Emma by Jane Austen, is a story about an imperfect, proud, and impractical 20 year old girl who improves upon further acquaintance and grows with her story's adventures into an absolute gem of a woman. When I served an 18 month mission, I didn't have the opportunity to read for pleasure. There is a reason that when I got home in February, I felt like reading a Jane Austen book would be the best "first book back". It also seems appropriate that I make mention of it here before the rest of the books, although I debated going through my literary conquests and choose the most shocking, thrilling, and enticing pieces for the beginning, I opt for a natural favorite. Emma was perfect for my first book back, and let's hope it will turn out equally appropriate for our first discussion here.
There is a reason that Jane Austen holds a special place in our imaginations, on our bookshelves, and even still in our cinema: She knows how to weave a story. Her style is simple and unsuspecting until the climax, and when you reach a point of conflict halfway through the story, you surprise yourself with how invested you are in these characters and the unraveling of their lives. The same is true of Emma, and I just wish I was smart enough to appreciate all of her tricks!
Emma is singularly identified as Austen's "risky" novel. Every other heroine that I've ever become acquainted with in her books has clear strengths and with those strengths, rises above the situations that others' misjudgments have placed in their path. However, Emma is her own trouble-maker, and Austen makes that clear in the first few sentences of her book, first by complimenting with a subtle seed of doubt: "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition, seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence" and then the narrator goes on to pointedly enumerate Emma's flaws. It's a risk to make the heroine less admirable, but it works! The development and thickening of the plot is subtle and draws you into the Hughbury world piece by piece with each new person Austen stirs into that small town story. My very favorite part is that throughout the story, the person you love in spite of her faults is Emma. I didn't fully realize how much I hoped and wanted Emma to succeed and overcome herself until she finished her changes (she's the only person that changes, everyone else is exactly the same the WHOLE book!) and her view of the world expands.
Another part I love has to do with a simple fascination of mine: a masterful use of words and phrases. I always enjoy Jane Austen's perfect wit and polite slurs; my preferred means for people to express themselves (although I lack that talent myself) is in polite and witty terms, so most every page in this book is to my liking.
But this book isn't for everyone, so here are some disclaimers to why I enjoy this book (and others like it):
1st: I have loved Jane Austen for a number of years--Pride and Prejudice is the height of drama in my opinion--so I'm relatively used to and patient with her more subtle means of entertaining.
2nd: I cheated. About 3 years ago, I watched a Gwyneth Paltrow production of Emma, so when I picked up the book I already had a sort of muddy outline of the plot, a blurry memory of the characters, a basic feel for how certain scenes played out and an expectation for the emotions I should harbor toward characters and incidences.
3rd and lastly: Often in life, it's possible to appreciate a thing of beauty and skill just by looking at it (or in this case, reading it). Often I don't capture the perfection of a book, I just like it a lot! But this time I ran into a literary commentary at the end of my copy of Emma, and a reason I enjoyed what I read so much is because of what was explained there in. This book is well made, carefully crafted and flawlessly delivered, Austen's subtleties and real skill are rife through Emma's story, and I can now more fully appreciate and admire what I read.
With those disclaimers, I'll just say: I would definitely recommend this book, specifically if you feel you are patient, romantic, and a habitual reader (a female reader is probably more inclined to find it entertaining of course). If you've read what I've written and want to have a go, GO. If you think otherwise, you're probably similarly right, however, I promise that working up a taste for books like this is worth it!
As a side note, I'm going to mention: Sometimes I feel like, similar to Emma, I have fallacies and flaws in my opinions. I can't identify them and in many cases, am oblivious to them, but I assume they are there and hope you'll look past them to what I want us to have: A good direction to take towards a good book!
'Til next time!
