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A review by tumblyhome_caroline
Emma: 200th-Anniversary Annotated Edition (Penguin Classics Deluxe Edition) by Jane Austen
5.0
After reading Pride and Prejudice last month and finding that I appeared to have finally grown into Jane Austen books, I decided to try Emma.
And joy of joys.. I loved it. More than P &P.
I particularly love how ALL the people in this book feel so alive, flawed and highly entertaining (I especially loved Miss Bates, who could be the most irritating person ever, but made me smile a lot).
I have read a lot of bad thoughts and opinions about Emma.. if I read it a few years ago I might have been one of those disgruntled reviewers. But I have recently found more than just romance and costume drama in Austen. How silly of me to have been so unwilling to see anything more.
Austen intended for Emma to be an unlikable heroine and it is probably very easy to judge Emma harshly….but ‘he who is without sin…etc’ She is young, she learns and grows throughout the book. The book is about her enlightenment, about growing self awareness/awareness of others and the way we all create narratives in our minds that often are not correct at all..we all make mistakes. (Me too with this author). Anyway, I can’t bear a perfect, holier than thou heroine and Emma is not one of those.
I enjoyed most the wonderful characters in the book. I loved all the shenanigans and I love the edition I read. It is one of the Penguin Deluxe Classics with deckled edges to the pages, French flaps, nicely spaced font in a size that doesn’t need a magnifying glass and pages that stay open when you put the book down to breathe.
I am reading this on holiday and there is such a thing as the ‘holiday effect’ on enjoyment of a book.I will reread it next year and see if I enjoy it as much. I read Lincoln in the Bardo on holiday a few years ago and was terrified I wouldn’t like it as much on a reread, but loved it even more. So I have hopes for this too.
And joy of joys.. I loved it. More than P &P.
I particularly love how ALL the people in this book feel so alive, flawed and highly entertaining (I especially loved Miss Bates, who could be the most irritating person ever, but made me smile a lot).
I have read a lot of bad thoughts and opinions about Emma.. if I read it a few years ago I might have been one of those disgruntled reviewers. But I have recently found more than just romance and costume drama in Austen. How silly of me to have been so unwilling to see anything more.
Austen intended for Emma to be an unlikable heroine and it is probably very easy to judge Emma harshly….but ‘he who is without sin…etc’ She is young, she learns and grows throughout the book. The book is about her enlightenment, about growing self awareness/awareness of others and the way we all create narratives in our minds that often are not correct at all..we all make mistakes. (Me too with this author). Anyway, I can’t bear a perfect, holier than thou heroine and Emma is not one of those.
I enjoyed most the wonderful characters in the book. I loved all the shenanigans and I love the edition I read. It is one of the Penguin Deluxe Classics with deckled edges to the pages, French flaps, nicely spaced font in a size that doesn’t need a magnifying glass and pages that stay open when you put the book down to breathe.
I am reading this on holiday and there is such a thing as the ‘holiday effect’ on enjoyment of a book.I will reread it next year and see if I enjoy it as much. I read Lincoln in the Bardo on holiday a few years ago and was terrified I wouldn’t like it as much on a reread, but loved it even more. So I have hopes for this too.