Emma: Book Review

Author: Jane Austen
Genre: Romance, Fiction, Classic
Originally published in: 1816
Pages: 474

“Silly things do cease to be silly if they are done by sensible people in an impudent way.”

Emma Woodhouse is a young, beautiful and rich woman – the perfect match for any gentleman in search of a wife. However, Emma has decided that she will never marry, never fall in love – 'I never have been in love; it is not my way, or my nature; and I do not think I ever shall.' Instead, she wants to dedicate her life taking care of her father and using her ‘matchmaking skills’ for the good of the others – because, of course, Emma knows best when it comes to the romantic lives of the people around her! Busy arranging a suitable match for her very own protégée Harriet, Emma will often get herself and the objects of her aforementioned skills in complicated and bemusing situations. Add to that the much wiser Mr Knightley, the chatty Miss Bates, Frank Churchill, everyone’s favourite charmer, and a whole bunch of colourful characters, residing in the village of Highbury, and you might get the fuller picture.

“I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like”

Was Jane Austen right! Emma Woodhouse is probably one of the most unlikable protagonists you are going to have the pleasure of knowing. She is more often than not quite self-centred and selfish. Not only is she pretty narrow-minded and arrogant, but she is also openly dismissive of people’s qualities if they do not belong to a high social class. It is not helping that her reading of people (and especially of men) and their intentions is the worst of any self-proclaimed matchmaker. Add to that her naïve best friend (or should I say best project) Harriet, and Emma manages to lure another human being into her terrible misjudgements of character. So bad is her reading of common situations that she turns into a very unreliable narrator. And here it gets good.

Yes, Emma is deeply flawed, and this is what makes the novel great. The narrative keeps changing – at moments we see everything through Emma’s eyes, refracted in the prism of her own mind, and yet, at others, the narrator is distant again. As a result, not everything that you see is necessarily true. Just like when you are in a social situation, involving a lot of people, and you happen to misread someone’s remark, you might find yourself, reading, misunderstanding completely a character’s intention, just because of the way Emma has already read it for you. Quite different from what we get in Pride and Prejudice, but a great concept nonetheless.

It is important to point out, that although Emma is highly unlikable at the beginning-to-the-middle of the novel, she does eventually grow on you. With the unravelling of the story, she changes for the better – with each awkwardness, with every confusion, Emma grows up to be the woman she thinks she is at the start of the book. She never was stupid at the first place, but she outgrows her naivety, and with that stops looking like a spoilt little brat.  

As for the story, this is one of those novels where it does not feel like much is happening. Some people get married, some do not, there are a few balls here and there, and lots of little meetings in between, but nothing major. At first I thought the novel really dragged at points – how many times can you possibly read about Emma visiting Miss and Mrs Bates, or sitting in the drawing room giggling with Harriet? But then I realised what made this book such a great piece of literature on the first place. Actually, what makes all Austen books classics? They are a biting social commentary, showcasing women’s dependency on good marriage in Regency England. And when you put Emma into the concept of Jane Austen’s work everything is crystal clear – when you remove all the humour and masterful satire, what Austen is showing us quite clearly is that this was all there was to show! For a woman in Emma’s position – a young single girl of good means, living in 19^th century England, there wasn’t much more to do. Apart from occasional visits to the neighbours, organising a ball maybe once a year, and having a picnic when the weather allows it, there were not a lot of things and places available to her. The novel feels a bit claustrophobic at moments – 400 pages and such a limited space, makes you feel for Emma – especially looking at her life from the perspective of your own time. At first glance, the book might seem limited at its scope, but is in fact illustrating what would have been a woman’s whole world.

Lastly, the characters are, as per usual with Austen, very versatile and utterly believable. It is impossible not to recognise yourself or people from your own family in those characters. And this has to be the best part to Emma – without all those types of everyday people, this look into English society would not be full. At the end, regardless of where you are, you realise that people are not that different. Plus, add to that the usual heavily romanticised English gentleman in the face of Mr Knightley.

To sum up, I do like Emma and would recommend it. It is not my favourite Austen piece, but it is a good piece nonetheless. A clever satire, a masterful look into English society, and a great character study, Emma is not for everyone, but if you stick to the end, you might just enjoy it. 

