A is for Austen

Finally, I have read my first Jane Austen, and let me just say that I'm glad this is finally over. Austen, over and done with. If I could sum up in just one word all my thoughts on this novel, it would be, well, meh. What's the deal with Austen? And why does her characters have to be so, well, meh.

My feelings as I read through this novel during the first few days of 2014 can be described in 3 stages. First is anger and frustration. Yes, I was angry at and frustrated with Emma, she of the flawed character who simply has to mess with everybody else's lives. Apparently, Emma has taken it upon herself to do all the matchmaking among people who matter in Highbury. It doesn't matter that her success rate is just 1 so far. In this day and age, she's be labeled as a manipulative and meddling b****.

So yes, I was angry, and, yes, I was frustrated. And my frustration is directed toward all the people who play along with her, specifically Harriet who foregoes the love of a certain Robert Martin in favor of someone that Emma likes. Why? Because, as per Emma, Martin is just too poor a match for her dear Harriet, who is clearly smitten with Martin and is thrilled at his marriage proposal. Kill me now.

Angry enough to bite the book

Second, I was confused. Why won't people just say what they really think? Why all the gossip and speculation, which clearly are exercises in futility? Why would Frank Churchill keep his engagement to Jane Fairfax a secret? I think of all the chapters that could have been removed should people just follow their romantic inclinations and not lead clueless people to false hopes. Cruel, cruel, cruel.

I was confused with Emma as well. Why does she have to appoint herself as the matchmaker of Highbury? It just doesn't add up! If she were being paid to do so, now that would one hell of a motivation. But clearly she just wants to poke her nose in people's asses.

I'm confused with the "weighty" issues they discuss in Emma. It really is important to talk about, and at length at that, how beautiful one's handwriting is and how one person's handwriting appears so much stronger than the other. Oh, and of course it would be a dilemma to find out that there would be 9 guests instead of just 8, which they originally planned. That truly is a problem that needs to be resolved in at least 2 pages. I scratch my head in wonder.

A bit pacified but confused

But I soldier on and persevere. And by the end of this novel of about 400 pages, I just felt relief. All ends well. As I have seen it from page 1, all will end in a wedding, well, 3 weddings in fact. Emma realizes that she does love Mr. Knightley, Harriet ends up with Robert Martin, and the engagement of Frank Churchill and Jane Fairfax is brought to everyone's attention. If I were living in Highbury, I would've kidnapped all the characters, locked them up together in a room, and offer no food until they just be honest with one another.

Still, I am happy that I finished Emma, even though it didn't offer any motivation to read more Austen novels. Pride and Prejudice? Thanks, but I'll just watch the movie again. And that Darcy—that's someone I also couldn't understand.

A smile of relief

Read this book if:

1. You love flawed heroines.
2. You'll read anything that has female characters wearing corsets.
3. You love a comedy of errors, of sorts.