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Familia Watson
„Sa fii legata de casatorie - sa urmaresti un barbat doar de dragul unei situatii - este genul de lucru care ma socheaza; nu il pot intelege. Saracia e un mare rau, dar, pentru o femeie instruita si cu sentimente, nu trebuie sa fie, nu poate fi cel mai grav. Mai degraba as fi profesoara la o scoala (si nu-mi vine in minte ceva mai cumplit) decat sa ma casatoresc cu un barbat care nu imi place”.
133 pages, Kindle Edition
First published January 1, 1805
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About the author
Jane Austen
3,857 books74.3k followersJane Austen was an English novelist known primarily for her six novels, which implicitly interpret, critique, and comment upon the English landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Austen's plots often explore the dependence of women on marriage for the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security. Her works are an implicit critique of the novels of sensibility of the second half of the 18th century and are part of the transition to 19th-century literary realism. Her deft use of social commentary, realism and biting irony have earned her acclaim among critics and scholars.
The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), were a modest success but brought her little fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1817—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The Watsons.
Since her death Austen's novels have rarely been out of print. A significant transition in her reputation occurred in 1833, when they were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series (illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set). They gradually gained wide acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience. Her work has inspired a large number of critical essays and has been included in many literary anthologies. Her novels have also inspired many films, including 1940's Pride and Prejudice, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2016's Love & Friendship.
The anonymously published Sense and Sensibility (1811), Pride and Prejudice (1813), Mansfield Park (1814), and Emma (1816), were a modest success but brought her little fame in her lifetime. She wrote two other novels—Northanger Abbey and Persuasion, both published posthumously in 1817—and began another, eventually titled Sanditon, but died before its completion. She also left behind three volumes of juvenile writings in manuscript, the short epistolary novel Lady Susan, and the unfinished novel The Watsons.
Since her death Austen's novels have rarely been out of print. A significant transition in her reputation occurred in 1833, when they were republished in Richard Bentley's Standard Novels series (illustrated by Ferdinand Pickering and sold as a set). They gradually gained wide acclaim and popular readership. In 1869, fifty-two years after her death, her nephew's publication of A Memoir of Jane Austen introduced a compelling version of her writing career and supposedly uneventful life to an eager audience. Her work has inspired a large number of critical essays and has been included in many literary anthologies. Her novels have also inspired many films, including 1940's Pride and Prejudice, 1995's Sense and Sensibility and 2016's Love & Friendship.
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Displaying 1 - 30 of 413 reviews
January 31, 2018
Minunată!!!
"-Cred că o conversație călduroasă e infinit mai binevenită. Mereu spun că jocul de cărți are sens uneori, ca să apropie un cerc formal, dar între prieteni nu-și are niciodată rostul."
"Pentru Emma au urmat zece zile de fericire aproape perfectă. Nu se gândise că putea fi din nou fericită atât de curând, dar după nenorocirile din ultimele câteva săptămâni, vesela și liniștita rutină de la Wickstead era lucrul cel mai liniștitor pentru ea."
"-Cred că o conversație călduroasă e infinit mai binevenită. Mereu spun că jocul de cărți are sens uneori, ca să apropie un cerc formal, dar între prieteni nu-și are niciodată rostul."
"Pentru Emma au urmat zece zile de fericire aproape perfectă. Nu se gândise că putea fi din nou fericită atât de curând, dar după nenorocirile din ultimele câteva săptămâni, vesela și liniștita rutină de la Wickstead era lucrul cel mai liniștitor pentru ea."
September 13, 2022
Jane Austen incepuse lucrul la acest roman insa acesta a ramas neterminat si n-a fost publicat in timpul vietii autoarei care a murit in 1817. Ea a abandonat scrisul la capitolul al V-lea insa i-a povestit surorii sale cum s-a gandit ca ar trebui sa se sfarseasca. Dupa 200 de ani Merryn Williams a completat acest roman tinand cont de viziunea si dorintele autoarei.
Romanul este despre casatorie, despre situatia femeii care depindea in totalitate financiar si social de un barbat, fie el tatal, fratele sau sotul ei. Trebuie avut in vedere ca in acel secol femeia exista numai incadrata intr-o familie - fie a ei, fie a parintilor ei, fie adoptata in cea a fratilor ori surorilor ei; femeia tanara si singura, de capul ei, era ceva de neconceput. In acest context trebuie citita si cartea. De asemenea ni se mai vorbeste si despre alegerea dificila pe care trebuie s-o faca o femeie si anume de a opta intre un barbat instarit pentru care nu are sentimente, dar care poate sa-i asigure o situatie peste rangul ei, sau un barbat pe care-l iubeste dar care poate sa-i ofere o situatie modesta.
In ceea ce priveste actiunea o cunoastem pe Emma Watson care provine dintr-o familie saraca si este invitata de mai instarita familie Edward sa-si faca prima aparitie publica in Stanton, Surrey. Ea merge la bal insotita de sfaturile surorii sale mai mari, Elizabeth, care spera ca Emma va avea mai mult noroc la maritis decat ea, mai ales ca si distinsa familie Osborne anunta ca va fi prezenta la bal.
Toata lumea o pune in garda pe Emma in privinta unui barbat usuratic si instarit, Tom Musgrave, caruia ii place sa flirteze cu toate fetele noi, dar pe niciuna n-o ia de sotie, frangandu-le inimile tuturor.
Emma, frumoasa si gratioasa atrage atentia tuturor, mai ales lordului Osborne. Ea il cunoaste insa pe dl. Howard, fost profesor particular la Osborne si actualmente predicator la parohia castelului lor. Simte ca ar putea sa-l iubeasca si se pare ca si barbatul i-ar impartasi dorinta.
Curand tatal Emmei moare si situatia ei devine dificila ajungand sa locuiasca o scurta perioada la sora lui Howard. Acolo afla ca Lady Osborne este atrasa de acesta si se gandeste ca Howard ar trebui s-o accepte pentru bani, stiind ca ea nu are ce sa-i ofere. Cu cine va ramane Emma, mai ales ca Lordul Osborne o cere in casatorie iar Howard pare si el dispus sa lupte pentru ea? Ramane sa aflati citind romanul.
Cartea este placuta, usor de citit, personajele pot fi indragite, in stilul consacrat al autoarei, cititorul gasind multe asemanari cu Lizzie si sora ei mai mare din "Mandrie si prejudecata". La un moment dat, dupa capitolul al V-lea, se simte oarecum ca nu Jane Austen e cea care scrie, insa nu este o mare discrepanta si nu deranjeaza cititorul.
Recomand acest roman pentru ca releva atat de mult situatia femeii din epoca respectiva si pentru ca realizam faptul ca femeia efectiv nu avea de ales, era la cheremul destinului, societatii si a barbatilor. Iata cateva citate care vorbesc despre asta si care mi-au placut:
"O inima ranita cum este a ta poate avea putine inclinatii spre mariaj."
"... e foarte rau sa imbatranesti, sa fii saraca si sa se rada de tine."
