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    Pride & Prejudice
    Pride & Prejudice
    Pride & Prejudice
    Audiobook (abridged)2 hours

    Pride & Prejudice

    Written by Jane Austen

    Narrated by Neil Conrich

    4.5/5

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    About this audiobook

    Pride and Prejudice is a masterpiece of wit and perception, ridiculing the superficial manners of Jane Austen’s time. But it is more than just social satire. Notice, in particular, how the author’s close attention to detail makes the events and characters so true to life. Above all, enjoy the story – its sheer narrative force and humour – and enter a world of snobbery, romance and uncertainty, in which people behave casually, indifferently or even cruelly – in short just like people behave everywhere in the world today.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherThe Copyright Group
    Release dateJan 1, 2014
    ISBN9781780001357
    Author

    Jane Austen

    Jane Austen (1775–1817) was an English novelist whose work centred on social commentary and realism. Her works of romantic fiction are set among the landed gentry, and she is one of the most widely read writers in English literature.

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    Reviews for Pride & Prejudice

    4.5/5

    162 ratings152 reviews

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    • 4/5
      A beautiful, autumnal story about Anne Elliot, a woman past her bloom who is ultimately reunited with her past lover. Austen's shortest, and perhaps most introspecitve, novel. This one should not be overlooked as much as it is.
    • 4/5
      Austen's lovely novel of second chances - a wonder.
    • 5/5
      A very, very close second to Pride & Prejudice. Lots of heart, and all of Jane Austen's wit.
    • 5/5
      I love this book. It is perhaps the funniest of all of Austen's works although the humor is in the descriptions of people, rather than the dialogue. It is quiet and sweet. I couldn't help rooting for this couple who stayed in love all those years despite what they thought was a hopeless romance. And the family! What a triumph of love over familial pressures!
    • 3/5
      my least favorite of Austen's books. I have very little sympathy for Anne.
    • 5/5
      Eight years ago, Anne Elliot met, fell in love with, and was engaged to the bright young naval officer, Commander Wentworth. However, due to the persuasion of her father and her surrogate mother, Lady Russell, Anne was convinced to break off the engagement due to Wentworth's lack of position and wealth. In the intervening years, Anne's affections for Wentworth have not diminished, and when she is again brought back into contact with the now well-off Captain Wentworth, she struggles with her romantic self while pragmatically knowing that Wentworth is highly unlikely to ever renew his addresses to her after the nature of their parting so many years before.Persuasion is rightly deemed the most romantic of Austen's novels. While her satire and sharp wit are still in evidence in her depictions of Anne's excessively vain father, her superficial older sister, and her attention-hog younger sister, among other characters and situations, it is the yearning of Anne for a romance that she realistically recognizes as impossible that is the heart of the novel. As the oldest of Austen's heroines at 28, Anne is sweet and a little naive, but ultimately sympathetic as she longs for the man she let go for all the right reasons. Notable for the most beautiful letter included in any of Austen's novels, this tale of a love thought lost is a thoroughly enjoyable read every time.
    • 3/5
      This was a good read but I didn't like it as we'll as Pride and Prejudice. A nice romance between Anne Elliott and Captain Wentworth, their lost love and journey back to each other. Falling in love with reading is made easy when Jane Austen has written the book.
    • 4/5
      I’m embarrassed to admit that this is my first Austen, at least I don’t remember reading any of her books, although I have seen many of the movies based on her books. I’ve wanted to read all her novels. It’s all the more astounding that I’ve managed to not do so given that in high school and through my first two years of college I majored in English/English literature. I’ve always known that there are gaps (an abyss) in my education, yet this particular one does surprise me.I suggested this particular Austen to my book group, partly because it’s the favorite of so many I know, and partly because I knew a bit about it, but except for Northanger Abbey I knew less than I knew about her other novels.This edition of the book has an introduction by Amy Bloom and she tells the entire plot, but atypically I didn’t care at all knowing the book’s story before I read it. I pretty much knew it, and I guess I feel I should have read it long ago. The edition also has the originally written final two chapters, inserted after the rest of the book's text.But, if not for needing to read it for my real world book club, I’d have put it down and picked it up another time. Actually, I think I’d like to read Austen’s books on the order she penned them. But the main problem is that I’m in a reading slump and this is a case of a good book at the wrong time. It didn’t help that while reading I was often listening to the (very modern) college guys upstairs and other modern and annoying sounds. I should have probably made a point of reading this in the park or some other more suitably atmospheric place. The most ideal years for me to have read this was probably 25-35; that doesn’t mean I won’t have other ideal timea in the future. I can see giving this book 5 stars but I don’t think it’s destined to be one of my favorites.Apt title. Beautifully written. Wicked wit! It’s also funny and bright and poignant. But mostly waiting waiting waiting waiting waiting waiting waiting…and I kind of got impatient with everybody. So, I really like and admire Anne, a lot, and I love how Austen skewers the society that was familiar to her. Nobody really escaped my periodic irritation though, nor did the situation. I don’t have patience for certain types of plots, and I’m not big on romance stories, although this one wasn’t as “romantic” as I’d expected. Despite the ending, I did find this story a sad one, most likely because of my own current frame of mind: wrong timing for me. Also, I am aware of Austen’s condition when she wrote this novel. I do hope to pick it up again someday, along with all of Austen’s books.As I was reading I felt sometimes as though I was reading a play. It read that way to me. I could “see” it all. I can see why Austen’s novels translate so well to film.
    • 5/5
      Just read this last night. One of the best novels I have ever read. The 'Classics' are, overall, a number of works whose value I think are slightly overrated, but Austen's work seems (in my experience) to be much superior to the majority of what are considered classics in this day and age.Persuasion is a great tragic romance with a happy ending that I would honestly recommend to anyone interested in a good read.
    • 5/5
      This is my favorite Austen, probably because it is her most mature and thoughtful heroine.
    • 5/5
      I am wondering now why I haven't read more Jane Austen books. The only two I've read so far, Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice, have become firm favourites of mine. I read Persuasion as part of a reading challenge, have owned the book for a long time and not getting around to reading it. I have to say, I loved everything about it - the characters, the story and the writing. Okay, so one could probably predict what was going to happen, but that didn't detract from the strengths of the book in any way.I thought this book was fantastic and would recommend reading it to anybody who asked of my opinion.
    • 5/5
      My third favorite novel by Jane Austen, it is unique in that this is not a romance. Anne Elliot is a saint, and the true definition of gentlewoman.
    • 4/5
      Jane Austen does romance like nobody else. The tension and the anticipation, drawn out for a novel's worth, perfectly balances the convention of her day with the impatience of the modern reader. Jane Austen is the only author of her day that does not try my patience. And she's one of the few who don't mess up a good romance with embarrassment. This, of all Jane Austen's books, is the one I find the most influenced from her life. And it is for that more that the story that I liked the novel. On the pages of the book I found myself more rooting for a scenario where Jane was thrust into society with the man she had wanted to marry but was not of influence enough to be accepted with the tables now turned and her in every position to say yes. I wanted Jane to relive her life as a small part of her did on the pages of her novel.

