EMMA: A Modern Retelling
by
Alexander McCall Smith
2.5 out of 5 stars
THIS REVIEW HAS NO SPOILERS
Alexander McCall Smith is one of my favorite authors.
Jane Austen is one of my most loved authors of all time.
Alexander McCall Smith writes a modern-day version of Austen's Emma.
Clearly, this has the makings of a winner.
NOPE. I WAS SO WRONG.
This book is part of a series called The Austen Project. The other two books are modern-day versions of Sense and Sensibility by Joanna Trollope and Northanger Abbey by Val McDermid. All three have received considerably "mixed" reviews. But, wait! There's three more books in the work. The next one slotted for release is Pride and Prejudice by Curtis Sittenfeld (the author of the highly successful Prep).
Alexander and Jane need no introductions as authors. So, let's talk about the book.
SYNOPSIS
If your English Literature teacher made you read through EMMA, then you're in luck. Because there's no major change in the plot. At all. Na-da.
Moving on.
CHARACTERS
We all remember Emma being a silly and shallow girl who thinks the world can be arranged into her version of perfect. I applaud McCall Smith for putting that out there as it is integral to Emma, as a character, and the general plot of the novel. The problem is that Austen had written it as some sort of surprise that the reader would find out as s/he delves into Emma's world. But McCall Smith put it out there for all to see. I guess, I personally feel a bit cheated on the adventure. It's like he gives you a "walkthrough" for your adventure. And, like all gamers know, "walkthroughs" just take the fun out.
There's a lot of humor in the book, typical of McCall Smith. They all come out of Mr. Woodhouse. I love how he's written and he has actually taken center stage here. Emma has been pushed to a corner to make way for Mr. Woodhouse. Again, I didn't like this bit. I love Mr. Woodhouse but I love Emma more because... this book is called EMMA, and not Mr. Woodhouse.
All backstories of all characters are spelled out for the reader. There's a little bit of romantic mystery but I feel like it could have been handled better. Here's an even more confusing bit: even though there's massive backstory involved, the character's actions are still confusing to the point that they've become irritating. Sometimes, you've to ask yourself if you should take the original as reference to understand what the devil is going on.
OVERALL
There's a lot of humor in the book, typical of McCall Smith. They all come out of Mr. Woodhouse. I love how he's written and he has actually taken center stage here. Emma has been pushed to a corner to make way for Mr. Woodhouse. Again, I didn't like this bit. I love Mr. Woodhouse but I love Emma more because... this book is called EMMA, and not Mr. Woodhouse.
All backstories of all characters are spelled out for the reader. There's a little bit of romantic mystery but I feel like it could have been handled better. Here's an even more confusing bit: even though there's massive backstory involved, the character's actions are still confusing to the point that they've become irritating. Sometimes, you've to ask yourself if you should take the original as reference to understand what the devil is going on.
OVERALL
I'm keeping this short as I'm still a big fan of both authors. I've found out how much I love them when, at 50% in to the book and still wasn't feeling it, I've managed to continue reading till the very end.
I am so proud of myself!
RATING
I've given this a 2.5 out of 5 stars. One star each for McCall Smith and Austen. Another half-star for the lols from Mr. Woodhouse.
This book is really dry. The world is very small. Although the original book's world is small, it managed to make the characters quite large so that you wouldn't feel like they are constrained.
This retelling is not very strong. It makes me wonder how the future installments in this series will fare.
READ MY GOODREADS REVIEW HERE
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