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Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice
Pride and Prejudice
Audiobook11 hours

Pride and Prejudice

Written by Jane Austen

Narrated by Sharon Williams

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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About this audiobook

Top 5 Finalist on PBS's The Great American Read in 2018

Jane Austen’s insightful and sometimes wry Pride and Prejudice provides today’s listeners with a fascinating look into the British society during the nineteenth century.

This delightful novel of manners follows the Bennets, a family of five daughters and humble fortune. With her savory wit and satire, Jane Austen unveils the lives of the Bennet sisters as they endeavor to find their place in society—some taking a long road to get there. The arrival of Mr. Bingley and Mr. Darcy turn their pastoral lives upside down, and listeners will take in the story with rapt attention, eager to discover if Elizabeth, cured of her prejudice, and Mr. Darcy, cured of his pride, will finally fall into each other’s arms.

This novel is part of Brilliance Audio’s extensive Classic Collection, bringing you timeless masterpieces that you and your family are sure to love.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateFeb 17, 2015
ISBN9781491586112
Author

Jane Austen

Born in 1775, Jane Austen published four of her six novels anonymously. Her work was not widely read until the late nineteenth century, and her fame grew from then on. Known for her wit and sharp insight into social conventions, her novels about love, relationships, and society are more popular year after year. She has earned a place in history as one of the most cherished writers of English literature.

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Reviews for Pride and Prejudice

Rating: 4.368740515933232 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

659 ratings567 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Amazing love story between two destined souls. It's no wonder movies and love stories take their cue from this story.
  • Rating: 1 out of 5 stars
    1/5
    As part of a reading challenge I am doing in 2015, I have to read a classic romance and a book written over 100 years ago. Having never read anything by Jane Austen has always made me feel a little culturally illiterate, so I figured I would take the plunge.

