Emma

I must say, I'm really glad I liked this book. When Amanda looked at my list, this was one (of many) that she said "but you must have read that one?!?"

No.

To my slight embarrassment, I realized that the only Austen book I had read was "Pride & Prejudice" (which I absolutely love.)  I was surprised that for the first third of the book, I really didn't like Emma very much.  When the Jane Austen quote on the back of the book is "I'm going to take a heroine no one but myself is going to like very much," that's not exactly encouraging.

It struck me, while I was sitting in Borders reading it, that even though I never had read this, I knew this story.  And the arrogance of Mr. Elton was sounding eerily familiar.  As everyone except me probably realized, Clueless is based, almost beat for beat on the Austen book. That epiphany came hand in hand with Emma's first "humbling" and marked my turning point for me.

What can I say?  I'm a sucker for a big, romantic story where everyone who deserves to be happy is.  In what I've read of Austen, she doesn't have too many villains but I like how she handles her antagonists. Those characters who stand in the heroine's way tend to get a very simple comeuppance: they're left to be themselves.  I absolutely that Mr. Elton ends up with the vapid & universally disliked Augusta Hawkins. Meanwhile, Emma, Mr. Knightly, Harriet, even Mr. Churchill and Jane Fairfax grow and change throughout the story and earn their joy.

Pages: 438
Best music to listen to during reading: "Atonement" soundtrack
Thumbs up/Thumbs down: Big Thumbs Up


Next up: "Call of the Wild" by Jack London