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Five Perfect Summer Reads

As it is almost the middle of July and with that, it is time to hit the beach (or at least enjoy the sunshine in the park), bookshops everywhere put old classics behind, and push light-hearted summer reads to the front. To be honest, I have to agree that when you are relaxing in the boiling weather outside, reading the likes of Tolstoy’s War and Peace and Dante’s Divine Comedy might be a bit overwhelming.  However, that does not mean you should completely abandon your better judgement and jump into a poorly written book, sporting a glittery-colourful cover (and usually exclusively targeting women, promising them the ultimate romantic story of a cute but shy girl running into the perfect, yet grumpy, man, while she is having a coffee in her favourite charming café).

Fear not, here are five light, yet well-written novels that you can enjoy during your summer vacation.

For the ones who want something short but meaningful:

1.     Breakfast at Tiffany’s by Truman Capote

This little novel, written in 1958, is most well-known for its film adaptation (personally, I think one of the best book adaptations). Audrey Hepburn is the perfect Holly Golightly, combining in her performance girly charm and delightful absent mindedness, making us believe she is Holly. However, to fully appreciate this effect you definitely need to read the book. Truman Capote is a literary genius and Breakfast at Tiffany’s is no exception – offering quite strange and intriguing characters, the book is as fast read as it is fast paced. It never drags, it never goes off in long descriptive narratives, yet it is as alluring as Miss Golightly, and being such a short novel – it inevitably leaves you wanting for more. Also, if you have already seen the film, you will be interested to see how different the original story is. Really, you have no idea what the book is all about just yet, and sure as hell I am not going to spoil it.

For the ones who want to travel by a book:

2.     A Moveable Feast by Ernest Hemingway

“If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life, it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.”

… For summer reads can be written by Hemingway, too. A Moveable Feast is for the days when you want to imagine you are in Paris in the twenties and you can casually run into Hemingway, or Fitzgerald, or Pound, at some of their favourite cafés, up in Montmartre or down in the Latin Quarters. A book full of brilliant quotes, for Hemingway had quite a brilliant way with words: “We ate well and cheaply and drank well and cheaply and slept well and warm together and loved each other.” It is the simple stuff that made his style – long sentences are a must, but no one writes them quite as Hemingway did, and his style is refreshing, and it is warm, and captivating, and it makes you want to keep reading. Anyway, if you are interested in Scott Fitzgerald’s manhood, or the saucy lives of the famous artists of the time, this one is a must.

For the ones who want to stick to period classics:

3.     Emma by Jane Austen

If you want to stick to the classics, Emma (or any other Austen novel for that matter) should be the perfect choice. England in the 1800s, charming women and charismatic gentlemen – this a dream for the period drama lovers. I would say that Emma comes up as the most appropriate summer read as it is one of the most light-hearted novels of the period (even by Jane Austen’s standards, whose books are quite happy-go-lucky). Indeed, compared to the Bronte sisters, or Marry Shelley, Jane Austen’s work is a bit more fitting when it comes to a read for the beach. Her well-written, sarcastic story about Emma Woodhouse is the perfect summer read. As she herself points out: "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." Well, you can see for yourself.

For the ones who want to stick to the chick-lit:

4.     Food of Love Cookery School by Nicky Pellegrino

Something more modern, and definitely something you can actually find in the summer books section, The Food of Love Cookery School might not be a masterpiece, but is a quite enjoyable read nonetheless. I have to point out the style needs to be polished and there is nothing literary striking about the book. However, the story is just delicious! The characters are quite engaging: starting from four very different women, who have enrolled on a cooking course in Sicily, to the charming Sicilian chef who teaches them, to all the other lovely Sicilians who make an appearance on the pages: you can tell Nicky Pellegrino loves Sicily with all its food and colourful individuals! Plus, when an author knows well the place they are writing about, you can feel it from the book - Pellegrino can easily take you on a walk around the island and make you want to spend your next holiday there. A very easy read, this is the ultimate book for the working woman, who finally has found some time off to enjoy a delightful read.

The Gender neutral:

5.     The Innocent by Ian McEwan

Now, this is another modern author, but his books could easily be regarded as classics one day (ahem talking about Atonement over here). The Innocent, unlike some of the previous suggestions, can be easily alluring to both male and female readers. Situated in Berlin in 1955-56, this is the story of young Leonard Marnham, who is assigned to a British-American surveillance team. That is, he wants to escape from his ordinary life and unwanted innocence – indeed, he soon meets Maria, a beautiful German woman. As you might have guessed things are never that cheerful in McEwan’s novels and this one will not disappoint the reader seeking for drama and twists. A light-read it might not be, but an enjoyable drama for the summer evenings it sure is.  

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