"Nu mi-ar placea sa ma casatoresc cu un barbat dezagreabil tot asa cum nici tie nu ti-ar placea, dar eu nu prea cred ca exista multi barbati dezagreabili."
"Dar pot sa vad din multe aspecte ca esti foarte rafinata. Am observat asta de cand ai venit acasa si teama mi-e ca nu va fi spre fericirea ta."
"... e un lucru greu pentru o femeie sa reziste flatarii unui barbat, cand acela si-a propus s-o faca sa-l placa."
"Mintile cele mai liberale si mai luminate sunt intotdeauna si cele mai increzatoare."
"Ar fi fost o greseala, ar fi fost imoral sa se marite cu un barbat cand iubea un altul."
"...as spune ca exista imprejurari pe care nici femeile nu le pot controla. Daca femeile ar fi econoame, asta ar conta mult, dar tot nu ar putea face dintr-un venit mic unul mare."
"Cand te vei casatori, copila mea, sa fie un barbat ales de ratiunea ta - nu te arunca prada unui moment de pasiune."
Romanul este despre casatorie, despre situatia femeii care depindea in totalitate financiar si social de un barbat, fie el tatal, fratele sau sotul ei. Trebuie avut in vedere ca in acel secol femeia exista numai incadrata intr-o familie - fie a ei, fie a parintilor ei, fie adoptata in cea a fratilor ori surorilor ei; femeia tanara si singura, de capul ei, era ceva de neconceput. In acest context trebuie citita si cartea. De asemenea ni se mai vorbeste si despre alegerea dificila pe care trebuie s-o faca o femeie si anume de a opta intre un barbat instarit pentru care nu are sentimente, dar care poate sa-i asigure o situatie peste rangul ei, sau un barbat pe care-l iubeste dar care poate sa-i ofere o situatie modesta.
In ceea ce priveste actiunea o cunoastem pe Emma Watson care provine dintr-o familie saraca si este invitata de mai instarita familie Edward sa-si faca prima aparitie publica in Stanton, Surrey. Ea merge la bal insotita de sfaturile surorii sale mai mari, Elizabeth, care spera ca Emma va avea mai mult noroc la maritis decat ea, mai ales ca si distinsa familie Osborne anunta ca va fi prezenta la bal.
Toata lumea o pune in garda pe Emma in privinta unui barbat usuratic si instarit, Tom Musgrave, caruia ii place sa flirteze cu toate fetele noi, dar pe niciuna n-o ia de sotie, frangandu-le inimile tuturor.
Emma, frumoasa si gratioasa atrage atentia tuturor, mai ales lordului Osborne. Ea il cunoaste insa pe dl. Howard, fost profesor particular la Osborne si actualmente predicator la parohia castelului lor. Simte ca ar putea sa-l iubeasca si se pare ca si barbatul i-ar impartasi dorinta.
Curand tatal Emmei moare si situatia ei devine dificila ajungand sa locuiasca o scurta perioada la sora lui Howard. Acolo afla ca Lady Osborne este atrasa de acesta si se gandeste ca Howard ar trebui s-o accepte pentru bani, stiind ca ea nu are ce sa-i ofere. Cu cine va ramane Emma, mai ales ca Lordul Osborne o cere in casatorie iar Howard pare si el dispus sa lupte pentru ea? Ramane sa aflati citind romanul.
Cartea este placuta, usor de citit, personajele pot fi indragite, in stilul consacrat al autoarei, cititorul gasind multe asemanari cu Lizzie si sora ei mai mare din "Mandrie si prejudecata". La un moment dat, dupa capitolul al V-lea, se simte oarecum ca nu Jane Austen e cea care scrie, insa nu este o mare discrepanta si nu deranjeaza cititorul.
Recomand acest roman pentru ca releva atat de mult situatia femeii din epoca respectiva si pentru ca realizam faptul ca femeia efectiv nu avea de ales, era la cheremul destinului, societatii si a barbatilor. Iata cateva citate care vorbesc despre asta si care mi-au placut:
"O inima ranita cum este a ta poate avea putine inclinatii spre mariaj."
"... e foarte rau sa imbatranesti, sa fii saraca si sa se rada de tine."
"Nu mi-ar placea sa ma casatoresc cu un barbat dezagreabil tot asa cum nici tie nu ti-ar placea, dar eu nu prea cred ca exista multi barbati dezagreabili."
"Dar pot sa vad din multe aspecte ca esti foarte rafinata. Am observat asta de cand ai venit acasa si teama mi-e ca nu va fi spre fericirea ta."
"... e un lucru greu pentru o femeie sa reziste flatarii unui barbat, cand acela si-a propus s-o faca sa-l placa."
"Mintile cele mai liberale si mai luminate sunt intotdeauna si cele mai increzatoare."
"Ar fi fost o greseala, ar fi fost imoral sa se marite cu un barbat cand iubea un altul."
"...as spune ca exista imprejurari pe care nici femeile nu le pot controla. Daca femeile ar fi econoame, asta ar conta mult, dar tot nu ar putea face dintr-un venit mic unul mare."
"Cand te vei casatori, copila mea, sa fie un barbat ales de ratiunea ta - nu te arunca prada unui moment de pasiune."
January 6, 2023
Trudno oceniać nieukończoną książkę, jednak przyznaje, że brakowało mi tego wyjątkowego ducha pisarstwa Austen.
October 17, 2019
Emma Watson llega de vuelta con su padre y familia después de 14 años de ser criada por su tía, una dama pudiente, pero ahora la han dejado al garete .
«Las mentes más lúcidas y generosas siempre son las más confiadas. »
Esta es una obra inconclusa de Jane Austen, y uno lo lee a sabiendas que se quedará sin saber el final. Al parecer, del fragmento de un manuscrito, que no son más que un par de párrafos , se han hecho varias ediciones para darle forma , y hasta incluso en algunos casos le han puesto final. En este caso, hay una suerte de 'epílogo' proporcionado por el sobrino de Austen, basado en algo que le habria contado ella a su hermana Cassandra.
La verdad es que aqui sólo ponen en escena personajes y el ambiente social caracteristico de Austen, de damas venidas a menos y que tienen escasas posibilidades de ascender a una posición de no ser por un caballero que se avenga a omitir su escaso poder adquisitivo a.k.a su renta anual.
Tanto como Emma, nos decantamos por el sujeto con la cabeza mejor puesta, pero en las novelas de Austen siempre nos aguardaria una que otra sorpresita y vuelta de tuerca, asi que ese final tan claro como lo pintan deja bastante que creer. Sólo nos queda claro que esta es una Fanny Price más segura de sí (y morena), y que parece que esta vez Frank Churchill no podra echar anzuelo tan fácilmente ;P
En cuanto a la edición en sí (ilustrada), no la recomiendo, no me gustaron para nada dichas ilustraciones.
