Emma

Rating:
Summary: !!!!
Review: I absolutely loved this novel!! I'm also glad that before reading this novel I read Jane Austen's other famous works because I had practice with Austen's confusing vocabulary. Once I got used to it I was able to appreciate what was truly happening with Emma. I highly recommend this book to young girls that have a pedestrian outlook on love, because after reading this novel I learned that love isn't always about emotions but you have got to be sensible as well. Emma is a woman to be emulated, not because of her match-making attitude but of her convictions and strenght. She does not need a man to complete herself, but after finally allowing her eyes to open she does find bliss with the man she loves. I can go on and on about this novel, but then what would be the use of reading?? Get yourself a copy now! You won't regret it..

Rating:
Summary: Wonderful, Great Read
Review: This was a book that I 'tried' to read in 5th grade and fell asleep, now years later I decided to give it another shot. To my suprise, Emma was a delightful book. At times it may seem boring, but at those times I learned to savor the details that I did read. I thoroughly enjoyed all the characters and plot twists. Jane Austin is an absolutely amazing author! I do not reccomend this book to younger kids who have trouble reading or get bored easily, but it is perfect for teenagers and up, esspecially girls. :)

Rating:
Summary: A Touching Story
Review: After reading this novel, I realized how entertaining/touching an old book could actually be. The story was about a woman (Emma) who despised marriage, and felt that there was no need to dedicate her life to only one person. I felt that Emma was a very strong character, she knew what she wanted and would not let anyone alter her decision about marriage. However, at the end of the novel the character succumbs to societal pressures and marries the man (Mr. Knightely) that desires her companionship. That shows that her character's personality is not as strong as it seems. Throughout the whole novel she lets the reader believe that nobody could ever modify her view on marriage. Yet, I feel that the love story was very touching, not many people are dedicated to a person to the point where they will wait for them for as long as needed. Love conquers all is a saying that I have always wished to be true, but never thought that it was possible. Emma swore that she would never change her mind on this issue, but after admitting to herself that she was in love with this man, she desired to be with him as much as he did with her. After reading this novel, I realized that people can have soul mates, and that if you really love someone, never let them go because you never know what will happen. I feel that everyone should read this book, because even though it was written over a century ago, individuals now are able to read it and feel like they can relate to the characters, at least I felt that I could.

Rating:
Summary: Utterly Charming
Review: I just reread this treasure for my book club. I first read it when I was about seventeen, and I loved it as much this time as I did then. It is truly a joy to read such wonderful writing and be so sweetly entertained.

The character of Emma is so fully realized and believable. Her ineptness as a matchmaker simply adds to her appeal, and makes you love her even more for her shortcomings. And the inevitable romance that finally comes to be near the end of the novel is so completely rewarding, that you will be smiling broadly as you read the last few pages.

Of Austen's novels, I've only read Emma and Pride and Prejudice. After completing Emma for the second time, I'm eager to pick up her other books and lose myself in her enchanting narrative.

Rating:
Summary: An enjoyable classic
Review: I really enjoyed this novel, as I do all of Jane Austen's works. The narrator is an interesting character, making comments on the action and people around her. I was surpised at how much the narrator disliked her heroine at the beginning of the story. The growth of Emma throughout the novel gives hope to every spoiled child or even prideful adult. My only regret is that I saw the movie with Gwyneth Paltrow (and even Clueless) before reading this. I think I would have enjoyed it even better not knowing what laid ahead. I highly recommend saving the movies for after the book.

Rating:
Summary: Trashy Romance
Review: Having been forced to read "Emma" for an English Literature course, I feel that I know as much about it as anyone else, if not more so. "Emma" is nothing more than a trashy romance, like the rest of Jane Austen's novels. We all know more or less what is going to happen at the end of the book - of course the hero and heroine are going to fall in love. Austen's use of irony is not exemplary either - is there anyone who didn't realise that Frank Churchill was hiding something, if we weren't sure quite what? Anyone who describes an Austen novel as a "classic", particualy this one, needs their head examined. She is an olden days Jackie Collins, whose fancy language seems to have deluded some into believing that she is something which she certianly is not.

Rating:
Summary: My Favorite!!
Review: At age 13, I found the language challenging, but today at 17 I find it delightful. Nothing agrees with me more than rereading my now favorite book. Though the language is challenging for a young or first time Jane Austin reader it is well worth wading through the odd words and strange grammer to see into the heart of the story.

The story touches so close to my heart it is a pleasure to read and dream of that someday romance with me in the place of any one of Austin's ladies. Now if I can find a man as gentlemanly, handsome and kind as Mr. Kingley.

Rating:
Summary: political? you bet
Review: "And you have forgotten one matter of joy to me," said Emma, "and a very considerable one--that I made the match myself. I made the match, you know, four years ago; and to have it take place, and be proved in the right, when so many people said Mr. Weston would never marry again, may comfort me for any thing."

