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    Persuasion
    Persuasion
    Persuasion
    Audiobook (abridged)3 hours

    Persuasion

    Written by Jane Austen

    Narrated by Juliet Stevenson

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Anne Elliot has grieved for seven years over the loss of her first and only love, Captain Frederick Wentworth. When their paths finally cross again, Anne finds herself slighted and all traces of their former intimacy gone. As the pair continue to share the same social circle, dramatic events in Lyme Regis, and later in Bath, conspire to unravel the knots of deceit and misunderstanding in this beguiling and gently comic story of love and fidelity.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherNaxos Audiobooks
    Release dateAug 22, 1996
    ISBN9789629544546
    Author

    Jane Austen

    Jane Austen’s (1775-1817) works have enjoyed a renewed popularity in the last year with the film release of Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility - both critically acclaimed. Sir Walter Scott said, Jane Austen had “that exquisite touch which renders ordinary commonplace things and characters interesting.”

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    Reviews for Persuasion

    4/5

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    • 3/5
      this one started so well for me but lost me halfway. I think I would have liked it more if I had studied it in school. all the social class stuff is a little lost on me now that I don't study literature anymore and I don't get that deeper knowledge and subsequent appreciation for what Austen has written
    • 5/5
      Jane Austen is known for her romances, but there is far less romance in Persuasion than there is a saga of intricate family dynamics, with a nicely played romance playing in the background. It brings into focus Anne Elliot, now my favorite among all of Jane Austen's characters that I have come to know so far. From the perspective of her immediate family, she is quite insignificant. Her opinion matters not in the least, and they think her useless in nearly every way, but she is just the opposite. Anne is the most decent of all human beings within the book, and is the one who saves her family in times of all sorts of trouble.As always, Austen includes the most unlikable sorts. The ones that are so much fun to dislike, so silly that they are entertaining, and ones who are made to make the main character stand out from their sort. Anne's father is the shallowest of all shallow people, and her sister, Mary, is the most pathetic of jealous, self-centered, selfish, attention seekers one could ever imagine. All of them attempting to hide their flaws under a layer of sophisticated class, which makes it all the more entertaining.One of the last things that I expected to see in an Austen book is a character who has some ideas of progressive thinking like Anne does while retaining her femininity. She has a lovely way of looking at the differences between men and women and seeing how they both have struggles that are exclusive to their sex, as well as strengths that each is gifted with, and sees how a pair is better off for it.
    • 5/5
      Persuasion is easily my favourite Austen book. There is a maturity and a melancholy in the book's tone that I find very moving. Austen studies the nature of regret, of duty and loyalty, and of propriety in the choices Anne makes. This Anne, as in most of Austen's characters, is intelligent, sensible but, more so than her other heroines, is resignedly bound by what is expected of her. Which is why the ending is so rewarding to read. Anne breaks free of her social impositions and allows herself and Capt another chance. Very satisfying for incorrigible romantics!
    • 5/5
      I loved this book! Not that there's ever really any doubt with Austen - lady really knew how to put a story together! This novel is about a spinster character (~30 years old) who carries the regret of having rejected a proposal from a poor member of the navy when she was younger, on the advice of her snobby narcissistic family - and who then is reintroduced to him as a wealthy and distinguished naval officer a decade later, when he's involved in courting a teenaged relative of hers. It's a fun one; you can kind of sense the direction the book will take but at the same time there are some good surprises and it's such a fun ride, you find yourself actively rooting for the outcome you know/hope will eventually arrive. Great airport read!
    • 5/5
      My favorite scene from all of Jane Austen is in this book.
    • 4/5
      Written in 1816. Anne rejected a suitor eight years ago due to her family and friends not thinking him good enough. Now he is back... A good read.
    • 5/5
      My favorite Austen
    • 3/5
      This was Austen’s last novel, and one would think it would be the ultimate work of a mature author who had honed her craft. But it isn’t. It’s not Austen’s fault. She grew quite ill and was not able to finish it.There are still many of the elements of a treasured Austen classic here. She is able to turn a critical eye on the social mores of the time and expose the frustration and angst of the young women who were captives of their class and station in life. But the sparkling dialogue of her earlier works is missing in Persuasion. I found the plot bogging down in places, and I was confused by the cast of characters. Neither Captain Fredrick Wentworth nor Miss Anne Elliot came to life for me the way (for example) Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennett did in [Pride and Prejudice]. Even so, I enjoyed reading this classic comedy of manners, a romantic story where all ends well. And why shouldn’t it?
    • 5/5
      Even better the second time! (Finished again 19 Ma 2009)
    • 4/5
      Many things to love-- the meditation on the differences between men and women's feelings, the achingly wonderful letter written by Captain Wentworth to Anne, the self-possession of Austen's heroine. I admit that though many intelligent readers count Persuasion as their favorite Austen, I'm just a superficial sucker for Pride and Prejudice and Lizzie Bennett. Though Captain Wentworth, an emotional man, might be a better man than late-to-evolve Mr. Darcy.
    • 3/5
      Not my favorite by Austen, but still very romantic and, to borrow a word from a fellow reader, introspective. Lots of tension leads to a satisfying ending. Now I can say I've finally read this all the way through!
    • 5/5
      All things Jane! I'm a huge fan.
    • 4/5
      I did not like it at first but as the story unravels, I find it good. I don't know why I read the theme of unrequited love nowadays lol. But this book is a Jane Austen's novel so I know it will have a happy ending, and it did.

      Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth were parted for eight and a half years but they still have feelings for each other. It was just acted upon the last two chapters of the book. It is because during the past years, Anne was persuaded by her friend Lady Russell that Wentworth was not worthy of her so she declined his marriage proposal.

      This is my most favorite part:

      "I can listen no longer in silence. I must speak to you by such means
      as are within my reach. You pierce my soul. I am half agony,
      half hope. Tell me not that I am too late, that such precious feelings
      are gone for ever. I offer myself to you again with a heart
      even more your own than when you almost broke it, eight years
      and a half ago. Dare not say that man forgets sooner than woman,
      that his love has an earlier death. I have loved none but you.
      Unjust I may have been, weak and resentful I have been,
      but never inconstant. You alone have brought me to Bath.
      For you alone, I think and plan. Have you not seen this?
      Can you fail to have understood my wishes? I had not waited even
      these ten days, could I have read your feelings, as I think you must have penetrated mine. I can hardly write..."
    • 5/5
      Autumnal in its setting (fallen leaves and hazlenuts, quiet Somerset fields that are turning golden), Persuasion is like a long and quiet musical theme in a minor key that finally turns to major in the last few bars. I reread it every three or four years.
    • 5/5
      Guess who found her new favorite Jane Austen novel???? J.K.! Emma will always hold a place in the center of my heart but Persuasion, it's older cool sister replaces Pride and Prejudice as the book I'll read on the days where I'm sick in bed.All I remember from the first time I read it as a wannabe 14 year old hipster that thought she was so cool because she read classic novels and listened to alternative punk music is that this book was so dumb because Anne should've just moved on or give Lady Russell the finger and do what she wanted. I'm certain I'm not the only one cringing. Clearly, I hadn't enough attention to the character of Anne Elliot because she is exactly the type of woman I've always wanted to be: intelligent, attractive, highly spoken of, truly a kind person. It's so easy to be persuaded at a young age to do or feel anything. Anne was motherless it's only natural she would cling to the next mother figure in her life. I finally get it, Lady Russell wasn't wrong, there was no guarantee this dashing young Frederick Wentworth was going to provide her a secure lifestyle and for all she knew he could die at sea at any given moment. Would Anne be able to survive on her own without him? The irony is that at 14 the persuasions of the cool high schoolers I was hanging out with were definitely molding me into something that I thought was better for me which luckily worked out pretty well.Perhaps I'm older and wiser now that I finally understand why Captain Wentworth's love surpasses most if not all other Austen heroes. Eight years is a long time to hold on to a love that nearly crushed you. He's not subtle like Mr. Darcy when it comes to showing affection and he's definitely not an obvious flirt like a certain Tilney (bae), but there's an interesting tell when it comes to his feelings towards our heroine to the point that if you're not careful enough, it may have to be explained to you...which Austen does in the end. But it was so satisfying reading the progression to that part (!!!)Anne Elliot is not so bland in my mind anymore, before I had always lumped her with the pushover Catherine and weak Fanny. We shall never speak of the Dashwood sisters...unless you want to read a rant. Anne was beyond her era and I am here for it. The shade thrown around this book was all over the place and for once the villain was unapologetically villainous with a satisfying ending, at least to me that is. I still say Wickam should've been thrown off a cliff.
    • 3/5
      3.5 stars. I think that this would have been a 3 star read if not for Austen's writing style, but I just love Austen's style so much. I didn't care too much about the characters or plot or anything, but I still found it enjoyable. There were several clever comments made about the disadvantages experienced by women in this time that I appreciated so much. Also, the satire regarding the vanity of Anne's family was hysterical.
    • 3/5
      I know that this puts me in a minority of Austen readers, but I have never really liked this book. It's too short and lightly sketched -- it reads less like a novel and more like an outline of a novel. The hero and heroine barely speak to each other, and I really dislike Anne -- she's nearly as priggish and meek as Fanny Price. And even Austen's trademark humor doesn't work as well in this book as it does in others; there are some humorous lines, but her viciousness about poor Richard Musgrove just seems mean.
    • 5/5
      It's funny really, but Persuasion was my least favorite book I read by Austen when I was young. But after maturing, I found that I loved this book more than all of them. Anne Elliot grew on me, and I found myself disciplining myself to be more sensible like her at times.