    I found this book to be really boring. I suppose I am glad I read it, but I don't think I will be reading any more Jane Austen.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    "Pride and Prejudice" is the story of Elizabeth Bennet, a girl who is unlike any other girl of the time. Instead of being a "puppy" and following any man who shows any interest in her, she keeps a level head. She respects herself enough to know that marriage should bring her happiness, not only a wealthy husband. Elizabeth is stuck in a family that is completely consumed with the idea of wealth. They are not a rich family, in fact they are far from it. Mrs. Bennet and all her daughters are on a hunt for wealthy husbands. Elizabeth loves her family, but is ashamed of them Throughout the course of the novel Elizabeth discovers love in the most unlikely man of all, and learns what it means to be happy. She experiences how uncivil her family can be, but still loves them and cherishes them all. This book proved to be an excellent book in connection with our theme "search for self." Elizabeth begins the book prone to prejudices. She scorns those who are wealthier than her family and thinks that all men are exactly the same. Elizabeth torments Mr. Darcy, a very wealthy man, thinking automatically that he is too proud just because of his economic status. Elizabeth gradually learns to drop her protective barrier. She discovers that if she gives people a chance to show their true selves, they may not act as she assumed. Just because Mr. Darcy is rich, does not mean he acts like all other rich men. Elizabeth learns, through much painful trial and error, to be more adventurous with her emotions. She learns to love. Mr. Darcy also goes on a journey to find himself. He falls in love despite all odds. He has to learn to overcome the barriers of wealth, greed, family relations, and family expectations. Once he learns to listen to his heart and follow his instincts, he becomes much happier. In the end, Elizabeth's search and Darcy's search intertwine in the most romantic way.This was an EXCELLENT book that I highly recommend. In fact, it is my favorite book...EVER! It was a long book, but the wording was not difficult. It was easy to read and very entertaining. I found it difficult to put down! "Pride and Prejudice" is considered a classic novel of our times, and I can truly see why. It is practically timeless, a book that boys and girls alike can enjoy. I have enjoyed it so much that I am going to read "Sense and Sensibility" next!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I had to read this book when I was doing my 'O' levels at school. The first time I read it I resented every page. But then, six months later, stuck for something to read I picked it up and tried again. I had an epiphany moment when I realised that it was funny, touching and wonderful!Nowadays (many years later) I still love this book. I tend to re-read it about once a year when I look at my 'to-read' stack of books and none of them 'grab' me. I can pick it up and start reading almost anywhere and know exactly what has happened before and what is yet to come. This book always feels to me like there isn't a single wasted line in it. Everyone word in every sentence seems to be chosen carefully and perfectly!Can you tell I like it! I wouldn't normally bother adding in *everything* I've read previously (I'd rather spend the time actually reading!), but some books are so important it makes sense to add them!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    It took me longer than I expected it would but I finally finished Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice . Despite being interested in the story, I found it was hard to get into. The first 100 or so pages, I could only read a handful at a time before getting distracted. I have a lot going on in my life at the moment and it could just be that I have been distracted as a whole and not an actual reflection on the book itself. Once I resolved to put aside my distractions and just read the story really pulled me in.I love that Elizabeth reminded me of so many women I know. Strong, good-natured, smart and unwilling to be bullied. She's a girl who knows who she is and what she wants and refuses to change that to suit anyone else. I love that she's not perfect either. She forms quick opinions of people and is pretty stubborn about sticking to them until forced to re-evaluate such as with Darcy and Mr. Wickham.Despite his being portrayed as proud and haughty throughout the book, especially the first part, I really liked Darcy from the beginning. I knew he liked Elizabeth pretty early on, and was just too stubborn or something to admit it, even to himself. Of course, Elizabeth's feelings were obvious right from the start as well. You don't allow a man to annoy you so much unless there is something boiling under the surface. If you don't care at some level, it's too easy to just ignore them and pay them no mind, but Elizabeth was almost consumed by how much she disliked him. I've seen the same thing going on with my friends time and time again, and even I suppose with myself. I've definitely ended up in relationships with people I totally despised at some point. There really is a thin line between love and hate as they say.Mrs. Bennett drove me absolutely insane. She was quite possibly one of the fakest characters I've reading a long time. I don't mean fake as in that Jane Austen wrote her badly, but that she as a person was fake as could be. I wanted to slap her. Particularly in the end, she spends all this energy hating and being fairly rude to Darcy until she finds out that her daughter is marrying him and will then be rich. Then she suddenly adores him and is so thrilled with the marriage. Are you kidding me? I hate people like that.I couldn't figure out how Mr. Bennett ended up with her. He was so nice and loving and reminded me of my own dad. I love that in the end, he's only concerned with whether Elizabeth is happy with Darcy as a person,whether she is in love with him and not about her marrying a rich man. I loved him.I did see the end coming from a long way off but it was still fun to watch it all play out. I'm sure I'm not the first person to make this connection but doesn't Mr. Darcy have a bit of a Chuck Bass thing going on? Particularly when Darcy secretly helps out with the whole Lydia situation, such a Chuck move. I really could envision the whole story as an episode of Gossip Girl. Yes, I am 28 and referencing Gossip Girl, so what?
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I guess I see the general appeal to young girls and it's of course a classic because of its commentary on society and social standards in the 18th and 19th centuries, but I found it very dull and not at all interesting or intriguing. Mr. Darcy just seemed like a wuss at the end, too.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book is surprisingly good. I know most people think that old books are boring but that is not true. I'd say this is a great read and it's a great intellectual book. If you like a good classic romance, this is your book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Oh what can I say about this book, or any Jane Austen book, that hasn't already been said. And by people who are more intelligent than me. I have always been a fan of Jane Austen but, surprisingly, I have never read any of her books until now. Not that I haven't wanted to but school, after school activities, and many other little things were in the way. Resulting in me not having a chance to read it until a couple of weeks ago, but having started it about ten times.

    I love this book. I knew I would. A beautiful, engaging, wonderful book. I have always thought I was born in the wrong time. Although, I want the fashions I would love them with the values of the 21st century. But the book has captivated me and Jane Austen as gained another fan.

