What an awful lot of irritating characters! Jane Austen really astounds me in that she can make such an illogical main character endearing. Emma is a meddlesome young lady living at Hartfield with her health-obsessed father when she meets Harriet Smith, a beautiful but shy orphan. She sets out trying to get Mr. Elton and Miss Smith to marry, but not everything goes as expected. Emma is a wonderfully well-developed character. She learns a lot about herself and others and by the end of the book, she's SO different from how she started. At first she was nosy, presumptuous, and unaware of herself and others;but as the story unfolds, she matures and grows. Honestly, my favorite character was Mr. Knightley. So blunt! So honest and clever! I enjoyed every moment in which ... MoreWhat an awful lot of irritating characters! Jane Austen really astounds me in that she can make such an illogical main character endearing. Emma is a meddlesome young lady living at Hartfield with her health-obsessed father when she meets Harriet Smith, a beautiful but shy orphan. She sets out trying to get Mr. Elton and Miss Smith to marry, but not everything goes as expected. Emma is a wonderfully well-developed character. She learns a lot about herself and others and by the end of the book, she's SO different from how she started. At first she was nosy, presumptuous, and unaware of herself and others;but as the story unfolds, she matures and grows. Honestly, my favorite character was Mr. Knightley. So blunt! So honest and clever! I enjoyed every moment in which he appeared. The plot is very slow-paced, especially at the beginning. What makes up for it is Austen's sense of humor and wit.

I honestly read this because of the title, the name intrigued me, and I have always heard rave reviews about how wonderful Jane Austen writes. Personally, I wasn't a fan of this book. However, the language used was enriching and the story is one of the best love circles in all of literature. Emma Woodhouse, a rich, single, and charismatic girl, is known for her ability to match people together (relationship wise). Emma realizes that maybe it is her time to find someone right for her. While she's on this adventure, she falls in love with an unexpected person, creating drama and a creative ending. I wasn't in love, nor did I hate, this book. The style Austen uses is very intriguing, but because of it's age, I got bored a lot throughout the reading process. On the ... MoreI honestly read this because of the title, the name intrigued me, and I have always heard rave reviews about how wonderful Jane Austen writes. Personally, I wasn't a fan of this book. However, the language used was enriching and the story is one of the best love circles in all of literature. Emma Woodhouse, a rich, single, and charismatic girl, is known for her ability to match people together (relationship wise). Emma realizes that maybe it is her time to find someone right for her. While she's on this adventure, she falls in love with an unexpected person, creating drama and a creative ending. I wasn't in love, nor did I hate, this book. The style Austen uses is very intriguing, but because of it's age, I got bored a lot throughout the reading process. On the contrary, the climax was too good to not enjoy. Overall, it is definitely a good introductory book to Austen's famed writing style.

Now, I used to think Austen was just for girls. Consider: she wrote while the Napoleonic Wars were going on, but the most exciting thing that happens in any Austen novel is that the heroine drops a teaspoon. But that's just it -- the deliberately tiny canvas makes every nuance look enormous, and this is the very essence of these delicate but deceptively barbed comedies of manners. Austen is the best prose stylist in the English language, and Emma is one of her best and funniest works. Do I need to tell you the plot? Go and see the film Clueless, which is Emma done properly -- that is, with irreverence -- set in modern California, and much better than the staid period version with Gwyneth Paltrow.

I know I'm late to the party, but aside from Pride and Prejudice I hadn't read any other Jane Austen novels until a couple of years ago. Pride and Prejudice remains my favorite, but I did find Emma to be very enjoyable. I will say that Jane Austen had a particular talent for writing obnoxious characters. I'm not referring to the protagonists necessarily, but to the female equivalent of P&P's Mr. Collins - the Mrs. Elton. Good gravy, I was entirely with Emma in abhorring her. And if I must be honest, I didn't really like Emma herself until the last few chapters. While not as presumptuously arrogant as Mrs. Elton, I was annoyed by her habit of thinking less of people and then rationalizing it. If I wanted to get philosophical about it maybe Mrs. Elton was the physical ... MoreI know I'm late to the party, but aside from Pride and Prejudice I hadn't read any other Jane Austen novels until a couple of years ago. Pride and Prejudice remains my favorite, but I did find Emma to be very enjoyable. I will say that Jane Austen had a particular talent for writing obnoxious characters. I'm not referring to the protagonists necessarily, but to the female equivalent of P&P's Mr. Collins - the Mrs. Elton. Good gravy, I was entirely with Emma in abhorring her. And if I must be honest, I didn't really like Emma herself until the last few chapters. While not as presumptuously arrogant as Mrs. Elton, I was annoyed by her habit of thinking less of people and then rationalizing it. If I wanted to get philosophical about it maybe Mrs. Elton was the physical representation of Emma's pride. That said, Emma's change of heart, repentant spirit, and honest efforts to improve herself had me forgiving her by the end and I was quite satisfied with the conclusion for all the characters.

Jane Austen has been a beloved author for years. I love the picturesque settings and the quaint old-fashioned customs, yet having said that it still remains timeless. Jane Austen is an observer of people and she has a keen eye in observing and bringing to life peoples good qualities and follies. Ms. Austen has a wicked sense of humour which is at its funniest in Emma, a heroine, the author admits, nobody will like but herself. Picnics and dances are certainly to be found in the pages of this book, but there is sometimes a hint of the dangerous beneath the beautiful facade, for example the gypsy scene in this book, which has the ability to unnerve its readers after pages or tranquility. It doesn't hurt that every leading man in her novels is dashing and swoon worthy. :D

A timeless and ageless classic with great features.

It's a very interesting novel as well as being a timeless classic. Every time I read it, I can't put it down. I have also read some of Jane Austen's other novels such as "Wuthering Heights" and "Sense and Sensibility" and they were also very interesting to read. I would definitely recommend "Emma" and all other Jane Austen novels to my friends.

Disappointingly Short

I was searching for an audiobook, Emma, being read by an English actor. This audio book of Emma was really well read by Prunella Scales but disappointingly this was an abridged version. The search continues for a full text being read by an English actor.

Gorgeous edition

I wanted a nice copy of Emma for my collection, and I was not anticipating the actual luxury of this edition. The cover is beautiful, and the pages are thick and have a beautiful sheen to them so it feels like you’re reading something truly special (which, I mean you are... it IS Jane Austen, after all!) I highly recommend this edition of Emma and I’m sure the others in this collection are just as beautiful.

Nice book, minor blemishes on the cover when I received it.

Wonderful book that is beautifully bound! Unfortunately, I bought a dark green book at the same time and a little of its coloring bleed onto this book, not terribly though. The end of the spine was slightly dented which seems to be an overall problem for the collection, but it doesn't take away from the beauty of the book(s).

This book is a pleasure

This book is a pleasure to hold and read--perfect size, the text is very clear, and the paper is indeed luxurious. However, I didn't expect such a heavy book (both to hold and to pay postage on), the paper edges are gold rather than silver as described on the website, and the embossing on the cover is really marked. Overall, the book is more ostentatious than I expected; thus the 4 stars rather than 5.