Although I'm usually a big fan of Jane Austen, something about this just wasn't for me. Maybe it's the stage in life that I'm at or even the circumstances under which I'm reading it, but I couldn't fall into the world of constant examination of one's social status, matchmaking ambitions, and endless thoughts on character, comportment, etc. 
 Austen acknowledged that Emma was not meant to be a likeable heroine. She's spoiled, arrogant, and almost impossibly smug about herself. I think I would have found the whole comedy of manners more entertaining if I wasn't a) listening to an audiobook and b) listening to the audiobook during my daily 1.5 hour drives to and from work. 
 I've found that audiobooks are usually a big hit or miss with me, and it often comes down to whether I can tolerate listening to the narrator for 15-20+ hours. The particular narrator for Emma nailed her intended characterization down to a T but, at least in my opinion, came across as so relentlessly supercilious that I had a hard time listening for more than 20 minutes without needing a break. Whatever sympathy I might have had for Emma or however I could possibly have related to her just died a swift death from the tone of the narration alone. On and on and on Emma goes, dissecting every social nuance and moment, while constantly sounding like someone I wouldn't want to spend five minutes with - just hearing her destroyed whatever chance I had of potentially still admiring her for trying hard or being a good person beneath all her flaws. 
 I'll give Emma another chance in a few years and see if I enjoy it more when I actually read it, but after recently re-reading Persuasion, I almost just couldn't get through this at all. I just couldn't relate.