Book reviews: Emma | Macbeth | Frankenstein

Title: Emma
Author: Jane Austen

Original title: Emma
First published: 1815
Genre: Classic
Series: --
Publisher: Repris
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 578
Finished: 02/02/2021
Summary: Emma Woodhouse is the lovely, lively, willful, and fallible heroine of Jane Austen's fourth published novel. Confident that she knows best, Emma schemes to find a suitable husband for her pliant friend Harriet, only to discover that she understands the feelings of others as little as she does her own heart. Emma puzzles and blunders her way through the mysteries of her social world in a small town undergoing historical transition.

My thoughts: After thoroughly enjoying Austen's "Pride and Prejudice" last summer, I was eager to discover more of her works. I picked up "Emma" next, both because I already had it at home and because I soon wish to see the new movie adaptation. While I did enjoy "Emma", it did not charm me in the same way that Elizabeth Bennett's story managed to. This book seemed to drag out quite a bit and did not need to be over 500 pages long, in my humble opinion. Much focus was put on more or less annoying side characters, which I could have gone without, and the romance that I had to wait so long for was sort of sweet, but not as satisfying as I'd hoped. Some heart-warming relationships were explored, such as between Emma, her father, and her once governess. I will continue to seek out Austen's works, and the flaws I found in "Emma" will only be remembered as trivial as I'm sure I'll enjoy her next book very much.

Rating: 3,5/5

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Title: Macbeth
Author: William Shakespeare

Original title: Macbeth
First published: 1606
Genre: Classic
Series: --
Publisher: Longman
Format: Paperback
Pages: 224
Finished: 13/04/2021
Summary: One night on the heath, the brave and respected general Macbeth encounters three witches who foretell that he will become king of Scotland. At first sceptical, he’s urged on by the ruthless, single-minded ambitions of Lady Macbeth, who suffers none of her husband’s doubt. But seeing the prophecy through to the bloody end leads them both spiralling into paranoia, tyranny, madness, and murder.

My thoughts: This play evoked very few and lukewarm emotions in me. Indeed it is a classic tale and one of Shakespeare's most well known tragedies, and the story truly holds historical and cultural value. However, it was not quite to my tastes and I will not remember it as a particularly pleasant or exciting read. The edition I read was helpful, with its added definitions of difficult words and explanations of what happens on each page.

Rating: 2,5/5

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Title: Frankenstein
Author: Mary Shelley

Original title: Frankenstein
First published: 1818
Genre: Classic, Sci-fi
Series: --
Publisher: Flame Tree Publishing
Format: Hardcover
Pages: 116
Finished: 18/06/2021
Summary: Obsessed with creating life itself, Victor Frankenstein plunders graveyards for the material to fashion a new being, which he shocks into life with electricity. But his botched creature, rejected by Frankenstein and denied human companionship, sets out to destroy his maker and all that he holds dear.

My thoughts: Seeing "Frankenstein" on the reading list as the first book to tackle in the sci-fi literature course I'm taking this summer, I was a bit surprised. I had never perceived this classic horror novel to also be a work of science fiction. With this perspective in mind, it was a very interesting reading experience and I was able to connect elements of this story to modern books in the same genre. However, while I definitely found myself intrigued by these elements, I was underwhelmed by other sides of the story. The narrative had a tendency to drag on and the eerie atmosphere that I had hoped to encounter was nowhere to be found. I understand this story was terrifying and uncanny when it was first published, but to someone who has seen or read modern horror stories, the tale of Frankenstein and his monster just can't compare. While the writing style was somewhat elegant and enticing, it couldn't make up for the boring whining of both Frankenstein and the creature. All in all, I'm glad to have read this novel and it really is interesting to see it as a work of science fiction, though it is not a book I think I'll ever feel the desire to re-read.

PS: I don't recommend this specific edition. The pages are rather large and the text is, regrettably, very small. What's usually nearly 300 pages has been compressed to a meagre 116 pages :(

Rating: 3/5