My Least Favourite Austen Novel (Emma - Jane Austen)

Member Name: Kukana

Product:	Emma - Jane Austen
Date:	20/11/04 (1955 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Some amusing irony, Interesting social history, No violence or sex or horror....

Disadvantages: Long-winded in places, Not much plot

The novel opens with Emma's father Mr Woodhouse complaining gently about their recent change in circumstances: Emma's best friend, who was once her governess, has recently married and moved about a mile away. Mr Woodhouse is a comic character who wants everything to stay exactly the same as it always has been, although he's sympathetically drawn. He's clearly devoted to his daughter, and frequently worries aloud about illnesses, draughts, and people being inconvenienced. As his idea of inconvenience doesn't necessarily make sense, there's some humour throughout the book whenever he appears.

The enter novel covers daily walks, visits and conversations between Emma and her neighbours, with a few diversions such as parties or balls. It's a pleasant enough social commentary on life in an upper-class English village two hundred years ago, and written with close observation and the thread of irony that made me keep reading. But having said that, it felt like quite a chore at times. The style of language didn't particularly worry me; within a few pages I had no problem with that, but it was quite an effort reading through some of the long-winded conversations, particularly those with the elderly ladies whose lives revolved around a series of tangential thoughts.

The plot, such as it is, is based on Emma's continual mis-reading of other people's intentions. She befriends an orphan about her own age called Harriet, convinced that Harriet must have come from a gentleman's home, and tries several times to find a husband for her. Harriet's first love is a worthy farmer, but Emma does not consider him good enough for her friend, and points her first in the direction of the local minister, and then of someone else. Harriet is rather pathetically grateful for her high-born friend's suggestions and takes on board whatever she is told; since Emma has a good opinion of herself, she considers Harriet intelligent and sensible, only gradually realising that her friend has few original thoughts in her mind and is too easily led.

I do like historical novels, in general, particularly gentle romances without a great deal of action. Indeed I think of myself as quite a fan of Jane Austen; admittedly her style is dated and rather long-winded, but there's some enjoyable ironic humour and cleverly drawn characters in her novels.

But despite all that, I'm not very keen on this book. I first read it about twenty years ago when I was reading my way through all Jane Austen's works, and I found it a bit tedious; however I put that down to an excess of the style. It's generally not a good idea to read several books by the same author without a break!

So recently I decided to give it another try. According to the introductory notes, Emma was the pinnacle of Jane Austen's novels, where she finally reached her ideal of a truly domestic novel revolving around a small community with no outsiders involved. I suppose she was the forerunner of the 1980s village stories and 'aga sagas', although 200 years ago anything kitchen-related was done by the servants rather than the main characters of the books!

Emma is certainly an intriguing character as the main protagonist. At twenty-one she is in charge of her father's household, and has been pampered her entire life. Nobody ever dares to go against her, other than an old family friend Mr Kingsley whose younger brother is married to Emma's older sister. She is mostly good-hearted and cares deeply for those around her, but she is not intended to be a nice character. She is basically a snob, spending a great deal of time aware of 'class' and 'quality', and doing her best to match-make amongst those she considers equals.

A heroine with faults was perhaps rather a risky undertaking in Jane Austen's day, and it's a tribute to her writing skills that this book is still popular today. But despite seeing its good points, I didn't really enjoy reading it. Give it a try if you like Jane Austen, or if you're interested in social history, but be prepared to skim in places. If you're unfamiliar with this author, I'd recommend trying one of her other books first. And if you want fast action or excitement, don't bother with this at all!

Oh, I suppose I give it three stars and a low-key recommendation. Maybe I'll even read it again in another twenty years or so. I gather it's available on DVD - and while in general I don't like movies made from books, this is the kind of novel that could well improve with a visual aspect.

Your library probably has this book, and it's frequently found in charity shops for a few pence, but if you want a new edition then Amazon.co.uk have a Penguin Popular Classic paperback edition at £1.50 as well as several more expensive versions, and Play.com have it for £1.99, postage included.

Summary: