Emma by Jane Austen

Emma
Author: Jane Austen
Published: May 2001
Publisher: Random House
Paperback: 353 pages


My Rating: 3.5 stars


Synopsis (from goodreads.com): Beautiful, clever, rich - and single - Emma Woodhouse is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage. Nothing, however, delights her more than interfering in the romantic lives of others. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protégée Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. With its imperfect but charming heroine and its witty and subtle exploration of relationships, Emma is often seen as Jane Austen's most flawless work.


My Thoughts: I want to start off this review by saying that this was a great book. I truly enjoyed it, and there were moments of laughter and surprise throughout. However, I felt that this book could not compare to  Pride and Prejudice (at least for me), so that's why it received a 3.5 star rating. I know you shouldn't compare books like that, but I do. Oh well.


Emma is a great comic novel. Now, something that was written back in the 1800s has humor that is different from that of our humor today. But there were several points in the book where I was chuckling to myself at Emma and her attempts to create relationships among her friends. The writing is witty and the characters are never boring. I did sometimes become confused at who was who in their little town, but that was about it. I found each character to bring something different to the table, and Emma's interactions with each of them delightful. Some of the characters, such as Miss Bates, are there solely for humor. Each time she appeared in the book, I knew that Jane Austen was going to have a funny moment ahead. 


It was an enjoyable book, one that is definitely going to be staying on my bookshelf. As I said before, I did not feel that this book was as good as  Pride and Prejudice, but it is still a classic and one that I will be sure to recommend to anyone.