Audible Review: The Jane Austen Collection

 

    Narrated by: Claire Foy, Gugu Mbatha-Raw,
Billie Piper, Florence Pugh, Emma Thompson
    Length: 45 hrs
    Unabridged Audiobook
    Release date: 11-05-20
    Language: English
    Publisher: Audible Originals
    Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics

From mid January to mid February or so I've been having a Jane Austen month, listening to a collection of dramatised readings of her novels (included in my current Audible membership). The "storytelling" parts of each book are read by a main narrator, while the dialogues are performed by a full cast of other actors. 

I did like some of the performances better than others; but that may also be related to the fact that it differs a bit how much I like the books. And two of my favourites happened to also be narrated by one of my favourite actresses - Emma Thompson.

Jane Austen lived 16 Dec 1775 - 18 July 1817.

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The introductary summaries below are from Audible's website.

 Sense and Sensibility (1811) - narrated by Gugu Mbatha-Raw.

Austen introduces us to the Dashwood sisters who upon the death of their father are left with little money or status and without their family home. Marianne Dashwood wears her heart on her sleeve and when she falls in love with the dashing but unsuitable John Willoughby she ignores her sister Elinor's warning that her impulsive behaviour leaves her open to gossip and innuendo. Meanwhile Elinor, always sensitive to social convention, is struggling to conceal her own romantic disappointment, even from those closest to her.


Pride and Prejudice (1813) - narrated by Claire Foy.

Pride and Prejudice is centred around the Bennet family, their five unmarried daughters and their mother’s desperation for at least one of them to make a wealthy match to save the family from destitution. When Charles Bingley moves into Netherfield, a nearby estate, it seems that Jane, the eldest daughter, may have found her match, but it also introduces our heroine Elizabeth to Bingley’s friend, the aloof Mr Darcy.

Mansfield Park (1814) - narrated by Billie Piper.

Adopted into the household of her uncle, Sir Thomas Bertram, Fanny Price grows up a meek outsider among her cousins in the unaccustomed elegance of Mansfield Park. Soon after Sir Thomas absents himself on business, Mary Crawford and her brother, Henry, arrive at Mansfield, bringing with them London glamour and the seductive taste for flirtation and theatre that precipitates a crisis.

Emma (1816) narrated by Emma Thompson.

Emma is perfectly content with her life and sees no need for either love or marriage; nothing however delights her more than matchmaking her fellow residents of Highbury. But when she ignores the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and attempts to arrange a suitable match for her protegee Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected.

Northanger Abbey (1803/1817)* - narrated by Emma Thompson.

A coming-of-age tale for the young and naïve 17-year-old Catherine Morland, Northanger Abbey takes a decidedly comical look at themes of class, family, love and literature. Revelling in the sensationalist —and extremely popular—Gothic fiction of her day, the story follows Catherine out of Bath to the lofty manor of the Tilneys, where her overactive imagination gets to work constructing an absurd and melodramatic explanation for the death of Mrs Tilney, which threatens to jeopardise her newly forged friendships.

Persuasion (1817)* - narrated by Florence Pugh.

Anne Elliot, daughter of the snobbish Sir Walter Elliot, is woman of quiet charm and deep feelings. Eight years before our story begins, she is happily betrothed to a naval officer, Frederick Wentworth, but she breaks off the engagement when persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that such a match is unworthy. The breakup produces in Anne a deep and long-lasting regret.

* Northanger Abbey and Persuation were both published after the author's death in 1817.

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My personal No.1 favourite among Austen's novels is (and has always been) Emma. One reason may be that this book was included in my English literature studies at university, a long time ago - which means I read and discussed it it more thoroughly than any of the others. But another main reason why I love it is the underlying theme of the main character being a bit too full of herself to start with, but learning by her mistakes along the way. And I think it's rather brilliant how the author manages to let the reader be one step ahead of the heroine most of the way.

I also always liked Northanger Abbey, and it struck me now that my reasons for that are rather similar to why I like Emma: Catherine too is a heroine who is prone to jumping to conclusions and letting her imagination run away with her...

All in all, I enjoyed getting reaquainted with all the books in this Audible format. One thing that I didn't really appreciate all that much, though, was that there was often music played in the background behind the narrative parts. That I found more distracting than helpful.