Author : Alexander McCall Smith
Plot:
It is very difficult to accept a retake of a classic,
especially when it comes to modern day renderings , that too of Jane Austen
books. Jane Austen is a favorite to many of us and her fans stay loyal to her.
There have been many sequels and spinoffs of Jane Austen books, we read them
and invariably start drawing comparisons with the original classic and start listing
the drawbacks, bashing the spinoff one way or another.
But things are not exactly the same, when the retelling is
done by Alexander McCall Smith , a very seasoned writer. It is usually a sheer joy
to read his books. His books are very entertaining to read and his characters
are enticing and humorous. He has a knack of holding the reader’s attention for
a long period of time. So it was very
interesting to analyze his modern day retelling of a Jane Austen Novel , Emma.
Emma is the most imperfect of all Jane Austen heroines. She
is snobbish, pompous and loves to interfere. The book itself set in a countryside
is filled with flawed endearing folks, who steal your hearts with their
imperfections.
McCall Smith has taken lot of liberties in this retelling,
though he has remained faithful to the original storyline. The novel is mainly about Emma’s moral development, and
that remains the same. But what leads to her self-discovery is captured very
beautifully in this spinoff.
The central characters in this retelling, are Emma, Mr
Woodhouse and Harriet. The rest of the characters are merely pawns whose lives
Emma meddles with ruthlessly.
Mr WoodHouse gets a lot of weightage in this book. The ever
fussy Mr WoodHouse, who always worries about viruses, infections, immunization
records, cleanliness, environment, global-warming and the international
politics. His observations are very interesting to read. Harriet came as a very
genuine surprise, she is not exactly the weakling or a low intelligence
creature which Emma assumes her to be in the original classic.
The goofups which Emma makes and how it affects other lives are
hilarious, there are many times I laughed out loud reading the consequences which
people have to face because of the mess she creates.
Though holding on to the light vein, the author makes very
deep insights into human frailties, which makes you pause and think.
“When somebody does wrong, Emma, we must remember that
that person is still a human being like the rest of us. We must not rush to
throw the first stone. We must remind ourselves that all of us do wrong from
time to time, unless we're saints, which we aren't.”
“And she lowered her
eyes at the gentle reproach, for she had learned her lesson, even if there
would be occasional, but only very occasional, relapses; for none of us is
perfect, except, of course, the ones we love, the things of home, our much
appreciated dogs and cats, our favorites of one sort or another.”
There is also a mention about global politics, the
importance on cultural rights when living in a foreign country, post-imperial and historic guilt which few
Europeans encounter because of their ancestors conquering the world in the past
and making the rest of the world suffer.
Jane Austen fans are very picky and they usually do not like
liberties taken with her characters, so to be honest, there are few things I did not like. The book is
not without shortcomings. I felt Mr Knightley made a guest appearance in this book . The romance
does not flow , it is quite abrupt. I would have liked to see more of him and
his equation with Emma. I couldn’t see the chemistry between them in this
retelling.
A few shortcomings left aside, I thoroughly enjoyed this
delightful book. It’s been a while since I read a real good book to my heart’s content. I would
definitely recommend it to any Jane Austen fan.
My rating: 👍👍👍👍👍
