Emma

 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: 👍👍👍👍👍

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