      Of all the characters in the book Ann was the only likable one and while it would have been better for her if Captain Wentworth had saved her from her selfish family 8 years prior, late is better than never. The interactions full of blushes and meaning had me wanting to shake both of them to swallow their pride and take the first step. It's hard once you've been rejected, had your heart broken, to admit to being vulnerable again, but they were obviously both miserable with just the thought of each other and if they missed connecting with their love this time around, they wouldn't have the meddling of other to blame.

      Which brings me to the statements about society Austen made. Two kind souls perfect for each other are torn about because circumstance is not favorable. To make the statement that money and position are not good judges of character, Austen surrounds Anne with characters one more deplorable than the next: a father spending his family into bankruptcy, a cold emotionally void sister, a selfish competitive sister who whines until things fall in her favor, silly cousins, a gold digger, a power/money hungry man who cares not who he ruins in his climb. And these are the people who are supposed to be good blood and therefore good people. But we all know riches more often than not buy spoiled self-centered shallow personalities, not better ones. I wanted to despise the characters more than Austen allowed because they are presented through the eyes of a loving relative.

      And then we get to the topic of persuasion itself. Modern society cares not for the influence of the elderly nor the advice it imparts, but throughout history and other cultures, the elder reign with too much power. There must be a happy median where one listens to the counsel of those who have lived through it and respects older generations without letting such opinions stand supreme. Nobody makes decisions for one's life better than that person and all well-meaning meddling should be taken and considered, but not let it overpower ones own persuasion. When one makes decisions to please others and not with the best at heart, it is the wrong decision. It's not even just a young/old problem. It's a personality issue too where the shy or insecure let the out-spoken run their lives for them because it's easy to go along than fight sometimes. I say if you get what you want too easily from someone, be careful because it's not given whole-heartedly and your tactics may come back to hurt you in unexpected ways when that person finally breaks. I suppose I related more to Anne than I initially realized.

