Simple yet Satisfying

Emma by Jane Austen
Novel (Classic)

One of my favorite things about Jane Austen is how the first sentence sets up each of her books. I struggle with the first sentence of anything that I write be it letters, essays, lab reports etc. And I can't continue writing until I have a first sentence - huge writer's block! Makes me wonder how long Austen had to think about the story she was writing in order to write the absolute perfect sentence to start the whole thing off.

I tried reading Emma in my senior year of high school and had to stop about half way through because I couldn't get any further. I hadn't tried again until this summer. A housemate of mine is an Austen fan and Emma is one of her favorites. I couldn't face her without the shame of knowing that I hadn't read the book. It honestly weighed on my conscience heavily; but i struggled to start it again due to worry that I'd stopped because I didn't like it. My fears were put aside when I re-read the first sentence.

I don't know how it happened, but I did not absorb a single bit of the story the first time I tried. I could not remember a dang thing. The story in general moves slow... as slow as most of life. What I love about Austen is how she dared to represent the middle class female life in all its simple beauty. I love character development and Emma is full of it! The characters were more believable in my opinion than those in Sense and Sensibility and the love stories were less abrupt than Pride and Prejudice. Emma is, I must admit, the first Austen book that I've read before seeing the movie and I was able to follow it better. I prefer Pride and Prejudice as a book but I like the characters in Emma the best.

As a side note, I was reading this while working out on the exercise bike in our basement, and laughed several times. My mom asked what I was reading and upon hearing said "You can laugh while reading Jane Austen?"

How could I resist?