«Las mentes más lúcidas y generosas siempre son las más confiadas. »
Esta es una obra inconclusa de Jane Austen, y uno lo lee a sabiendas que se quedará sin saber el final. Al parecer, del fragmento de un manuscrito, que no son más que un par de párrafos , se han hecho varias ediciones para darle forma , y hasta incluso en algunos casos le han puesto final. En este caso, hay una suerte de 'epílogo' proporcionado por el sobrino de Austen, basado en algo que le habria contado ella a su hermana Cassandra.
La verdad es que aqui sólo ponen en escena personajes y el ambiente social caracteristico de Austen, de damas venidas a menos y que tienen escasas posibilidades de ascender a una posición de no ser por un caballero que se avenga a omitir su escaso poder adquisitivo a.k.a su renta anual.
Tanto como Emma, nos decantamos por el sujeto con la cabeza mejor puesta, pero en las novelas de Austen siempre nos aguardaria una que otra sorpresita y vuelta de tuerca, asi que ese final tan claro como lo pintan deja bastante que creer. Sólo nos queda claro que esta es una Fanny Price más segura de sí (y morena), y que parece que esta vez Frank Churchill no podra echar anzuelo tan fácilmente ;P
En cuanto a la edición en sí (ilustrada), no la recomiendo, no me gustaron para nada dichas ilustraciones.
June 8, 2022
What a promising start for a novel. I wish Jane Austen had finished it. She managed to pack so many interesting characters and plot points into the first fifty pages, I know this would've been a delightful read, if completed. And The Watsons is also the only of Jane's works to feature a Black character – and an heiress at that! It would've been super interesting to see what Austen would've done with Miss Lambe (it probably would've been a shitshow if we take in mind how she dealt with slave labour in Mansfield Park but it would've been hella interesting nonetheless).
I immediately took to Miss Emma Watson (although she was a Mary Sue who had all desirable men in town falling for her even though she did little to nothing), and I would've loved to see the drama between Tom Musgrove, Lord Osborne and Mr Howard play it. It would've been hella fun, and possibly very sweet.
Jane Austen began work on an untitled novel about 1803, while she was living in Bath, and probably abandoned it after her father's death in January 1805. It had no formal chapter divisions and was approximately 7,500 words long.
The novel's timeframe covers about a fortnight and serves to introduce the main characters. Mr. Watson is a widowed and ailing clergyman with two sons and four daughters. The youngest daughter, Emma, the heroine of the story, has been brought up by a wealthy aunt and is consequently better educated and more refined than her sisters. But after her aunt contracted a foolish second marriage, Emma is obliged to return to her father's house. There she is chagrined by the crude and reckless husband-hunting of two of her sisters, Penelope and Margaret. One particular focus for them was Tom Musgrave, who had paid attention to all of the sisters in the past.
Living near the Watsons are the Osbornes, a great titled family. Emma attracts some notice from the young and awkward Lord Osborne while attending a ball in the nearby town. An act of kindness on her part also acquaints her with Mrs Blake, who introduces Emma to her brother, Mr Howard, vicar to the parish church near Osborne Castle. A few days later Margaret returns home, having been away on a protracted visit to her brother Robert in Croydon. With her come her brother and his overbearing and snobbish wife. When they leave, Emma declines an invitation to accompany them back.
Here the story broke off, but Austen intended for Mr. Watson to soon die and Emma to become dependent for a home on her narrow-minded sister-in-law and brother. She was to decline an offer of marriage from Lord Osborne, and much of the interest of the tale was to arise from [the dowager] Lady Osborne's love for Mr. Howard, and his counter affection for Emma, whom he was finally to marry.
Personally, I think this sounds like a promising plot for a typical Austen novel. I would've loved to see Emma and Mr. Howard fall in love and come together in the end through many trials and tribulations. The tone was already so sweet and merry in the beginning chapters, I am convinced that this novel would've been a super fun ride, maybe comparable to Austen's Northanger Abbey in vibes.
Like I mentioned before, I would've also been curious to see how Austen would've woven Miss Lambe, the 17-year-old "young West Indian of large fortune", into this story. Miss Lambe arrives at Sanditon under the protection of Mrs Griffiths, a middle-aged white woman whose other "charges" include the English Miss Beauforts.
When Austen describes Miss Lambe as "half mulatto", the very indeterminacy of the term points to British uncertainty about race and the status of citizens of mixed heritage, an uncertainty heightened during the period following the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and prior to the abolition of slavery in 1833.
Wealth from the West Indies was important to the national economy, but it vexed the unfolding of a new national narrative of progress and enlightenment following the Napoleonic Wars. Together these factors spurred a desire for refashioning national identity, projecting a narrative of national pride in a victorious Britain whose economic recovery and future prosperity would be ensured by superiority on the seas, returning colonial investments home.
Recent discussions of Miss Lambe’s race have generally attempted to address Edward Said’s claim in Culture and Imperialism that Austen’s work accedes to the aims of early nineteenth-century imperialism. Although much of this debate bears on Mansfield Park and the representation of enslaved labor in Antigua, some studies also consider the economic importance of the West Indies to the resort town in Sanditon and therefore illuminate Austen’s scant description of its most promising tourist, Miss Lambe. Both novels demonstrate Austen’s awareness of the basic conditions of colonial production and its potential impact on Britain’s economy and therefore on the daily lives of its citizens.
Though a fragment, Sanditon nonetheless effectively and starkly details the uncertainties of its time through the many efforts to exploit Miss Lambe’s colonial wealth, to commodify her as a rich West Indian, to employ health tourism as a means of preying on the sick, and to reshape agricultural practices to suit the services required by a new and ailing leisure class. Economic, moral, and bodily health become intertwined in the novel’s existing chapters, but the tangle of self-interested motives encumbers and dissolves any coherent effort to form either a progressive personal or a national narrative of recovery from crisis.
I immediately took to Miss Emma Watson (although she was a Mary Sue who had all desirable men in town falling for her even though she did little to nothing), and I would've loved to see the drama between Tom Musgrove, Lord Osborne and Mr Howard play it. It would've been hella fun, and possibly very sweet.
Jane Austen began work on an untitled novel about 1803, while she was living in Bath, and probably abandoned it after her father's death in January 1805. It had no formal chapter divisions and was approximately 7,500 words long.
The novel's timeframe covers about a fortnight and serves to introduce the main characters. Mr. Watson is a widowed and ailing clergyman with two sons and four daughters. The youngest daughter, Emma, the heroine of the story, has been brought up by a wealthy aunt and is consequently better educated and more refined than her sisters. But after her aunt contracted a foolish second marriage, Emma is obliged to return to her father's house. There she is chagrined by the crude and reckless husband-hunting of two of her sisters, Penelope and Margaret. One particular focus for them was Tom Musgrave, who had paid attention to all of the sisters in the past.
Living near the Watsons are the Osbornes, a great titled family. Emma attracts some notice from the young and awkward Lord Osborne while attending a ball in the nearby town. An act of kindness on her part also acquaints her with Mrs Blake, who introduces Emma to her brother, Mr Howard, vicar to the parish church near Osborne Castle. A few days later Margaret returns home, having been away on a protracted visit to her brother Robert in Croydon. With her come her brother and his overbearing and snobbish wife. When they leave, Emma declines an invitation to accompany them back.
