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Some disclaimers

I first read most of Emma on my second generation Kindle using text-to-speech in middle school. I didn’t finish the last third, and I honestly don’t remember why. I didn’t remember most of the story, either.

Sitting down to read Emma this summer felt a lot like starting a new book. I was familiar with all the characters and had an idea of where the story would go from the adaptations I’ve seen, but the book still felt new.

I have to admit, though, that I had a major bias going in to this read. A few weeks ago I binged all of Emma Approved, an award-winning YouTube webseries and modern adaptation of Emma. I was obsessed with the show in high school and used this summer’s blog theme as an excuse to re-watch it and call it ‘working.’ You know how that goes.

Due to this binge watch, while reading the book, I couldn’t help but picture all the novel characters as their webseries counterparts. The show is remarkably faithful in both characterization and modernized plot adaptation, so this didn’t have a huge influence most of the time. But there are certain elements that the modern adaptation made more palatable and likable that probably would have bothered me more in the book had I read it first. I’ll try to be as honest and objective with my review as possible, just… laying it all out here.

A novel of considerable length

I won’t lie, this book felt insanely long. I looked up Austen’s word counts. Her novels vary widely in length from Northanger Abbey‘s 77,815 words to Mansfield Park at 159,526. For reference, most modern adult novels range between 80,000 – 100,000; young adult fiction (my genre) between 55,000 – 80,000; and the NaNoWriMo write-a-book-in-a-month goal: 50,000. Emma is Austen’s second longest at 155,887. I was not prepared.

That being said, I enjoyed the book. I started out reading the ebook but switched to the free audiobook on YouTube and sped the reading up to 1.5 speed.

This book is not for readers with short attention spans or easily wearied imaginations. If you couldn’t get through Pride and Prejudice or Sense and Sensibility, this probably isn’t the book for you.

However…

Delightful fun

…for those who do have the patience for Austen’s lengthier works, the plot and cast of this one are delightful.

Sweet, naive Harriet Smith, my personal favorite, was as lovable and worshipful as expected. Talkative Miss Bates, pure-hearted Jane Fairfax, flirtatious Frank Churchill, kind Mr. and Mrs. Weston — all characters you truly care about, with banter and conversation full of both heart and wit.

Austen is quoted as calling Emma “a heroine whom no one but myself will much like.” The descriptions I’d heard before made me believe it. She is often called self-centered, vain, too certain of her own perfection, selfish, and so on. If readers saw Emma only from an outside character’s point of view, this would probably seem true and incredibly irritating. While Emma is a spoiled rich child at the start, being privy as readers to our main character’s inner thoughts and feelings proves quickly that she is much more human and caring than she lets on.

Emma’s interactions with Harriet, Jane Fairfax, Miss Bates, and others also have a considerable influence on her character and self-awareness as the story progresses. While she may claim to think herself perfect at the beginning, Emma feels her own errors quite keenly and commits to growing and being a better friend and neighbor when confronted with unpleasant truths about herself.

Perhaps it’s the modern female reader in me, or maybe it’s the influence of Emma Approved in my recent memory, but I actually found Mr. Knightley to be more disliked. He’s very uptight and old fashioned, and his age gap with the main character feels very apparent. I’m trying not to compare the book to the webseries, but let me say this: Alex Knightley of YouTube is much better than George Knightley of the book, and his image in my mind made this one palatable.

Of course, if we’re talking about unlikable characters, Mrs. Elton tops the list. But she’s supposed to be a thorn in ours and Emma’s side. She’s a character you love to hate and fits that role beautifully.

Entertaining story

So many people complain of nothing ever happening in classics or Austen’s books, that somehow I always find myself half expecting it to be true. But no one can fairly say that nothing happens in Emma. While it remains a faithful member of the Austen library and focuses most of its plots on marriage, local gossip, and relationship details, Emma’s matchmaking schemes and the many blunders and secrets that derail them are truly enjoyable to follow.

Even knowing some of what to expect before reading, I still had enough questions to compel me to continue. Would Harriet Smith find real happiness by the end? How was Emma so blind to certain relationships and interactions around her? How would a certain romantic pairing, clearly meant to happen, actually play out? Certain tropes of misunderstandings in romance novels can be frustrating from a lazy writer, but when done with Austen’s skill are one of my absolute favorite story tropes.

Closing thoughts

If you enjoyed any of Austen’s other writing or a screen adaptation of Emma and have the patience for a long but well-crafted classic novel, you should definitely read this book.

Be prepared as a modern reader for some judgmental statements about certain characters and relationships. I think some of Emma and Mr. Knightley’s attitudes toward and comments about Harriet especially are what make some modern readers dislike this book and its main character. That’s fair. By modern standards, Emma and Knightley can sometimes be jerks without being called out by the book. But rigid social class roles were a part of Austen’s reality, and these attitudes would have been completely acceptable and even expected from someone of Emma’s status. It’s similar to Darcy’s original disdain for the Bennet family in Pride and Prejudice, except there’s no moral lesson of ‘hey that’s not okay, learn to be equals.’ Just know that going in.

And I just have to give a nod to my favorite line: Emma, perfectly convinced she will always remain single, finds Mrs. Elton so thoroughly irritating that being displaced by her, as a married woman, in the role of head of a ball, feels “It was almost enough to make her think of marrying.”