    Elizabeth was a refreshing, lively, stubborn young woman who in some ways is ahead of her time. Her sisters and parents are all amazing characters who are living in the world were girls are supposed to be married and have children. However, Elizabeth wanted to marry for love and in walks Mr. Darcy who turns her world on end. My love for this book cannot be expressed in words, nor will I ever be able to.

    5/5
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    My favourite of the classical literature I've read. I've only read it 7 times, though. Nothing too ridiculous. Elizabeth Bennet is the perfect, smart, self-possessed heroine.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I LOVE this book!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This book was such a fun read. I love the twists and turns and witnessing the growth of the characters. And my oh my how I love Mr. Darcy!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love this book! Austen has a great wit (a quality often lost when the books are made into movies). I appreciate Austen's portrayal of the inadequacy of first impressions, and how difficult it is to undo a bad one--especially when our pride has been offended.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Mr. Fitzwilliam Darcy is perhaps the ultimate romantic creation, and unlike many of the men in romantic or other fiction is (like most men) a bit of a dick. While women's literary fancies switch between Highlanders, Vampires (sparkly and traditional), rugged cowboys and untamed natives, knights, dastardly lords and more, Mr Darcy has the staying power to have been lusted after since he was first published and will continue to be. The novel itself, Jane Austen's most famous work, is a very funny look at the dating habits of her time and like all her novels, the characters are all wonderfully realistic and are as relevant today as they were when the book was first published.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is my favorite book from Jane Austen. I've almost read all of her writings except Lady Susan. I love the character Elizabeth Bennett. She is a woman before her time. This is the only book that I've read twice, word for word. Plus A&E did a fabulous job on making a movie from this book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    The numbers on LibraryThing kinda say it all: 34,993 people with "Pride and Prejudice" in their library, 535 reviews, average rating 4.49. Beloved for good reasons.Quotes:On accepting fate:"We must not be so ready to fancy ourselves intentionally injured. ... It is very often nothing but our own vanity that deceives us.”On living in the now (or lack thereof):"Upon the whole, therefore, she found, what has been sometimes found before, that an event to which she had looked forward with impatient desire, did not in taking place, bring all the satisfaction she had promised herself. It was consequently necessary to name some other period for the commencement of actual felicity; to have some other point on which her wishes and hopes might be fixed, and by again enjoying the pleasure of anticipation, console herself for the present, and prepare for another disappointment."On love, I really enjoy this one:"I never saw a more promising inclination. He was growing quite inattentive to other people, and wholly engrossed by her. Every time they met, it was more decided and remarkable. At his own ball he offended two or three young ladies, by not asking them to dance, and I spoke to him twice myself, without receiving an answer. Could there be finer symptoms? Is not general incivility the very essence of love?”On marriage:"...if she were married to him tomorrow, I should think she had as good a chance of happiness, as if she were to be studying his character for a twelve-month. Happiness in marriage is entirely a matter of chance. If the disposition of the parties are ever so well known to each other, or ever so similar beforehand, it does not advance their felicity in the least. They always continue to grow sufficiently unlike afterwards to have their share of vexation; and it better to know as little as possible of the defects of the person with whom you are to pass your life.”On the past:"You must learn some of my philosophy. Think only of the past as its remembrance gives you pleasure.”
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Her best work.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This audiobook edition by Recorded Books, narrated by Flo Gibson, loses ½ a star because of an annoying technical flaw -- the audiobook "chapters" are completely independent of the actual chapters in the book. I think that this is an older recording and suspect that the so-called chapters had to do with the recording's divisions (cassette side #s, perhaps?)Despite all the negative things I have heard about Flo Gibson as a narrator, I thought she did a great job in this. It was a fairly uninflected recording (no "voices" for the different characters) which is usually not my preference. In this much-loved classic, though, it worked very well and her pace was also excellent.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    One of the best novels ever written in English
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice for the romance; as a die-hard aficionado of romantic fiction, I could do no less. However, I find myself agreeing wih Charlotte Bronte's assertions that it is "a carefully fenced, highly cultivated garden with neat borders and delicate flowers – but no glance of a bright, vivid physiognomy – no open country – no fresh air – no blue hill – no bonny beck. I should hardly like to live with her ladies and gentlemen in their elegant but confined houses."Pride and Prejudice is a talkative novel, but not an active one. The story is advanced through narration and gossip, but rarely through action - and in the parts action takes center stage, the action is usually related to the reader rather than experienced. On top of that, it is overly staid and rigid in its mannerisms; faults that could be attributed to its satiric nature, but in this era simply seem overdone and make me quite glad to be living in a modern century. There is too much propriety for my tastes, I think, and far too little actual feeling.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Okay. I'm so glad that I've finally read this. I now can include myself in pretentious conversations about Austen and fine literature and classics and such. Actually, I'll probably be starting said conversations. Gleefully. Anyway.

