Group Read: Emma

[Marissa]

Good afternoon, everybody! Only a couple more days until November & we kick off our group read of Emma by Jane Austen! So drop by & say "hi" if you want to join in!

[Alison]

thanks for taking this over :) i appreciate it. I will still be reading it, but I just have a lot of things on my schedule right now to add something else.

[Marissa]

My pleasure. I have next to nothing on my schedule besides work & read, so I really don't mind moderating :)

[Mekerei]

I would like to try, but am still trying to finish The Casual Vacancy.

[Marissa]

So how is everyone enjoying it so far?

[Jess]

I'm 39% of the way through, apparently (lol, specific) but I quite like it! I love the style of things back then - the writing, the conversation, the society, it's all very interesting.

[lisa, Questioner]

i just read emma in august/september so it's still pretty fresh in my mind. i'm interested to know what everything thinks about emma? my students and i agree that she's a total snob and completely clueless but at the same time i love her character.

[Marissa]

I'm finding it hard to keep reading because of the style of language & whatnot, but aside from that I do find Emma's character a little annoying. I keep comparing her to Cher from Clueless (I think that was her name, right?) but where Cher was easy to like, Emma's not so much. Perhaps it's the era the two are set in or the credit is due to the actress, but either way Emma falls short =/

[Jess]

I really liked it. Emma does come off a bit snobbish but I find her likeable, she does have her friends best wishes at heart etc. Miss Bates annoyed me though, the woman never shut up!

[lisa, Questioner]

Miss Bates is so annoying! But then, I think she's supposed to be. Cher is her name in Clueless, and now that I've read the book I think they did a good job of updating Emma for the 20th century.

[Ann A]

I am a huge Jane Austen fan, and I think Emma is my second favorite Austen novel (second only to Pride and Prejudice). Yes, Emma is a bit "clueless", but I think her good heart shows through, and she does learn her lesson in the end. I also highly recommend the movie with Gwyneth Paltrow.