Here the story broke off, but Austen intended for Mr. Watson to soon die and Emma to become dependent for a home on her narrow-minded sister-in-law and brother. She was to decline an offer of marriage from Lord Osborne, and much of the interest of the tale was to arise from [the dowager] Lady Osborne's love for Mr. Howard, and his counter affection for Emma, whom he was finally to marry.
Personally, I think this sounds like a promising plot for a typical Austen novel. I would've loved to see Emma and Mr. Howard fall in love and come together in the end through many trials and tribulations. The tone was already so sweet and merry in the beginning chapters, I am convinced that this novel would've been a super fun ride, maybe comparable to Austen's Northanger Abbey in vibes.
Like I mentioned before, I would've also been curious to see how Austen would've woven Miss Lambe, the 17-year-old "young West Indian of large fortune", into this story. Miss Lambe arrives at Sanditon under the protection of Mrs Griffiths, a middle-aged white woman whose other "charges" include the English Miss Beauforts.
When Austen describes Miss Lambe as "half mulatto", the very indeterminacy of the term points to British uncertainty about race and the status of citizens of mixed heritage, an uncertainty heightened during the period following the abolition of the slave trade in 1807 and prior to the abolition of slavery in 1833.
Wealth from the West Indies was important to the national economy, but it vexed the unfolding of a new national narrative of progress and enlightenment following the Napoleonic Wars. Together these factors spurred a desire for refashioning national identity, projecting a narrative of national pride in a victorious Britain whose economic recovery and future prosperity would be ensured by superiority on the seas, returning colonial investments home.
Recent discussions of Miss Lambe’s race have generally attempted to address Edward Said’s claim in Culture and Imperialism that Austen’s work accedes to the aims of early nineteenth-century imperialism. Although much of this debate bears on Mansfield Park and the representation of enslaved labor in Antigua, some studies also consider the economic importance of the West Indies to the resort town in Sanditon and therefore illuminate Austen’s scant description of its most promising tourist, Miss Lambe. Both novels demonstrate Austen’s awareness of the basic conditions of colonial production and its potential impact on Britain’s economy and therefore on the daily lives of its citizens.
Though a fragment, Sanditon nonetheless effectively and starkly details the uncertainties of its time through the many efforts to exploit Miss Lambe’s colonial wealth, to commodify her as a rich West Indian, to employ health tourism as a means of preying on the sick, and to reshape agricultural practices to suit the services required by a new and ailing leisure class. Economic, moral, and bodily health become intertwined in the novel’s existing chapters, but the tangle of self-interested motives encumbers and dissolves any coherent effort to form either a progressive personal or a national narrative of recovery from crisis.
July 5, 2020
"I am sorry for her anxieties," said Emma... To be so bent on marriage, to pursue a man merely for the sake of situation, is a sort of thing that shocks me; I cannot understand it. Poverty is a great evil; but to a woman of education and feeling it ought not, it cannot be the greatest. I would rather be teacher at a school (and I can think of nothing worse) than marry a man I did not like."
The Watsons by Jane Austen is an unfinished novel, never published until decades later, in 1871 within the pages of A Memoir of Jane Austen . Written by Jane Austen's nephew, this is now available as a free Kindle book.
At some point, my husband and I obtained the Audible version of The Watsons narrated by Beth Kesler. The narration was very lovely, with a British accent.
Rating: 5 stars
Narration: 5 stars
The heroine: Emma Watson, 19, has returned to her original home after a years-long absence. Like Frank Churchill in Emma (see my review) and Fanny Price in Mansfield Park (see my review), Emma Watson was sent to live with a relative.
The premise, as outlined in Wikipedia: "Mr. Watson is a widowed and ailing clergyman with two sons and four daughters. The youngest daughter, Emma. . . has been brought up by a wealthy aunt. . . But after her aunt contracted a foolish second marriage, Emma is obliged to return to her father's house." Emma soon attends a ball, and that's about the extent of the story fragment.
Christian elements: None here.
Is it clean/chaste? Yes.
Other content issues: I don't remember anything else! It's very brief.
What I liked: I really enjoyed finding various story elements that showed up in Austen's completed novels. I'm interested in reading a continuation! Emma Watson by Joan Aiken is one such possibility.
What I didn’t like: Too short, of course!
Audiobook: I really liked this narrator. I enjoyed her rendition of Lady Susan as well.
The bottom line: If you're looking for an introduction to Jane Austen, this definitely isn't it. But if you've run out of complete Austen novels to read, give this a whirl!
The Watsons by Jane Austen is an unfinished novel, never published until decades later, in 1871 within the pages of A Memoir of Jane Austen . Written by Jane Austen's nephew, this is now available as a free Kindle book.
At some point, my husband and I obtained the Audible version of The Watsons narrated by Beth Kesler. The narration was very lovely, with a British accent.
Rating: 5 stars
Narration: 5 stars
The heroine: Emma Watson, 19, has returned to her original home after a years-long absence. Like Frank Churchill in Emma (see my review) and Fanny Price in Mansfield Park (see my review), Emma Watson was sent to live with a relative.
The premise, as outlined in Wikipedia: "Mr. Watson is a widowed and ailing clergyman with two sons and four daughters. The youngest daughter, Emma. . . has been brought up by a wealthy aunt. . . But after her aunt contracted a foolish second marriage, Emma is obliged to return to her father's house." Emma soon attends a ball, and that's about the extent of the story fragment.
Christian elements: None here.
Is it clean/chaste? Yes.
Other content issues: I don't remember anything else! It's very brief.
What I liked: I really enjoyed finding various story elements that showed up in Austen's completed novels. I'm interested in reading a continuation! Emma Watson by Joan Aiken is one such possibility.
What I didn’t like: Too short, of course!
Audiobook: I really liked this narrator. I enjoyed her rendition of Lady Susan as well.
The bottom line: If you're looking for an introduction to Jane Austen, this definitely isn't it. But if you've run out of complete Austen novels to read, give this a whirl!
March 13, 2019
I am a big Jane Austen fan & have read all or thought I read all she had to offer her readers until I came across several unfinished earlier & later novels as well as writings from her teenage years. Her first well known novel was "Sense & Sensibility" published in 1811. Jane was born December 16, 1775 & she began writing "The Watsons" in 1803 but did not finish this novel, it is surmised because of her father's death in 1805. "The Watsons" has a "Pride & Prejudice" & "Mansfield Park" feel to it. If you are not a fan of unfinished works then this 80 page story would not be for you but if you are a fan of Austen it might be worth the read as it was for me. I don't mind unfinished works which other authors have finished this one for Jane but I tend to finish it in my own mind. What I found so attractive about this novel is the tone of the family as compared to her other well known novels. This novel was a page turner for me & it was quite unpolished at times but very enjoyable to this Austen fan. When I talk about tone in this novel, I mean that Jane's usual basic harmony of family even when surrounding others outside are quite disagreeable the immediate has a feeling of liking each other but in "The Watsons" it is dislike among siblings. The sarcasm, conceit & rivalry is abundant in this short story which makes it quite interesting Austen read. The main character Emma Watson returns home after a decade absence while living with her well to do aunt. She is now an added burden of the family. She has 2 older brothers & 4 sisters which harmony is lacking excepting with her sister Elizabeth. Add the wealthy Osbornes & a dandy friend to the mix in this English town & the fun begins.
