Emma and Joseph

I finished Emma relatively easily. I had skimmed it a few years ago, but never really read it. Of course, I am a member of the generation that will always associate Emma with Clueless. But I don’t think that’s necessarily a bad thing. It’s a great example of someone taking the themes and characters of a classic and reinterpreting them in a modern way while still staying true to the heart of the work.

I have to recommend the version I read, Emma (Case Study in Contemporary Criticism) because it had some great critical essays. There is an especially good one on gossip and free indirect style as they come together in the Austen world.

At the moment I am a little over halfway through Joseph Andrews by Henry Fielding (most people associate him with Tom Jones). It’s a pretty easy read, funny, but sometimes a bit self-indulgent. But what novel isn’t?

The reading load is going to continue getting heavier as the semester goes along, so Liliana is getting an early exposure to British literature. She will sometimes let me read while she plays, but then she wants interaction. So I read to her from the books using funny voices, which she responds to.

I honestly haven’t touched my thesis. I have done some brainstorming and made some notes on ways to incorporate things from other of my classes. This weekend is my first class weekend, so I should be meeting with Dr. H to start plowing forward. And of course, the threat of my master’s exams is simmering in the back of my mind, but I am trying to ignore it at this point.