Emma - Jane Austen > Reviews > Make a match for yourself with Emma

Author's product rating:   

Would you listen to it again?	Absolutely
Story	Good
Characters	Outstanding
Listenability	Once you start it, you won't be able to switch it off!
How does it compare to similar audio books?	Excellent
How does it compare to audio works by the same author?	Excellent

Advantages:	One of the funniest novels I've ever read, superb social observations, excellent writing
Disadvantages:	Funny looks from strangers on the train .  .  .

Recommend to potential buyers:

yes

Full review

I picked up Emma more because I knew I should try Jane Austen as a fan of literature rather than a burning desire to read it. I wasn't expecting much; I knew Jane Austen is an extremely highly regarded writer, but I wasn't expecting more than an arbitrary romance with flowery prose. I was pleasantly surprised.

Emma is a young woman growing up in the rural early nineteenth century as the younger daughter of an aging wealthy father. We meet her as she struggles to cope with her governess leaving her to get married, leaving her alone with her father. She is catapulted into adulthood and has to deal with the responsibilities of this and her standing in the small village community, which includes taking care of the impoverished Mrs and Miss Bates.

She would've been perfectly happy to remain a child, looking after her father (Mr Woodhouse) as he rapidly approaches old age without having to worry about romance and 'making a match'. Instead of setting out to arrange a marriage for herself, as any motherless girl in her position is expected, she begins matchmaking acquaintances. This includes her friend Harriet Smith, who is sweet and compliant, allowing Emma to boss her about a bit!

Austen's forte is witty social commentary and her observations are so acute that she never fails to induce me to laughter when I'm reading her novels, and never more so than with Emma. The only disadvantage to this is that I read Emma on the train to and from college and people tended to give me funny looks when I burst out laughing... Still, social ostracism is a small price to pay for superbly sharp comedy.

My favourite character (apart from Emma) is the hilarious Miss Bates, who chatters on about nothing in particular and is a source of much amusement for both Emma and the reader. At one stage in the novel, Emma goes too far when making fun of Miss Bates and hurts her feelings - and is reprimanded by Mr Knightley.

Mr Knightley is Emma's one guiding force. Her father is over-indulgent and her sister is married and lives away, so Knightley (who happens to be her sister's husband's brother and a close family friend) takes it upon himself to teach Emma how to behave. He is kind, but strict and teaches Emma that matchmaking isn't always harmless fun - a lesson she soon learns from personal experience.

This is, essentially, a coming of age story and Emma progresses as a character without losing any of her sweet nature or wit. It is a very charming story first and foremost, but there are more serious themes hidden below the surface. I loved it from the start. Don't be put off by the length (my copy is 367 pages in very small print); the chapters are fairly short and I didn't get 'lost' at all, so the story is easy to follow. Emma (and Austen's novels in general) is the excellently-written predecessor of 'chick lit' novels like Bridget Jones's Diary - you will recognise people you know in the characters!

Like a lot of classics, Emma can be purchased very cheaply. I bought mine (published by Penguin Popular Classics) from WHSmith for just over a pound. You can also get the complete Jane Austen novel collection in one book, if you decide to go the whole hog and experience Austen for yourself in full. If you're still not ready to commit to reading the novel, then try the Gwyneth Paltrow film: it gets the essence of the novel in less time, but that means there's less of it to enjoy!

I thoroughly recommend you read Emma and can certify that it's ideal for train journeys (especially as if it's cheap it doesn't matter if it gets crumpled in your bag or rained on, as my copy has been), just as long as you don't mind the strange looks from strangers when you laugh aloud.