Please advice about how to understand Novels better!:(

I love reading stories,all kinds of stories...But the problem is that I find it hard to understand Novels, even though my English is perfect.

Any advice about how to understand the strange,words or "sentences" put in a strange order?

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SomeMichGuy · M

Strange words: that's the domain of a good dictionary.

If you read 19th cent British novels, the words are often either marked "archaic" or "obsolescent" in American dictionaries, AND the English tend to keep distinct shades of meaning (rather than claiming a set of words are all synonyms).

Some writers actually strive to use words which you have to look up, as a conceit / matter of pretentious pride...

Yassmeene · F

@SomeMichGuy I'm reading an English novel I guess, I'm not sure if it's translated to a English but the novel's name is "Ema"

Thanks for responding to my question...I tried so many things to understand the meaning of some sentences still I can't find any explanation...The problem with some novels is that the word order is different from how words are ordered nowadays...It's as if I went 1000 years back in time...

SomeMichGuy · M

@Yassmeene

You are welcome! I think you are referrung to Emma.

Can you show any examples of the strange sentences...?

FreddieUK · 70-79, M

@Yassmeene Emma is a novel that many British readers have a challenge with, while others absolutely love it. Jane Austen (1775–1817) wrote in a culture no modern reader has experienced so most of the social habits are foreign to us. However, her observation of men and women relating in what we would consider a very restricted way is superb, remembering her life experience was itself bounded by the rules of women in society back then and the extremely formal (to out ears) dialogue can sometimes be demanding. There's no swearing, so that's good. 😄