EMMA BY JANE AUSTEN BOOK REVIEW

"Seldom, very seldom does complete truth belong to any human disclosure; seldom can it happen that something is not a little disguised, or a little mistaken; but where, as in this case, though the conduct is mistaken, the feelings are not, it may not be very material." 

Emma is by no means a perfect character, but I sure as hell loved her (and, y'know, Mr. Knightley too.)

This book, long as it was, was wonderful.

► ok I adore Mr. Knightley. He's a total no-nonsense do-gooder who always lets Emma know when she's screwing things up (i.e. all the time), but at the same time he's often lighthearted and funny and actually fun to be around. You can tell why he and Emma have the kind of intimacy and rapport that they have. He doesn't exist to act as Emma's moral compass—he's really and truly her friend, and everything he does is out of genuine concern for her.

► of course the love confession scene is perfect and beautiful, in usual Austenian fashion. are we even surprised?

“I cannot make speeches, Emma. If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more. But you know what I am. You hear nothing but truth from me. I have blamed you, and lectured you, and you have borne it as no other woman in England would have borne it.”

"He had ridden home through the rain; and had walked up directly after dinner, to see how this sweetest and best of all creatures, faultless in spite of all her faults, bore the discovery."

SO FREAKING CUTE

► how is Jane Austen such an iconic-line-generator. Every single one of her books, without exception, has such succinct, understated, and absolutely ICONIC lines: "I am half agony, half hope," "If I loved you less, I might be able to talk about it more," "I was in the middle before I knew that I had begun"—TALK ABOUT LITERARY GEMS.

► Surprisingly, I wasn't as annoyed with Emma as much as a lot of people who read this book are. I mean, she can be extremely condescending and selfish a lot (most) of the times—not to mention her severe tunnel vision when it comes to the things she'd like to see happen—but despite all that she was never irredeemable to me. Her character development by the end of the book makes all her not-so-great qualities worth it. 

► it's funny how smart yet completely ignorant Emma is throughout the book. Emma is by no means dumb; she's quick-witted and oftentimes eloquent. She's grown up well-to-do, with all the privileges that that comes with. And yet, because of her aforementioned severe tunnel vision, she remains completely oblivious to all the clues which are RIGHT THERE, RIGHT IN FRONT OF HER. 

► "But one never does form a just idea of any body beforehand. One takes up a notion, and runs away with it." —coming from Miss Bates, this quote is surprisingly relevant to Emma's story. 

► Mr. Knightley: "[Jane Fairfax] has not the open temper which a man would wish for in a wife." 
Translation: "[Jane Fairfax] has not the open temper which Iwould wish for in a wife. Basically, she's not Emma so no, I don't want to marry her."

► tell me Emma wasn't lowkey checking Mr. Knightley out during the ball scene. LOOK AT THIS:

"He could not have appeared to greater advantage perhaps anywhere, than where he had placed himself. His tall, firm, upright figure, among the bulky forms and stooping shoulders of the elderly men, was such as Emma felt must draw every body’s eyes; and, excepting her own partner, there was not one among the whole row of young men who could be compared with him.—He moved a few steps nearer, and those few steps were enough to prove in how gentlemanlike a manner, with what natural grace, he must have danced, would he but take the trouble.—Whenever she caught his eye, she forced him to smile; but in general he was looking grave. She wished he could love a ballroom better, and could like Frank Churchill better.—He seemed often observing her. "

Translation: "he looked hot"



► another thing Jane Austen does PERFECTLY is write the best love-to-hate characters. How could anyone resist loving to hate a character like Mrs. Elton? She's the Actual Worst. All her lines can be summed up with the following handy formula:

Mrs. Elton: I would totally never flatter myself but *proceeds to flatter herself*

► LOOK AT EMMA MAKING A FUNNY

"Impossible! - I never can call you anything but 'Mr. Knightley.' I will not promise even to equal the elegant terseness of Mrs. Elton, by calling you Mr. K."

Mr. and Mrs. Elton are totally makin waves in the Highbury community (in all the wrong ways lol)

► I LOVED THE BBC EMMA ADAPTATION SO MUCH. ROMOLA GARAI IS SUCH A WONDERFUL EMMA. Equal parts endearing and bratty; you just can't help but love her. Also, basically everything else about the adaption is perfect: Mr. Knightley, the locations, the costume design, the music, its faithfulness to the book. A++++++



► I love how self-aware Emma is about her dislike of Jane Fairfax. She knows she doesn't like her because she's jealous of her and yet continues to dislike her anyway. ¯\_(ツ)_/¯ 

"I hardly know how it has happened; a little, perhaps, from that wickedness on my side which was prone to take disgust towards a girl so idolized and so cried up as she always was, by her aunt and grandmother, and all their set."

She takes this self-awareness and actually acts upon it by the end of the book, which I totally approve of. Emma being humbled ???? who knew ??

► how to make someone fall in love with you according to Mr. Elton: just compliment the shit out of them. everything they do is capital P Perfection*
*success of the technique not guaranteed

► Emma in a nutshell:

"She walked on, amusing herself in the consideration of the blunders which often arise from a partial knowledge of circumstances, of the mistakes which people of high pretensions to judgment are for ever falling into"

In summary: I loved Emma. It's Jane Austen, there's no way I could've not liked it.