Emma
Decide its fate
The record
Time
An eveningA season457 pages, about 9 hours: the length of 1.4 typical books on the shelf.
Getting in
Walk right inSteep climbEmma is at Hartfield after her governess’s wedding, and Harriet Smith appears in chapter three.
What it gives
Plot and actionIdeas to live byIn 10 reviews from critics and book blogs, one credits the plot and 7 credit the ideas or a change in how they live.
One of a kind
Others do thisNothing else doesA book blog recommends starting with Pride and Prejudice, on the shelf at 351 pages, rather than Emma.
The case for it
on the character sketches
“We, therefore, bestow no mean compliment upon the author of Emma, when we say that, keeping close to common incidents, and to such characters as occupy the ordinary walks of life, she has produced sketches of such spirit and originality, that we never miss the excitation which depends upon a narrative of uncommon events, arising from the consideration of minds, manners and sentiments, greatly above our own. In this class she stands almost alone; for the scenes of Miss Edgeworth are laid in higher life, varied by more romantic incident, and by her remarkable power of embodying and illustrating national character.”
Sir Walter Scott · The Quarterly Review, October 1815 on the construction
“There isn’t a paragraph in the novel that fails to contribute”
Laura Miller · Slate, 2015 on Emma’s attitude
“I found her domineering attitude so refreshing in a female character from a Regency novel.”
a book blog on Emma’s growth
“She isn’t punished for her pride. She’s grown out of it.”
a Substack review
The case against
on Miss Bates
“Miss Bates is comically annoying. She can’t stop talking.”
a Substack review on the length
“this slight change was not enough to justify putting the reader through hundreds of pages”
a book blog on the pace
“The lack of narrative progress in Emma can drive new readers away.”
a book blog on the last chapter
“The last chapter of the book felt like a hasty postscript.”
four stars · a book blog
