Cannonball Read 17

Sticking It to Cancer One Book at a Time

Men of sense, whatever you may choose to say, do not want silly wives.

Emma by Jane Austen

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Jane Austen famously described Emma as “A heroine whom no-one but myself will much like.” and I might agree. Emma Woodhouse is a rich young woman in a society where not much happens. She entertains herself by fancying herself a match maker and she takes on a protegé, of lower social ranking, intending on making her a match. Her friend Mr. Knightley warns her of this endeavour, but Emma is headstrong and believes a little too much in her self to listen to advice from […]

“I am glad I am done being in love with him….”

Emma by Jane Austen

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So I don’t think I have anything generally meaningful to say about Emma by Jane Austen. The novel is 200 years old, is arguably her best (which is something you can say about pretty much all of her books), and is more or less number 3-4 on my list of my favorite of her novels (For me it’s Persuasion, Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility/Emma, Northanger Abbey — and I still need to read Mansfield Park). So I will just make some stray remarks. –This […]

Emma Thompson is a goddess and should always be treated as such. Oh, and BINGO.

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I’ve read Emma a few times before, and have read several re-imaginings and retellings as well. I’ve seen at least four adaptations (Mark Strong as Mr. Knightley…Jonny Lee Miller as Mr. Knightely…the web series made by the folks who did The Lizzie Bennett Diaries…and of course, the GOOP version), and always thought I preferred the movie to the book. I mean, come on. Jeremy Northam gave so much beautiful side-eye to Goop in that movie. And then, low and behold, Audible gifted me with the Emma […]

What a way to experience a classic!

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So, while I am a fan of Pride and Prejudice, I have never really read other Jane Austen books.  So when I heard that the production of Emma was free on Audible, I jumped on it.  And I’m super glad I did! This is an awesome production, and a production indeed it is.  I have no idea how big the cast is, but this is quality work. There are sound effects in the background, like horses and crowds and paper rustling and fire crackling!  Emma […]

Dear Fake Character People: An Open Letter to (most of) the Characters in Emma

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This is the fifth in my series of posts wherein I write reviews for classic books in the form of letters to the characters so as to avoid actually writing a review for a book that has been written about by everyone’s mother’s second cousin’s uncle twice removed from a monkey. I’m re-reading all of Jane Austen’s books in 2016, and it has so far been a fun experience. July was Emma month, and I was very much looking forward to it, since I’ve liked it more and more every time […]

A heroine no one but Jane Austen herself could love

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So does anyone actually need me to recap the plot ofEmma, a nearly two hundred year old classic which has been adapted any number of times, currently as a successful YouTube webseries in Emma Approved? To be fair, I’m not sure even half of my actual real life friends have read this book, so I’ll be nice to you. Emma Woodhouse is twenty-one, the youngest daughter of a prosperous country gentleman and her governess, Miss Taylor, who more or less raised her from she was very little, has […]



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