      I love Anne Elliot's character, she might have made a mistake by letting others change her mind and she regrets it for 8 long lonely years, but her love never altered, you see how much she loves Wentworth even in her silence, even when he was intending to marry another, I love how she describes their first encounter after 8 years, and I love Wentworth letter to Anne at the very end, when he asks her if he still has a chance to win her heart once again because his love never changed for it was always her and no one else that captured his heart.

      I love how Anne silently answers many questions and accusations about herself, her silence became her companion after years of neglect, after years of being the least loved, the least favored in her family. She lost her voice but regained it when she felt she could have another chance at happiness.

      The story is filled with hope that the pages could hardly hold the ink in.

      My favorite adaptation is the 2007 film.
    • 4/5
      This was the first Austen book I read and so I didn't have too many expectations going into it. I had heard that Persuasion was one book of Austen's that does not get the hype it deserves. I'm not sure I agree with that. I didn't love it and I didn't hate it. As it is a romance novel I was hoping for a bit more... I don't know, romance? Nothing really progressed between Wentworth and Anne until the last 100ish pages. However, Austen is so witty and I absolutely enjoyed the interactions between pretty much all the characters.
    • 3/5
      Thematisch grotendeels een doorslagje van de andere romans, vooral inzake emoties en afloop. Thema van de persuasion overheerst niet echt, zo wordt niet goed uitgewerkt waarom Anne Wentworth indertijd afwees. Wel weer mooie society-inkijk. Ook stilistisch zeer sterk vooral in de groepsdynamica en de introspectie in de wereld van Anne (dikwijls ook geluid en blik).
    • 4/5
      my second favourite jane austen novel. i love how after several years, anne still loves captain wentworth and how they reclaim their love together :)
    • 5/5
      Favorite hands down so far.
    • 5/5
      I love this book so much, and Anne Elliot is right up there with Elizabeth Bennet as my favorite Austen character.
    • 4/5
      Beautiful romance, the 'good' characters receive their rewards.
    • 5/5
      Lovely and fun book of Victorian era.
    • 3/5
      Thematisch grotendeels een doorslagje van de andere romans, vooral inzake emoties en afloop. Thema van de persuasion overheerst niet echt, zo wordt niet goed uitgewerkt waarom Anne Wentworth indertijd afwees. Wel weer mooie society-inkijk. Ook stilistisch zeer sterk vooral in de groepsdynamica en de introspectie in de wereld van Anne (dikwijls ook geluid en blik).
    • 4/5
      One of Austen's best. The setting and characters were great and the story seemed surprisingly realistic. Couldn't put it down.
    • 4/5
      Well, a novel by Jane Austen. It is witty in the voice of its narrator, and has good character development. It passes the evening well, and the love story is reasonable. But what in Austen is not reasonable? The weakest part of the story is Austen's almost complete ignorance of the naval officer's life, and the professional competence her hero must possess is little revealed in the lover's interactions. So, I'll call this one good on the Women, weak on the men.Original publication was in 1817.
    • 3/5
      When Louisa stumbled, I sighed and, yet, continued through the remainder of the book. I knew that Mr. Scott would be unmasked and that all would be well. The flimsy layers did trouble me greatly. I don't know whether it is national chauvinism or some maudlin coddling but how is it that most consider Austen to be superior to Balzac?

      On a personal level, this was likely the only book given to me by the mother of a woman I was seeing.
    • 1/5
      While I admire Jane Austen’s eloquent language, a gripping plot is not in evidence here. I didn’t expect fast-paced excitement but did hope for something deeper. It's the only Austen novel I've read that features no memorable or larger-than-life characters. Mary was quite amusing with all her complaining, but this wasn't enough to keep me hooked.Apart from a few comedy moments, plus Louisa's accident, I found this story quite a bore. My mind kept wandering and the only reason I didn't give up on it was because I listened to an audiobook version.