It feels like an age ago that I started reading Jane Austen's Emma
. I'm not totally sure why, but it was a very long read. I had a small break in the middle to read a couple of other books and I'm really glad I did as it meant that I came back to the second half of the book refreshed.
. I'm not totally sure why, but it was a very long read. I had a small break in the middle to read a couple of other books and I'm really glad I did as it meant that I came back to the second half of the book refreshed. Somehow I managed to get through my whole schooling without studying any Jane Austen and it was only when I left university that I bought all the set and thought that I ought to read them. I wasn't really sure what to expect with Emma. Other books like Sense and Sensibility
seem to have had so many TV and film versions that it's embarrassing to say that you haven't read them. When I told people I was reading Emma several asked me who had written it or whether it was a new book or not.
seem to have had so many TV and film versions that it's embarrassing to say that you haven't read them. When I told people I was reading Emma several asked me who had written it or whether it was a new book or not.Emma Woodhouse is introduced to us as a matchmaker and most of the book is about the various unions that she tries to put together from those living around her. In particular she is obsessed with trying to find suitable match for her new best friend Harriet. Throughout Emma herself is convinced that she will never marry. As I'm sure my Gran would have said to her: you should never say never!
I did enjoy the book in the end, although I have to admit that there were times when I just wanted to shake Emma and tell her to stop being so silly. Her character grew on me considerable though and it was lovely to see her reach happiness at the end – although I was left with a niggling feeling as to whether she would change her mind about what she wanted again.
One small thing that I did find strange was how the Emma pictured in my head was so different from the one on the cover of the book I was reading. My version was the Penguin Popular Classics
It was fascinating to read of how couple came together, got engaged and married back in the time that Austen wrote. Many of them only seemed to have met each other a few times before agreeing to marry. Comparing that to the five years that Mr C and I were together (several living together) before we got married it seems most strange, but I guess that's just how things have changed over the years.
I'm really glad that I finally got round to reading this and that I persevered to the end. Now to read something a bit easier going – and in a slightly larger font!
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