July 20, 2020
5*
I may have to take back my earlier statement about Sanditon having potentially become Austen's best work if finished and bestow it on The Watsons. The beginning was perhaps a little brisk, but Austen's dialogue quickly started working its usual sparkling effect and brought the characters to full technicolor life.
I may have to take back my earlier statement about Sanditon having potentially become Austen's best work if finished and bestow it on The Watsons. The beginning was perhaps a little brisk, but Austen's dialogue quickly started working its usual sparkling effect and brought the characters to full technicolor life.
August 16, 2018
One of Jane Austen's unfinished novels, which the writer left early, writing only five chapters. It seems to be the beginning of a story that closely resembles the writer's life at that time. It's heroine is a young woman who is facing some financial difficulties and above all the social pressure to marry to stop being a financial burden to her family. We do not know why she stopped writing but it is certain that its autobiographical character in an emotionally difficult period of her life made it difficult to continue. Of course because of its small size of the snippet there can be no real review but I think I can say that it was the beginning of something quite interesting.
Ένα από τα ημιτελή μυθιστόρημα της Jane Austen το οποίο η συγγραφέας εγκατέλειψε πολύ νωρίς, γράφοντας τελικά μόνο πέντε κεφάλαια. Φαίνεται ότι είναι η αρχή μιας ιστορίας που μοιάζει πολύ με τη ζωή της συγγραφέως εκείνη την εποχή. Η ηρωίδα του είμαι μία νεαρή γυναίκα που αντιμετωπίζει κάποιες οικονομικές δυσκολίες και πάνω από όλα την κοινωνική πίεση να παντρευτεί για να μην είναι οικονομικό βάρος στην οικογένειά της. Δεν γνωρίζουμε γιατί σταμάτησε το γράψιμο της αλλά είναι σίγουρο ότι ο αυτοβιογραφικός του χαρακτήρας σε μία συναισθηματικά δύσκολη περίοδο της ζωής της έκανε δύσκολη τη συνέχιση του. Φυσικά εξαιτίας του μικρού μεγέθους του αποσπάσματος δεν μπορεί να γίνει κάποια κριτική αλλά νομίζω ότι μπορώ να πω ότι ήταν η αρχή από κάτι αρκετά ενδιαφέρον.
Ένα από τα ημιτελή μυθιστόρημα της Jane Austen το οποίο η συγγραφέας εγκατέλειψε πολύ νωρίς, γράφοντας τελικά μόνο πέντε κεφάλαια. Φαίνεται ότι είναι η αρχή μιας ιστορίας που μοιάζει πολύ με τη ζωή της συγγραφέως εκείνη την εποχή. Η ηρωίδα του είμαι μία νεαρή γυναίκα που αντιμετωπίζει κάποιες οικονομικές δυσκολίες και πάνω από όλα την κοινωνική πίεση να παντρευτεί για να μην είναι οικονομικό βάρος στην οικογένειά της. Δεν γνωρίζουμε γιατί σταμάτησε το γράψιμο της αλλά είναι σίγουρο ότι ο αυτοβιογραφικός του χαρακτήρας σε μία συναισθηματικά δύσκολη περίοδο της ζωής της έκανε δύσκολη τη συνέχιση του. Φυσικά εξαιτίας του μικρού μεγέθους του αποσπάσματος δεν μπορεί να γίνει κάποια κριτική αλλά νομίζω ότι μπορώ να πω ότι ήταν η αρχή από κάτι αρκετά ενδιαφέρον.
September 2, 2014
This review was first published on Babblings of a Bookworm: http://babblingsofabookworm.blogspot....
Although I have been an ardent admirer of Jane Austen’s works for a long time I’ve only ever read her main 6 books and some of her juvenilia. In addition to these, she also wrote a work called ‘Lady Susan’ and had two unfinished works, ‘Sanditon’, which Austen was working on when she died, and ‘The Watsons’, a work that was abandoned around the time that Austen’s father died. It is generally believed that she abandoned the work because it felt too close to her own circumstances. Recently I was lucky enough to win a book that is based on The Watsons, so I thought I’d better read the unfinished part before I started reading this.
The Watsons are a family headed by an invalid father, who has six children, 4 daughters and 2 sons. All of the daughters are unmarried. Elizabeth is the oldest Watson daughter. She is in her late twenties and a kindhearted lady, though she is somewhat lacking in tact:
“I should not be surprised if you were to be thought one of the prettiest girls in the room; there is a great deal in novelty.”
The two middle sisters, Penelope (Pen) and Margaret are absent for the first few chapters, but what we see and hear of them isn’t promising. Elizabeth states that one of her sisters frightened off a potential suitor for her for fairly spiteful reasons, and when we meet Margaret she is an obviously false, conniving person. Of the two brothers, Robert is married to a rather snobbish lady, and Sam is training to be a surgeon, and is in love with the daughter of the Watsons’ closest neighbour, the Edwards family.
The youngest daughter of the Watsons, Emma, has been living with their aunt, due to Mrs Watson’s death. Emma lived away from her siblings for the past 14 years, since she was 5 years old. The aunt was widowed and remarried somebody who wasn’t willing to give Emma a home (booo). Emma has therefore had a different upbringing to her brothers and sisters. She has been moving in a more refined society, and been living in a richer home. She is more genteel and refined than her sisters and feels the distinction between what she has been used to and how she is now living.
Emma goes to an Assembly, escorted by the Edwards family. Elizabeth doesn’t accompany her because somebody has to stay home with Mr Watson. At the Assembly Emma meets, and is noticed by, Lord Osbourne, who is from the local family of importance. She also meets a man who she is not inclined to think well of, the social climber Tom Musgrave, who her sister Margaret hopes to marry. A man that Emma finds more acceptable is Lord Osbourne’s former tutor, Mr Howard, who invites her to dance.
Although this piece is only a few chapters, it’s a very promising beginning, and I wished there was more of it! It seems as though marriage was to be a key theme of the novel. Emma and Elizabeth had already discussed their views on marriage, with the younger Emma saying that she’d rather be a teacher than marry a man she didn’t like, and her older sister replying that
“I should not like marrying a disagreeable man any more than yourself; but I do not think there are many very disagreeable men; I think I could like any good-humoured man with a comfortable income.”
Elizabeth’s view is certainly the more practical, especially considering how many unmarried sisters there were. Emma had received the best education and may have expected to be able to get a job as a teacher, which she mentions, but her sisters probably couldn’t. As Emma says, “the luck of one member of a family is luck to all” – on a practical level the Watson ladies needed to marry, if they could.
There are a number of works based on The Watsons. I found a list here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Watsons
After reading the beginning of The Watsons, my appetite is whetted, and I’m looking forward to reading some of them.