      There are a few parts that dragged just slightly but overall I once again loved Jane Austen's work. Although I enjoyed this one more for the picture it gave me into Austen's mind and soul than for the story itself, the story is good too.
    • 3/5
      Anne falls in love with Capt. Wentworth but there are obstacles to their relationship. It's classic Austen. I liked but did not love this final Austen novel. Based on my previous experiences with the author's works, I am likely to enjoy it a bit more each time I re-read it.
    • 5/5
      I've been a Jane Austen fan for a long time. I've read her six completed novels and have loved all of them, but in very different ways. Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility introduced me to the brilliant author. They are beautiful odes to love conquering all and the huge blessing it is to have a sister you love, no matter how different you are. Their main characters are shaken by misunderstandings and steered by naïveté.Northanger Abbey and Emma feature somewhat silly girls that let their imaginations run away with them. You somehow still love them, because though they may be simple or selfish, they really do have good hearts. Mansfield Park is Austen's picture of perfecting one's character. Fanny is just so damn good that it's a bit frustrating. Of course all of these books are much more complicated than my quick sentences allow me to explain. So you should read all of them! But Persuasion, this book is different from all the rest. Maybe it's because it was the last full novel she wrote. Maybe it's because she had experienced a bit of love in her life by that point. Whatever it is, it gives this book a depth and soul-shaking intensity that makes it my favorite. The premise is simple. Anne falls in love with Wentworth, but her family says he's too poor and persuades her not to marry him. All of this happens before the book begins and in the opening chapter we are 8 years in the future. Anne is still single and Wentworth returns to her town. Now they are both older. Any feelings they share or don't share aren't based on infatuation or young love. They are both mature and have had years to decide what they really want out of life. This slow burn is intoxicating. If you've never read Persuasion you're missing out. I love Austen's more celebrated novels (P&P and Emma), which have been made popular by movies and modern remakes (aka Clueless), but it's Persuasion that won my heart.
    • 4/5
      Jane Austen's final novel, and the last in my re-reading of Austen as an adult. As a teenager, I was overwhelmed by the archaic aspects - the speech, the settings, the manners and lost the books. But as an older reader, the old fashioned aspects blur into the background and I find that Austen is very current. This book portrays a middle daughter with ditzy sisters and a vain and empty-headed father - a scenario that has no trouble transcending a couple of centuries. While the plot is clearly from the early 19th century, I have no trouble greatly enjoying the book in the early 21st century. Read as ebook August 2011.
    • 5/5
      Undecided now whether this or Pride and Prejudice is Austen's best. Might have been more forceful if I hadn't read it over a period of weeks. Also, the Penguin Classic has the most ridiculous and pedantic footnotes. "Late: recent" You don't say.
    • 3/5
      While I love Jane Austen and her characters I'm at a stage where I want to be so much more invigorated by a book and I just cannot (to use an awful phrase) "get into" this kind of novel at the moment. Time to spend a while reading other genres and then come back to these. Ahhh, feels good to say that and not feel guilty.
    • 5/5
      Persuasion is quite easily my favorite of Austen's novels, moreso even than the famed Pride and Prejudice. The character Anne was lovable and seemed normal in the face of petty and often petulant friends, family and acquaintances. The story itself is more complicated than that of Pride & Prejudice and the scenery certainly more varied. Again, Austen's commentary on societal norms becomes apparent here, woven into a touching and enjoyable story of love, courtship and familial obligation.
    • 5/5
      This is my favorite of Jane Austen's books, even more than Pride and Prejudice. I have an easy time identifying with Anne Elliott, as I've often felt that I was under-appreciated by those closest to me. I love the constancy of her affection for Captain Wentworth. The ending is all an ending should be.
    • 5/5
      It hardly seems worthwhile writing my own review of this book, after carefully going through the other 48 reviews and marking eight or ten to bubble up to the top of the ratings order, thus guaranteeing that only the most patient reader will make it all the way down to my small offering. But let us soldier on nonetheless!While all of Austen's heroines are children of their times, and thus their differences are easy to minimize, they are regardless very different people. Anne Elliott is very different than Emma; and from Elizabeth Bennett as well. She might feel more at home in Fanny Price's small room at Mansfield Park; but we are able to get inside Anne's mind and watch how her attempts to shift events the way she wants them more often than not do not succeed. Emma or Elizabeth would have pushed harder; it would not have occurred to Fanny to push at all; but we see exactly the places where Anne is able to insert a subtle lever in order to influence events the direction she prefers.The plot moves along at the pace one would expect from a novel of manners. Those who love those novels will be eminently satisfied (those who preferred Neuromancer may find it a tad on the slow side).Pride and Prejudice is still my favorite Austen novel to reread, just for the pure joy of the story. But it must be said; Persuasion is probably the best novel Jane Austen wrote.
    • 4/5
