Emma by Jane Austen

Emma was my first Jane Austen read. I had seen Pride & Prejudice, Becoming Jane & The Jane Austen Book Club - all of which I really enjoyed; however, reading the first 40/55 chapters Emma was a chore for me. I understand that extensive description was considered entertainment back in Jane's time, but even with that in mind I found it dull. The first 40 chapters were more background for the last 15, in my opinion. I really did enjoy those final chapters, when the book became juicy, so to speak, with drama. There were some good twists, too. In retrospect, I'm glad I read a Jane novel and it really is a great classic. But I will say that it will be like pulling one's own teeth to talk myself into reading a second Jane book.

The best part of reading Emma, for me, was reading it "virtually" with my Mom. I bought us each a copy of Emma as a "moving away" gift; something we could do together while away from each other. We read at fairly different paces, but we enjoyed sharing thoughts on the story as we read.



Wikipedia Article

After reading Emma I watched Clueless. Had I not read Emma I would have thought Clueless to be a dumb, 90s teen flick. However, I found the parallels in the book and film to be very interesting. I enjoyed the teeny-bobber movie, actually. And I liked Paul Rudd's character (I recently saw I Love You, Man where he co-stars).



IMDB Clueless Article

Bottom line: Jane isn't my style, Clueless was enjoyable since I'd previously read Emma, and Paul Rudd is adorable.

-Amanda