Bunny Boo's Blog

Woo! I've officially (according to Goodreads) made it 25% through Emma! It was a slow start, but things really picked up when the delicious, delicious relationship drama started.

( Spoilers for a 200-year-old book within... )

Hey, I started reading Emma again! Many apologies to perhin_madoc_gamgins for my laziness. I know we were going to read along together but now I'll have to catch up! :)

Anyways, I think there's some interesting parallels between Emma and her father, Mr. Woodhouse, which might be explored later in the novel. They're both very self-assured (Mr. Woodhouse knows best about "wholesomeness," and Emma is entirely certain about her matchmaking), they both have a selfish nature (Mr. Woodhouse especially, but Emma too - shown through her disregard for others' independent thoughts and actions), they're both narrow-minded and self-centered (Harriet Smith's friends must be unsuited for her; her superior beauty and nature must be wasted in Highbury. Everyone must be feeling the same as Mr. Woodhouse. Change must be the most terrible thing ever.) and they both are controlling and manipulative in a good-natured way (Emma is dead set on her matches, and Mr. Woodhouse does his best to keep everything the same and to his liking). I'm sure someone's done a psychological analysis of these characters. ;)

I think where they differ so far is that Emma takes a more proactive role, while Mr. Woodhouse is a passive influence on others - a benign "oh I wish you did it my way" kind of guy.

At this point, I'm most interested in Harriet Smith's actual character - is she as perfect as Emma thinks she is?

So I was looking through Barnes & Nobles because I have a gift card from... at least ten years ago, and I was thinking of buying a few of the books off my reading list. I really enjoyed the commentary in Northanger Abbey's Barnes & Noble Classics edition, so I looked to see what else they have.

And then I read the "reviews."

Here's some samples:

From the reviews of Anna Karenina -
 
"Samantha Decatt": "Character Bios Go Here!": From the reviews of Mansfield Park -

"Natsu": 

 I promised myself I would wait longer between Austen novels, but I couldn't resist when I saw Emma on the shelf at the library. After Persuasion, it's been the most recommended to me of her books. I've never seen Clueless or this year's adaptation of the original (though it does look tempting) so I'll be going into it fresh once I finish up with Dracula.

Gotten a little further in now, and I'm really digging it. It's very Lovecraftian (or, should I say, that Lovecraft is reminiscent of Dracula?) in a "rational thought cannot explain these phenomena and the more you think about it, the more you realize that reality is not quite what you thought it was" kind of way. 

( Spoilers for an almost 125-year-old book within... )

 I started reading, got through the first chapter, made it to Dracula's introduction, and immediately thought of this.
( Big picture under the cut... )

That is all.

 A coworker linked me to these comics. They're adorable! And I figured we needed some cuteness today.

All credit goes to the artist, John Atkinson. Check out his website, WrongHands, for more!

I do so love me some melodrama and boy did I get it.

( Spoilers for a 200-year-old book within... )

A lesser book would've finished earlier (maybe around the halfway mark), but I'm only about 2/3 of the way through. This is great!