Although I have been an ardent admirer of Jane Austen’s works for a long time I’ve only ever read her main 6 books and some of her juvenilia. In addition to these, she also wrote a work called ‘Lady Susan’ and had two unfinished works, ‘Sanditon’, which Austen was working on when she died, and ‘The Watsons’, a work that was abandoned around the time that Austen’s father died. It is generally believed that she abandoned the work because it felt too close to her own circumstances. Recently I was lucky enough to win a book that is based on The Watsons, so I thought I’d better read the unfinished part before I started reading this.
The Watsons are a family headed by an invalid father, who has six children, 4 daughters and 2 sons. All of the daughters are unmarried. Elizabeth is the oldest Watson daughter. She is in her late twenties and a kindhearted lady, though she is somewhat lacking in tact:
“I should not be surprised if you were to be thought one of the prettiest girls in the room; there is a great deal in novelty.”
The two middle sisters, Penelope (Pen) and Margaret are absent for the first few chapters, but what we see and hear of them isn’t promising. Elizabeth states that one of her sisters frightened off a potential suitor for her for fairly spiteful reasons, and when we meet Margaret she is an obviously false, conniving person. Of the two brothers, Robert is married to a rather snobbish lady, and Sam is training to be a surgeon, and is in love with the daughter of the Watsons’ closest neighbour, the Edwards family.
The youngest daughter of the Watsons, Emma, has been living with their aunt, due to Mrs Watson’s death. Emma lived away from her siblings for the past 14 years, since she was 5 years old. The aunt was widowed and remarried somebody who wasn’t willing to give Emma a home (booo). Emma has therefore had a different upbringing to her brothers and sisters. She has been moving in a more refined society, and been living in a richer home. She is more genteel and refined than her sisters and feels the distinction between what she has been used to and how she is now living.
Emma goes to an Assembly, escorted by the Edwards family. Elizabeth doesn’t accompany her because somebody has to stay home with Mr Watson. At the Assembly Emma meets, and is noticed by, Lord Osbourne, who is from the local family of importance. She also meets a man who she is not inclined to think well of, the social climber Tom Musgrave, who her sister Margaret hopes to marry. A man that Emma finds more acceptable is Lord Osbourne’s former tutor, Mr Howard, who invites her to dance.
Although this piece is only a few chapters, it’s a very promising beginning, and I wished there was more of it! It seems as though marriage was to be a key theme of the novel. Emma and Elizabeth had already discussed their views on marriage, with the younger Emma saying that she’d rather be a teacher than marry a man she didn’t like, and her older sister replying that
“I should not like marrying a disagreeable man any more than yourself; but I do not think there are many very disagreeable men; I think I could like any good-humoured man with a comfortable income.”
Elizabeth’s view is certainly the more practical, especially considering how many unmarried sisters there were. Emma had received the best education and may have expected to be able to get a job as a teacher, which she mentions, but her sisters probably couldn’t. As Emma says, “the luck of one member of a family is luck to all” – on a practical level the Watson ladies needed to marry, if they could.
There are a number of works based on The Watsons. I found a list here: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Watsons
After reading the beginning of The Watsons, my appetite is whetted, and I’m looking forward to reading some of them.
March 27, 2024
This is an early, wan fragment which Austen would cannibalize for her eventual novels: characters named Emma and Elizabeth and a Mr. Tom Musgrave (there is a Musgrove family in Persuasion).
It is Austen's only work featuring a protagonist of color. Emma is brown-skinned. Her sister Margaret whispers to the hottie Tom Musgrave, "Did you ever see anything more perfectly beautiful? I think even you must be a convert to a brown complexion."
Says he, "Your sister's complexion is as fine as a dark complexion can be, but I still profess my preference of a white skin."
new vocabulary:
negus: a hot drink of port, sugar, lemon, and spices
modes of transportation:
curricle: a light, open, two-wheeled carriage pulled by two horses side by side
December 19, 2015
This was a great start for a novel, but, unfortunately, it's only the start. Only 5 chapters were written and, while it has been sufficient to endear Emma and Elisabeth to me, I need more. An Austen heroine is always a lovable but flawed one and I'm dying to know her character better.
Since Joan Aiken took on the project of writing a full book, I'm going to look into Emma Watson.
Since Joan Aiken took on the project of writing a full book, I'm going to look into Emma Watson.
May 20, 2021
Fue el más cortito y el que menos me gusto, pero el audiolibro está muy bueno. ✨La voz de la chica ✨.
Link del audiolibro. ➳
https://open.spotify.com/album/2lYgOs...
Link del audiolibro. ➳
https://open.spotify.com/album/2lYgOs...
August 19, 2020
One of Austen's earliest works, and unfinished, this was really interesting. There are bits and pieces that clearly made it into other works. It reminded me of Mansfield Park, mostly, but there were hints of Pride & Prejudice and Persuasion as well. I noticed a number names that pop up in other books as well.
The three stars are because it's really just fragments that run together. They go to a ball, then suddenly the ball is over and some brothers come to visit, etc.
The three stars are because it's really just fragments that run together. They go to a ball, then suddenly the ball is over and some brothers come to visit, etc.
December 8, 2014
The worst thing you can read is - The Novel has never been completed. I knew this from the moment I started reading it (I found in between unfinished Jane Austen works on the internet – Did some exploring when I remembered about one of my all time favorites authors) but I was not expecting to read this line. If I remember correctly it was in Cambridge page of Jane Austen…something about classic authors which of course she is! And damn you people! I knew it myself; don’t need to slap me on the face! And it even ended on the interesting note: “Emma was of course uninfluenced, except to greater esteem for Elizabeth, by such representations, and the visitors departed without her.”At least for once main heroine didn’t leave home influenced by others to visit some relative in another country (I did notice this tendency in Austen works). Unfortunately no one knows what might have happened after this… I guess reading something that’s not finished wasn’t the best idea ever. But do I regret it? No. Do I want more? DEFINITELY!
February 18, 2016
El único gran problema que le he visto a los Watson es que Jane Austen no ha podido terminarla. Las 120 páginas que están publicadas nos presentan a una trama que promete ser interesante, con las intrigas entre tres hermanas visto desde una de ellas que llega a la casa tras años de ausencia. Vemos un característico baile con todos los rumores, dudas y noticias que desata ... Todo narrado con muy buen gusto.
Y cuando el baile termina, y volvemos a la casa de la familia, y parece que tenemos todo el argumento presentado y listo para desarrollarse ... se termina el escrito. Y como único consuelo nos encontramos con un párrafo escrito por su sobrino explicándonos por donde piensan que habría ido la trama según comentarios de su tía.
En definitiva, la sensación es de que hubiera sido una muy buena novela ... pero que está sólo empezada. Por lo demás, ilustraciones preciosas y originales en la edición que yo he escogido que lo complementan muy bien. Y con más ganas de leer otras novelas terminadas de Jane.
