her readers. In my opinion, Emma is a great source of British social history and testifies of Austen's insight into her environs. ...more

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Dec 07, 2019 Alison rated it liked it

Shelves: books-in-2019, jane-austen

Not my favorite Jane Austen novel, though I did like it, there were many annoying characters and even Emma made me roll my eyes at her at times. And I definitely thought of Clueless through a lot of the story!

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