Format:Hard cover and audio
Characters: Emma and a host of chattering females
Subject: Marriage; female friendship
Genre: Fiction
Source: My own shelves, public library
Challenge: Read from my shelves
Well this one is going back onto the shelves, and back to the library. One of my book clubs picked this one to fill the 'classics' genre for this month's book. (Our discussion is scheduled for next wednesday). I tried and tried and tried to read this. I tried three different editions (with three different fonts), and the audio, and the Netflix PBS version. And the bottom line is that I am not interested in whether Emma finds a husband, I cannot stand the superfluous words babbling, bubbling, and burping from lengthy paragraph to lengthy paragraph. I didn't like the premise, I didn't like the characters, and the plot line drove me nutso.
I realize for some it is considered a "classic" - great literature. I had a very classic traditional education, and have a master's degree in library science, but this type of writing--not just this book itself---does exactly ZERO for me. My life is too short, there are too many good books to read, and I'll just have to save Ms. Austen for that TBR pile in the next life.
Can you tell I was a math major?
Posts
I think books like Emma were wonderful for less hectic times when people actually had long days of peace and quiet to do nothing but read in a comfortable chair on the porch or by a window. You know, like the paintings of ladies in corsets and long dresses with a book. But, we live in different times and our tastes are different as well. I just figure if I don't like it, life is too short to waste my time just because it used to be popular.
ReplyDeleteI suspect you hit the nail on the head! In fact, I suspect you may have inspired an entire post for sometime later this month.
ReplyDeleteI was an English *and* History major, and I have never ever liked Austin. In fact, I can't for the life of me understand why so many otherwise intelligent people think she is the be all, end all of women writers. It's basically bad chick flick without the sex.
ReplyDeleteAll of which to say, you are not alone. ;-)