Y cuando el baile termina, y volvemos a la casa de la familia, y parece que tenemos todo el argumento presentado y listo para desarrollarse ... se termina el escrito. Y como único consuelo nos encontramos con un párrafo escrito por su sobrino explicándonos por donde piensan que habría ido la trama según comentarios de su tía.
En definitiva, la sensación es de que hubiera sido una muy buena novela ... pero que está sólo empezada. Por lo demás, ilustraciones preciosas y originales en la edición que yo he escogido que lo complementan muy bien. Y con más ganas de leer otras novelas terminadas de Jane.
![Profile Image for Jasmine (Jazzie) [Jesus Loves You!!].](/_next/image?url=https%3A%2F%2Fi.gr-assets.com%2Fimages%2FS%2Fcompressed.photo.goodreads.com%2Fusers%2F1764343140i%2F174090398._UX200_CR0%2C19%2C200%2C200_.jpg&w=128&q=75)
July 9, 2024
I really wish Jane Austen had lived long enough to finish this novel because I really like what she had written so far!!
October 22, 2022
The first five chapters of this book were written by Jane Austen around 1804 and the rest by "another" before its publication in 1977. Although I am sure that those who have studied the book in depth would notice the transition, I did not. The plot was based on an earlier continuation written by Austen's niece who knew the story-line intended by her aunt as it had been talked about in the family.
As with Pride and Prejudice, the story follows the fortunes of a family in less than affluent circumstances. It is the youngest daughter, Emma Watson, who is the heroine, and her sisters are presented as a motley crew: the easygoing Elizabeth, the whiny Margaret and the forthright Penelope.
The recurrent theme of the book seemed to be the inadvisability of an unequal marriage. I felt the story was completed in a style that complemented its early chapters and enjoyed the gentle tale of Emma's romance.
As with Pride and Prejudice, the story follows the fortunes of a family in less than affluent circumstances. It is the youngest daughter, Emma Watson, who is the heroine, and her sisters are presented as a motley crew: the easygoing Elizabeth, the whiny Margaret and the forthright Penelope.
The recurrent theme of the book seemed to be the inadvisability of an unequal marriage. I felt the story was completed in a style that complemented its early chapters and enjoyed the gentle tale of Emma's romance.
Read
October 23, 2015Non riesco a dare stelline perché sostanzialmente non c'è storia.. Ho letto il libro consapevole del suo essere incompiuto, ma arrivare all'ultima parola è stata comunque una doccia fredda.
Poi vabbé, io la mentalità dell'epoca proprio non riesco a concepirla.. Balli, cazzeggi vari ed eventuali, feste, rendite.. Ma seriamente?
MA CHI LAVORA?!
Però Emma mi è stata pure abbastanza simpatica, dai!
Poi vabbé, io la mentalità dell'epoca proprio non riesco a concepirla.. Balli, cazzeggi vari ed eventuali, feste, rendite.. Ma seriamente?
MA CHI LAVORA?!
Però Emma mi è stata pure abbastanza simpatica, dai!
December 9, 2016
Quite nice for an unfinished novel, but because it's Austen, verbose to a fault. And by verbose I mean... I couldn't follow a thing. Contemplating writing the screenplay just to dissect it and save us all :)
February 16, 2018
obra de Jane Austen que quedó incompleta, pero que deja la trama de la posible novela.
A pesar de lo poco que se puede deducir de este inicio de novela pintaba bastante bien.
A pesar de lo poco que se puede deducir de este inicio de novela pintaba bastante bien.
December 16, 2019
Que pena que esté inconcluso pero lo que leí me deja claro que lo hubiera amado,de hecho hasta creo que me podría haber gustado más que Northanger.
July 6, 2021
Como siempre, no esperaba menos de una obra de Jane Austen. Me habría encantado muchísimo leer esta obra completa, una pena que haya quedado inconclusa.
March 27, 2015
Buon Pomeriggio #FeniLettori di vecchi classici. Oggi ci troviamo a parlare di un libro che ha impegnato pochissime ore della mia giornata...
Il libro di cui vi parlo è della mia amatissima "Jane Austen" una delle mie scrittrici preferite ma credo che per molti di voi, questo non sia un mistero, ne ho parlato molte volte e molte altre ne parlerò. Non sono di parte ma vi basti leggere uno dei suoi scritti per rimanere affascinati dal modo di scrittura di questa autrice; dall'amore che c'era e dai modi garbati e scomparsi che si susseguono, si combattono e si velano, da eroine che lasciano davvero il segno, misteriose, dolci, accattivanti e spontanee. Un misto di eleganze e cortesia, quello che dovrebbe esserci in ogni scritto, surreale o veriterio che sia.
I Watson non è un vero è proprio romanzo ma forse l'inizio di tutto. E' un opera interrotta che si presuppone avesse cominciato a scrivere intorno al 1803 e probabilmente abbandonata dopo la morte del padre, nel 1805. Fu pubblicata dopo, dal nipote James-Edward Austen-Leigh, nella seconda edizione della biografia di Jane: "A Memoir of Jane Austen, 1871". Il titolo e la sua suddivisione sono stati scelti dallo stesso. Forse questa era solo una bozza di quello che sarebbe venuto dopo. I suoi magnifici romanzi. Nei quali ritroviamo molti dei personaggi che vi sono menzionati qui, alcune caratteristiche sono molto vicine, tra cui il nome Emma che verrà ripreso nell'omonimo romanzo.
Ci ritroviamo a seguire le vicende di Mr. Watson che è un sacerdote vedovo con due figli e quattro figlie. La figlia più giovane, Emma, è stata allevata da una zia ricca e di conseguenza è più istruita e più raffinata rispetto le sue sorelle, ma quando ha l’obbligo di tornare a casa di suo padre si trova in seria difficoltà. Si ritroverà ad affrontare i volti, gli abiti e tutto ciò che appare schiacciando così la sua intelligenza. A quei tempi un matrimonio era il fulcro della vita di ogni famiglia benestante. Le altre sorelle invece si contenderanno con maestria i rari scapoli abbienti del posto. Emma, compare come un personaggio forte e deciso, un pò come tutti i personaggi di Jane ma con quell'insicurezza d'amore che si basa su strutture eleganti e sofisticate. La scrittura appare lineare e decisa, come sempre la nostra Jane cancella la bellezza dell'uomo amato da tutte ma non dall'esimia protagonista, ribelle e intelligente.
Purtroppo però il romanzo si blocca drasticamente e non potremmo mai sapere cosa succederà dopo...solo nella sua lettera a Cassandra c'è un pensiero che si rifà al Romanzo e che il nipote sottolinea nella sua Memoria (Memoir of Jane Austen) del 1871: “Mr. Watson già gravemente malato nei capitoli di apertura sarebbe morto presto e Emma costretta a dipendere per una casa dalla meschinità del fratello e della cognata. Avrebbe rifiutato la proposta di matrimonio di Lord Osborne, e molto dell’interesse del racconto sarebbe derivato dall’amore di Lady Osborne per Mr. Howard, innamorato invece di Emma, che alla fine avrebbe sposato.”