Mr. Knightley shook his head at her. Her father fondly replied, "Ah! my dear, I wish you would not make matches and foretell things, for whatever you say always comes to pass. Pray do not make any more matches."

"I promise you to make none for myself, papa; but I must, indeed, for other people. It is the greatest amusement in the world!" -Jane Austen, Emma

The edition of Emma that I just finished has a lovely portrait of a young woman on the cover painted by Josef Stieler. So as a coworker walked by my desk she asked : Are you reading a chick book !?

I quickly protested it was not a chick book--one has one's pride after all--but the cover and her question raise the question : why is it not a chick book ? Why are the novels of Jane Austen, dealing as they do with the machinations of English gentry of marriageable age and their convoluted courtships, so popular among all readers ? We well understand why she should have been a favorite of Henry James, but why did Winston Churchill continually reread her also ? These questions are directly related to another which plagues modern arguments over Jane Austen : do her novels have political ramifications ? The answers to all these questions are to be found in Emma, which is my favorite of her novels.

At the outset let me admit that this only became clear to me when watching the terrific movie Clueless, which is based on this novel, but I now believe Emma to be one of the greatest political novels ever written. Austen predicted of Emma Woodhouse : "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like." She was quite wrong; Emma is exactly the kind of misguided busybody with a heart of gold for whom, unfortunately, we have trouble nursing much dislike. The plot of the tale is presumably too well known to need much rehashing here : suffice it to say that Emma is a pleasant and well-intentioned young woman who fancies herself a matchmaker, having successfully joined her governess and Mr. Weston, and so proceeds to meddle in the romantic lives of those around her despite eschewing the idea of marriage for herself. In particular, she takes Harriet Smith, a pretty young girl of dubious social station, under her wing and tries finding her a husband. There follow the expected misunderstandings and hurt feelings before true love finally outs and Emma realizes that not only did she not know what was best for others, in fact she did not understand her own heart's desires.

Now, at first blush that may not sound all that political, but the fundamental point Ms Austen conveys is actually not dissimilar to the argument of the great political philosopher F. A. Hayek in The Road to Serfdom (read Orrin's review). Hayek's devastating critique of the modern state and centrally controlled economies argued that no government bureaucrat could ever effectively make decisions for other people because it is impossible to process all of the information that goes into other people's decision-making. Only the free market, which allows for the greatest flow of information that humans have thus far devised, can even begin to approach the levels of efficiency that a complex economy requires to function smoothly. Likewise, Jane Austen, over a hundred years earlier, warned us of the unsatisfactory results to expect when one person sought to make decisions for others, even when acting with their best interests at heart. There will always be those among us, like Emma or like Hilary Clinton, who wish to manipulate our lives (always, we are assured, for our benefit rather than for the joy they take in the exercise), but the results are seldom salutary and never what the manipulators intended.

The idea of poor Jane Austen having to hide her writing when a family member entered the room and confined to the novel of manners is nearly totemic to feminists. They decry the system of oppression which restrained her talents to insignificant topics and sentenced her to writing about romance. In reality, Austen, at least in Emma, demonstrates that simple human wisdom knows no bounds and is as likely to be found in a comedy of manners as in any scholarly journal. In its own way Emma is as stern a rebuke to centralization and authoritarianism as can be found in the Western Canon. That her books are wonderfully witty and evoke images of an inviting pastoral past is merely icing on the cake.

GRADE : A+

Rating:
Summary: Jane Austen at her funniest!
Review: I have always loved this droll piece of literature! Jane Austen created a charming and hilarious heroine in Emma. The comic timing and great characterization proves that Austen was -- and still is -- the most sought-after and influential author ever! (Just look at the work of Helen Fielding, Marian Keyes and other female authors of this era.)

Emma is a force to be reckoned with. She takes it upon herself to play the role of Cupid. She chooses her candidates according to social status, age, charm, etc. The irony, of course, is that Emma doesn't have a lover of her own. What happens when one of her conquests as Cupid goes terribly wrong? And will Emma find her own knight of shining armor? This is one of the funniest situations in the book.

If you love Jane Austen, and if you haven't read this novel, please do!

Rating:
Summary: I love it too much to recommend it
Review: The problem is that Jane Austen is so popular - her books are the only 200 year old novels to stay in the Amazon top 5000- that people come to her expecting easy reading. This is 200 year-old English and takes persistence and I get upset when readers are disappointed. It's about a young woman in an English village trying to make matches for all her friends and getting into trouble. Deaths and sex take place way off stage. Some critics complain that Jane Austen ignores them but she is sharply aware of them. When Mrs Churchill dies it's a joke (People's opinions of her improve because she proves her ailments were not imaginary) The death of Emma's mother takes half a sentence and she is replaced by "an excellent woman as governess". Jane Fairfax's father is killed in action (presumably against Napoleon - or maybe the Americans) Harriet Smith is the daughter of a tradesman decent enough to support her but not married to her mother. Women have no careers open to them and totter on the edge of poverty unless they inherit money or marry. An old man with rheumatism has to apply for parish aid.