Emma

by Jane Austen | Literature & Fiction |
ISBN: Global Overview for this book
Registered by k00kaburra of San Jose, California USA on 4/24/2005
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2 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by k00kaburra from San Jose, California USA on Sunday, April 24, 2005
Acquired at a library-purge sale on April 23rd, 2005. I recently finished reading Pride & Prejudice a few days ago, and so when I saw another Austen book at the sale I picked it right up.
Upon reading, I found this book rather dull. Several times I felt like putting the book down and not finishing it; my curiousity for the characters' fate alone kept me going 'til the end; I certainly don't anticipate reading it again. I enjoyed Pride & Prejudice quite a bit more!

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Amazon Review: Of all Jane Austen's heroines, Emma Woodhouse is the most flawed, the most infuriating, and, in the end, the most endearing. Pride and Prejudice's Lizzie Bennet has more wit and sparkle; Catherine Morland in Northanger Abbey more imagination; and Sense and Sensibility's Elinor Dashwood certainly more sense--but Emma is lovable precisely because she is so imperfect. Austen only completed six novels in her lifetime, of which five feature young women whose chances for making a good marriage depend greatly on financial issues, and whose prospects if they fail are rather grim. Emma is the exception: "Emma Woodhouse, handsome, clever, and rich, with a comfortable home and happy disposition seemed to unite some of the best blessings of existence; and had lived nearly twenty-one years in the world with very little to distress or vex her." One may be tempted to wonder what Austen could possibly find to say about so fortunate a character. The answer is, quite a lot.

For Emma, raised to think well of herself, has such a high opinion of her own worth that it blinds her to the opinions of others. The story revolves around a comedy of errors: Emma befriends Harriet Smith, a young woman of unknown parentage, and attempts to remake her in her own image. Ignoring the gaping difference in their respective fortunes and stations in life, Emma convinces herself and her friend that Harriet should look as high as Emma herself might for a husband--and she zeroes in on an ambitious vicar as the perfect match. At the same time, she reads too much into a flirtation with Frank Churchill, the newly arrived son of family friends, and thoughtlessly starts a rumor about poor but beautiful Jane Fairfax, the beloved niece of two genteelly impoverished elderly ladies in the village. As Emma's fantastically misguided schemes threaten to surge out of control, the voice of reason is provided by Mr. Knightly, the Woodhouse's longtime friend and neighbor. Though Austen herself described Emma as "a heroine whom no one but myself will much like," she endowed her creation with enough charm to see her through her most egregious behavior, and the saving grace of being able to learn from her mistakes. By the end of the novel Harriet, Frank, and Jane are all properly accounted for, Emma is wiser (though certainly not sadder), and the reader has had the

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This is book no. 936 on the "1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die" list.

Journal Entry 2 by k00kaburra at Book Relay in Book Relay, A Book Relay -- Controlled Releases on Thursday, October 20, 2005

Released 18 yrs ago (10/20/2005 UTC) at Book Relay in Book Relay, A Book Relay -- Controlled Releases

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Sending out to Clinton, NY today! Enjoy!

Journal Entry 3 by bev7 from Clinton, New York USA on Thursday, November 3, 2005
I received this from Kookaburra in California. It will be heading to El Paso Texas when I am done with it.

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