Let the masterclass begin...
Dec. 12th, 2015 09:20 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
alobearAs I enter the next stage of writing my novel - editing the first draft - I thought it might be a good idea to go to the masters of the craft for some much-needed instruction. And so, I created the Masterclass Project - seven novels that stand out to me as being exceptional in some way, and which I plan to re-read over the next few months to try and glean some pearls of wisdom for the improvement of my own writing.
I started with Emma by Jane Austen.
This is probably the Austen novel I am least familiar with, since I consider it my least favourite. In labelling it as such, I had forgotten that it is, of course, still Austen, and therefore amazing by its very nature. I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed re-reading it, after a gap of several years. It's a very assured novel; rich in detail and characterisation. One of Austen's main strengths is the distinctiveness of each character - the way she crafts their dialogue to give them depth without being caricatures. The knowing authorial voice is another much-commented-upon feature - I love the way she can criticise her own creations without losing understanding of or sympathy for them. I liked Emma, both the character and the novel, more on this reading than perhaps ever before, perhaps by paying more attention to the method of their creation than usual.
I did find the ending a little odd, though - the resolution for the heroine comes fifty pages before the end of the novel, and then there's a whole load of tying up of loose ends for other people. It seemed a bit strange for Emma's story to be essentially complete, and then for the novel to carry on for so long afterwards - but I suppose it does fit with lengthy process of having to break change gently to Mr Woodhouse and then let the idea settle for a while before acting on it.
Anyway, I'm not sure how much I learned from re-reading Emma, but the experience was certainly a joyous one.
I started with Emma by Jane Austen.
This is probably the Austen novel I am least familiar with, since I consider it my least favourite. In labelling it as such, I had forgotten that it is, of course, still Austen, and therefore amazing by its very nature. I was pleasantly surprised by just how much I enjoyed re-reading it, after a gap of several years. It's a very assured novel; rich in detail and characterisation. One of Austen's main strengths is the distinctiveness of each character - the way she crafts their dialogue to give them depth without being caricatures. The knowing authorial voice is another much-commented-upon feature - I love the way she can criticise her own creations without losing understanding of or sympathy for them. I liked Emma, both the character and the novel, more on this reading than perhaps ever before, perhaps by paying more attention to the method of their creation than usual.
I did find the ending a little odd, though - the resolution for the heroine comes fifty pages before the end of the novel, and then there's a whole load of tying up of loose ends for other people. It seemed a bit strange for Emma's story to be essentially complete, and then for the novel to carry on for so long afterwards - but I suppose it does fit with lengthy process of having to break change gently to Mr Woodhouse and then let the idea settle for a while before acting on it.
Anyway, I'm not sure how much I learned from re-reading Emma, but the experience was certainly a joyous one.
