Classics for Beginners discussion

We will read this along with Pride and Prejudice through May and June.

(You can read one after the other or both at the same time, whatever your preference)

I just started Emma (I suppose I'm actually about a quarter through) and I am struggling! I am new to this group and don't typically read classics. I find the language hard to catch onto and that there isn't much of a plot.

Anyways- As I am reading further into the story I am beginning to enjoy it and find myself smiling once in a while. However, I know myself quite well enough to realize that I would have normally gave up on this book long ago. Are "classics" usually like this, or is it just this book?

For instance - when Emma was talking about the age of someone, instead of saying "twenty three", she would say "three-and-twenty" which I originally interpreted as time. I guess what I'm saying is that I sometimes feel dumb when reading this! LOL Also, the two "Mr. Knightley's" really confused me for a chapter or two until I realized that there are two of them... ugh.

I'm crossing my fingers that Pride and Prejudice will not be as challenging for me!

I know what you mean about feeling a bit thick when your read it, the number thing is just the time just like when they say -Shire instead of the actual county (e.g. Lancashire, cheshire, oxfordshire ect). The two Mr Knightleys are so confusing at times. I promise it gets better and better with every page you turn. The first classic I read was Jane Eyre and it took be about a month to read (long time for me) because of the language but in the end it is one of my favourite books and every time I read a classic it gets easier and easier. Pride and Prejudice will be easier.

What do you think of Emma so far? What about her red head friend?

Nicolle wrote: "I know what you mean about feeling a bit thick when your read it, the number thing is just the time just like when they say -Shire instead of the actual county (e.g. Lancashire, cheshire, oxfordshi..."

Thanks for the encouragement Nicole! I am enjoying the book but I'm not much of a romantic type so at times I find it ridiculous. BUT it's always nice to read about other peoples' point of views. :)

Now- which one is her redheaded friend (Miss Smith, Miss Fairfax...)? I think Miss Smith has blonde hair but I'm not quite sure now lol!

Emma is a lot easier for me to read so far, compared to Pride and Prejudice......after a while they get easier though...hang in there, the flow catches on.

I've noticed that it is most difficult for me to start reading again when I pick up the book after a break, but once I have read a few pages I am back at my normal pace. Must be the language usage?

Amber wrote: "Nicolle wrote: "I know what you mean about feeling a bit thick when your read it, the number thing is just the time just like when they say -Shire instead of the actual county (e.g. Lancashire, che..."

I haven't read this book in a while so think I am on about Miss Smith (the one she is trying to set up with someone). I really liked her but find her lack of independence quite annoying.

I'm DONE! I need to take a little break and read something more modern before I start Pride and Prejudice... lol!

What did you think??

I can see why people enjoy it (cute, flirty, etc)... but I honestly did not enjoy it much. I think that I was mainly bothered by the "helplessness" of the women in the book (as I am pretty girl-power oriented), as well as all the lovey-dovey stuff. It was definitely cute, but not a book that I would chose to read for myself again.

I did find myself laughing in a few parts but also found the story quite predictable. I'm going to watch one of the "Emma" movies now and maybe gain some more appreciation!

I can see why the book may not have suited you if your a super feminist and all that. I personally love Emma and her task of finding love for others, unbenown to her own feelings.

I also laughed alot through this book, though yes it is predictable which is what classical romance is all about! I haven't watched any movies of classic books so I might join you there. Tell me what version you watch if it's good.

Amber wrote: "I did find myself laughing in a few parts but also found the story quite predictable. I'm going to watch one of the "Emma" movies now and maybe gain some more appreciation!"

I don't mind it. It was the time and place, so I can appreciate the anti-feminism behavior from a historical standpoint. I get more annoyed with the historical fiction books where every female is a feminist. Cultural relativism, I guess.

I've just begun the book, I'm on chapter five. I can't stand Emma's prying personality, but it seems like she was meant to be intolerable. I'm using Sparknotes to review what I read. I'm getting used to the change of language and don't want any plot points to over my head.

I'm half way into it now and it's great although hard to keep up on...I mean you really have to pay attention or you get to the end of one of those looong paragraphs and go huh? LOL....

I know what you mean, many times I have to re-read pages but it is all worth it in the end.

Kristine wrote: "I'm half way into it now and it's great although hard to keep up on...I mean you really have to pay attention or you get to the end of one of those looong paragraphs and go huh? LOL...."

There were a few times when I was tempted to skip over a page of Miss' Bates blabbering yet I didn't do because I feared that I would miss vital information. Miss Bates... ick. Jane Austen sure did do a good job in making you dislike this character much like everyone else in the book felt.