      A funny, subtle, layered work, but the satire falls a little flat for not being applied consistently. Austen wants to have her cake and eat it -- she skewers the aristocracy, the rich, the vapid, and the proud, then celebrates them all in the next breath.
    • 4/5
      I'm not a romantic type of person. I don't read romance novels, swooning and clutching my bosom and wishing for Prince Charming. Which is why I never really read Jane Austen. Life isn't a happily-ever-after and I don't enjoy reading that it is.I gave Pride and Prejudice a try a year or so ago and it was ok. Austen IS a good writer and her characters do have some serious flaws, even the characters you are supposed to be rooting for/swooning over. While listening to a CraftLit podcast, the podcaster announced we'd be listening to Persuasion. Ugh, I almost passed them all by.While there is swooning and happily-ever-after, Persuasion turned out to be incredibly good and interesting and, might I say, exciting. Persuasion was Austen's last novel, published after her death. The main character, Anne Elliot, is a girl from a desired family, wealth and all. But she isn't a horrid person. In fact, she is much maligned and ignored by her own father and sisters, unless they needed something from her. She spent a good deal of time in the shadows, being helpful and ignored.She was persuaded by her stand-in mother, Lady Russell, to not marry a certain Mr. Wentworth because his status would bring hers down. Years later, when she is 27 years old, she meets up with the now Captain Wentworth and finds she is still in love.Drama drama drama and happy ending. But still in all, an excellent story with a heroine who is kinda normal for the times.
    • 5/5
      Loved it. Typical Jane Austen. Can't get enough.
    • 3/5
      Not Austen's strongest and yet as the book went along I appreciated the quiet quality of the novel.
    • 5/5
      WARNING: CONTAINS VERY SLIGHT SPOILERSOh, how I loved this book. I have just officially found my new favourite Austen novel. And the ridiculous thing? Once again, I was guilty of repeatedly skipping over this one on my shelves because it might be, well, a bit boring... Since I started getting stuck into Mount TBR I'm learning that some of my favourite books of the year/ever turn out to be ones I had repeatedly rejected, underestimated and shoved to the back of the queue.Anyway. Anne Elliott. What a girl. Although the style of this novel was a little archaic, and sometimes I had to go back and reread a particularly convoluted sentence or two, Anne Elliott captured my heart completely. She has all the virtue of Fanny Price and none of the weakness. She's loyal and loving and perceptive - but she has a much deeper inner strength, and doesn't have to sit down in a rose garden every time she ventures out of doors for two minutes. Yet again Austen's world has translated into a story this modern girl adored and understood completely. Within a chapter or two I was swept up in the heartache of Anne's separation from her beloved Captain Wentworth seven years ago, and her horror at having to meet him again, knowing that she was still in love with him. Her humiliation was heartbreaking, her dignity enviable. I watched their slow reconciliation with bated breath, tried to figure out the good guys from the bad guys... and I must admit, the Captain's heartfelt, desperate letter to Anne as he clutched at his chance to marry the woman he loved made me cry. I have never cried reading Austen before - only watching it!I also recommend the Sally Hawkins/Rupert Penry-Jones adaptation, which against my better judgement I watched immediately after finishing the novel. I wasn't disappointed at all - although a few details had been switched around or made a little more concise, much of it was quite faithful, particularly the dialogue. Anne's misery is perhaps even more heartbreaking as a visual representation than it is in Austen's polished prose, and I cried all over again...
    • 5/5
      I found number two! After reading 'Pride and Prejudice', 'Sense and Sensibility', 'Emma' and this book, I decided that 'Pride and Prejudice' still holds the title of Jane Austen's best book, but 'Persuasion' took 'Sense and Sensibility''s previous number two place.Excessively romantic, Persuasion tells the story of Anne Elliot, the daughter of a nobleman, who was forced to refuse her sweetheart's love when she was nineteen, because of the young man's lowly birth and lack of money. Eight years later Captain Wentworth came back successful, with money and handsomer than ever, and Anne found that she was still in love with him. But it didn't seem that he returned the feelings.If one's a helpless romantic like me, one can't help to fall in love with this book, it has all the perfect ingredients of the perfect recipe - beautiful and elegant girl with high moral and good manner, handsome and perfect gentleman, denied but staunch love. What else could one ask for?As usual Jane's book provides a portrait of life in 18th century British society. Rank matters a lot and people's place in society is often controlled more by their birth than by money, education or personality. But of course Jane shows that it's not always the case.
    • 4/5
      Persuasion is a great Jane Austen novel, but until now the one I felt least sucked into. I think that has to do, paradoxically enough, with the fact that Anne is just a normal and decent woman with normal feelings. She doesn't have the strong character that you can find in P&P, S&S, Mansfield Park, or Emma, which makes Anne almost a bit boring by being normal. However, this also makes Anne the character that is most relatable, and it made me very happy that this book had such a happy end!
    • 1/5
      Another Austen, same old same old, nothing happens till the end of the book... yes its me again, the Austen hater! Apologies to all Austen fans
    • 4/5
      This is a love story.The background is like the story of Shakespia.One love was not attained.But in this story,no one die.The story is a little slow,but you can enjoy this book.