Peccato che sia stato interrotto così bruscamente ma chissà cosa aveva in serbo la nostra Jane. Un piccolo racconto da tenere a mente e da inserire anche questo nella grande raccolta della nostra amata Jane AUSTEN! Buona Lettura nel tempo...
Il libro di cui vi parlo è della mia amatissima "Jane Austen" una delle mie scrittrici preferite ma credo che per molti di voi, questo non sia un mistero, ne ho parlato molte volte e molte altre ne parlerò. Non sono di parte ma vi basti leggere uno dei suoi scritti per rimanere affascinati dal modo di scrittura di questa autrice; dall'amore che c'era e dai modi garbati e scomparsi che si susseguono, si combattono e si velano, da eroine che lasciano davvero il segno, misteriose, dolci, accattivanti e spontanee. Un misto di eleganze e cortesia, quello che dovrebbe esserci in ogni scritto, surreale o veriterio che sia.
I Watson non è un vero è proprio romanzo ma forse l'inizio di tutto. E' un opera interrotta che si presuppone avesse cominciato a scrivere intorno al 1803 e probabilmente abbandonata dopo la morte del padre, nel 1805. Fu pubblicata dopo, dal nipote James-Edward Austen-Leigh, nella seconda edizione della biografia di Jane: "A Memoir of Jane Austen, 1871". Il titolo e la sua suddivisione sono stati scelti dallo stesso. Forse questa era solo una bozza di quello che sarebbe venuto dopo. I suoi magnifici romanzi. Nei quali ritroviamo molti dei personaggi che vi sono menzionati qui, alcune caratteristiche sono molto vicine, tra cui il nome Emma che verrà ripreso nell'omonimo romanzo.
Ci ritroviamo a seguire le vicende di Mr. Watson che è un sacerdote vedovo con due figli e quattro figlie. La figlia più giovane, Emma, è stata allevata da una zia ricca e di conseguenza è più istruita e più raffinata rispetto le sue sorelle, ma quando ha l’obbligo di tornare a casa di suo padre si trova in seria difficoltà. Si ritroverà ad affrontare i volti, gli abiti e tutto ciò che appare schiacciando così la sua intelligenza. A quei tempi un matrimonio era il fulcro della vita di ogni famiglia benestante. Le altre sorelle invece si contenderanno con maestria i rari scapoli abbienti del posto. Emma, compare come un personaggio forte e deciso, un pò come tutti i personaggi di Jane ma con quell'insicurezza d'amore che si basa su strutture eleganti e sofisticate. La scrittura appare lineare e decisa, come sempre la nostra Jane cancella la bellezza dell'uomo amato da tutte ma non dall'esimia protagonista, ribelle e intelligente.
Purtroppo però il romanzo si blocca drasticamente e non potremmo mai sapere cosa succederà dopo...solo nella sua lettera a Cassandra c'è un pensiero che si rifà al Romanzo e che il nipote sottolinea nella sua Memoria (Memoir of Jane Austen) del 1871: “Mr. Watson già gravemente malato nei capitoli di apertura sarebbe morto presto e Emma costretta a dipendere per una casa dalla meschinità del fratello e della cognata. Avrebbe rifiutato la proposta di matrimonio di Lord Osborne, e molto dell’interesse del racconto sarebbe derivato dall’amore di Lady Osborne per Mr. Howard, innamorato invece di Emma, che alla fine avrebbe sposato.”
Peccato che sia stato interrotto così bruscamente ma chissà cosa aveva in serbo la nostra Jane. Un piccolo racconto da tenere a mente e da inserire anche questo nella grande raccolta della nostra amata Jane AUSTEN! Buona Lettura nel tempo...
February 5, 2023
This is not the edition I read. The one I read was part of a large Jane Austen collection, but I wanted to review it on its own.
This is a fragment, a novel Jane Austen began in 1805 or thereabouts, and was first published after her death in the memoir about her published by a family member.
Emma Watson is one of four daughters (there are two sons as well) of a clergyman who is not well off. She was sent to live with an aunt and uncle when she was very young, after her mother's death. Now the uncle is dead and the aunt has just remarried. The second husband sent Emma away, back to her family, all of whom she barely remembers. She had expected to inherit, until her uncle died. Now she is impoverished at nineteen, and sent back without any prospects for her future, to her family. Her sisters don't seem to get along very well. But she soon attends her first assembly in the neighborhood, and makes quite an impression on the local aristocratic family, the Osbornes, and their pastor, Mr. Howard.
It's an intriguing beginning to a story that was never finished. Austen's sister Cassandra had an impression of where the story was headed, and passed that information on.
Many authors have since completed the story in their own ways. I'm currently reading the Joan Aiken version, and I like it a lot. It picks up at the end of the fragment, which is included.
This is a fragment, a novel Jane Austen began in 1805 or thereabouts, and was first published after her death in the memoir about her published by a family member.
Emma Watson is one of four daughters (there are two sons as well) of a clergyman who is not well off. She was sent to live with an aunt and uncle when she was very young, after her mother's death. Now the uncle is dead and the aunt has just remarried. The second husband sent Emma away, back to her family, all of whom she barely remembers. She had expected to inherit, until her uncle died. Now she is impoverished at nineteen, and sent back without any prospects for her future, to her family. Her sisters don't seem to get along very well. But she soon attends her first assembly in the neighborhood, and makes quite an impression on the local aristocratic family, the Osbornes, and their pastor, Mr. Howard.
It's an intriguing beginning to a story that was never finished. Austen's sister Cassandra had an impression of where the story was headed, and passed that information on.
Many authors have since completed the story in their own ways. I'm currently reading the Joan Aiken version, and I like it a lot. It picks up at the end of the fragment, which is included.
November 29, 2017
Es una pena que Jane no terminara esta novela; lo poco que se nos presenta aquí me dejó salivando, no hay otra expresión, y conocer gracias a su sobrino cómo pensó ella que debía terminar la historia es en realidad un magro consuelo; pero es lo que hay y ha sido una delicia leer esta edición con unas ilustraciones tan bonitas.
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March 15, 2021Ojalá Jane hubiera podido acabarlo.
(Also, la protagonista se llama Emma Watson y, efectivamente, no podía quitarme la imagen mental de la actriz de la cabeza. Estaría magnífica en una adaptación de alguna obra de Jane Austen, seguro).
(Also, la protagonista se llama Emma Watson y, efectivamente, no podía quitarme la imagen mental de la actriz de la cabeza. Estaría magnífica en una adaptación de alguna obra de Jane Austen, seguro).
December 22, 2021
Una novela menor que no es nada malo lo único que me supo a poco esta inacabada para mi gusto aunque siempre es un placer leer a Austen
July 25, 2024
Este escrito de la autora pues siento que relata un poco el papel de las mujeres en su época y le da su toque de un cambio a un mejor bienestar de las mujeres, pero para mí no ha sido llamativo o que tuviera algun fin relevante.
Lo único que hace un poco amena la lectura son las ilustraciones con este estilo raro.
Lo único que hace un poco amena la lectura son las ilustraciones con este estilo raro.
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