As for the feminist stuff - I'm definitely not hardcore feminist but I enjoy women who can think and act for themselves. I really like Emma in the beginning of the book because she was so determined to stay unmarried even though this was against what her society told her to do. I admired that about her. What I didn't admire was her helplessness and naivete when it came to everything else. However, I can see that she was a product of her time and she would probably be a self sufficient woman in this day in age!

Amber wrote: "Kristine wrote: "I'm half way into it now and it's great although hard to keep up on...I mean you really have to pay attention or you get to the end of one of those looong paragraphs and go huh? L..."

Speaking of Miss Bates and feminism, I just read this on Sparknotes;

(I don't think this has any spoilers, but just in case this was from the chapters 19-21 summary.)


(view spoiler)[ Margaret Drabble, in an introductory essay on the novel, suggests that Miss Bates might be read as a stand-in for Austen herself. Single, middle-aged, dependent, caring for an elderly mother, Miss Bates’s situation in life is much closer to Austen’s at the time she was writing the novel than is Emma’s. Of course, Austen is much more intelligent than the character she creates, so perhaps Miss Bates exemplifies Austen’s imagination of what her life would be like without her intellect. The picture is somewhat alarming, because Miss Bates’s ignorance means that she is perfectly contented with the life she leads. Perhaps Austen means for us to understand that intelligence, at least for a woman in the early nineteenth century, can be as much a source of suffering as of solace. (hide spoiler)]

Amber wrote: "I did find myself laughing in a few parts but also found the story quite predictable. I'm going to watch one of the "Emma" movies now and maybe gain some more appreciation!"

Watch Clueless with Alicia Silverstone. It is Emma set in modern day (or 1990's). The story of Emma is timeless, bored girl wanting to make everybody's lives better and ends up nearly destroying everything. I really enjoy this book because it shows the reader how destructive vanity is, which was a lesson hard learned when I read it for the first time at the age of 22. :-)

Well I finished it and I am so glad that I did. It was wonderful! Had me guessing a lot. I loved the twists and turns.

Me too, I kind of guessed what would happen in the end and it does happen but never in a straight forward way and with loads of other things you didn't expect.

I found a Jane Austen quote about Emma: "I am going to take a heroine whom no one but myself will much like."

I am finding this very true. I love some of the characters, but Emma is so grating. Hopefully I can move pass that to really enjoy the book (I'm only on Chapter 12).

Oh, I liked her....she was a product of her time and environment......that's all I can say w/o spoilers....

I am about 45% through Emma on my reader.

This is a little late but for those who are struggling with the language and having a hard time finishing, might I suggest you take a break and watch the 2009 BBC mini-serial version of Emma? I've recently watched it and it's absolutely fantastic in my opinion. I really "got" the character after watching it - why an intelligent and warm young lady could possibly end up in such miserable mischiefs.

Light-hearted and hilarious with cackling chemistry and dialogue, this mini-series has a slight (just slight) modernist touch that appeals to me. Romola Garai (Atonement, 2007) is SO GOOD in this and I absolutely love her interpretation of Emma Woodhouse. As one review blogger writes, “Romola’s quick moving, restless Emma captures her immaturity and boredom. Highbury is a town that is much too confining for such a talented, rich and lively young lady, and with so little to do, this self-indulgent and coddled girl can’t help but create mischief.” Give this 4 episode mini-series a try, people! (find it easily in HD on youtube)

I saw that advertised and meant to watch it, but I am terrible at committing to watching a tv series. Many times I will watch the first episode then miss the rest of the series!!

Nicolle wrote: "I saw that advertised and meant to watch it, but I am terrible at committing to watching a tv series. Many times I will watch the first episode then miss the rest of the series!!"

It's only 4 episodes long so I guess even if you do miss the rest, you would have at least finished 1/4 of it! I hope you'd give it a go - I was hooked from the first episode! :)

I can probably find it online so I can watch when I feel like it....will see...

Emma is the first classic book I finished reading and also the first Austen. My favorite Austen so far and I found the book to be incredible and the situations Emma comes in that makes me want to read more and more. But the people she meets not including Miss Bates was interesting to read. Emma's father I thought was impossible, however after finishing Pride and Prejudice, Mrs. Bennet is the impossible character. I loved this book and while I shouldn't reread books just so soon with my just starting to read, I bought another copy that I can always read to my hearts content and not fret if the book becomes worn. **** I watched the four episode of Emma and found it incredible. But don't watch the movie before the book because then there will be no surprises in the book.

Emma was one of my favorite Austen characters/books by far I watched the Gwenth Paltrow (sp?) movie and read the book some time later

Alexander McCall Smith has written a version of Emma retold for a modern perspective:

Emma: A Modern Retelling