    I really enjoyed this book. By some strange stroke of humanity I managed to read Sense and Sensibility before this book--as in, years before this book--and never got around to P&P. I'm glad that I didn't. Now that I'm older I can appreciate this even more.

    I really thought that it was a beautiful story. But besides that, I mostly liked this because I fell in love with Fitzwilliam Darcy. My ovaries just about exploded whenever he waltzed into our tale unapologetically and unexpectedly--which happened roughly every thirty pages or so. Jane Austen knows the way to the woman reader's heart, and it's to continually throw in a dash of Darcy whenever the plot starts to slow.

    Besides that, though, this really is a strong novel. Things that made me happy: Lizzy's thoughts, her and Jane's relationship, everything that Mr. Bennet said, the social commentary concerning women's position, and AUSTEN'S PHRASING. Oh, her phrasing made me want to wallop through a field of her words. It made me want to marry her syntax and make love to her sweet, sweet word choice. I loved the way that she wrote and it honestly makes me want to ditch all of my friends, hop on H.G. Wells' time machine, and go back and live in that century. JUST to hear them all talk. And maybe one day if I'm lucky to pick up on some of their awesome turns of conversation.

    So. I really liked this book. It's not one of my "favorites" because I don't think it had much of a personal punch; there wasn't much in here that was life-changing. But there shouldn't have to be, and this novel very deservedly owns up to its title as one of the best, if not the best, book in the english language. It is, in every respect, a classic.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I've tried Austen several ways, one of which is [Pride and Prejudice.] I've tried to like her, everyone insists I should. I like the story, however the boring, monotonous speed at which it is told is worse than death for me. Sorry Jane! I've NEVER said this before, but the movie is far better than the book!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Isn't Jane Austen just one of the great ones!

    I have enjoyed her books being read on my iPod and tape over many years. Her charm, wit and art are fantastic.

    It had occurred to me that if I were to hold a huge party for and with my best friends with my choosing of the greatest people in history, Jane Austen would be the first on the list.

    Of course, I would have send my limo around to pick her up and think of someone to put in there who would interest her enough to come out. But she would be first on the invite list.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A fantastic love story set in the 1800s about a young woman Elizabeth Bennet and her family's struggle to find a husband for each of the five Bennet sisters. Mr. Darcy, a darker character comes to town and Elizabeth struggles to understand why a man could be so cold.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This is a book I have always wanted to read...a good read...not myfavorite...a good read nonetheless....
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This was my second book by Jane Austen, the first being Sense and Sensibility. When I read Sense and Sensibility, I found that I liked it but wasn’t blown away by it. And given the fact that I now remember absolutely nothing about it, it didn’t leave much of an impression on me. Going into Pride and Prejudice, I didn’t know if it was going to be like that too, so I didn’t have very high expectations. Additionally, I did read an adapted version of Pride and Prejudice for kids when I was little, and I remember enjoying that but that was a watered down version written in very plain English.Fortunately, I enjoyed Pride and Prejudice a lot more than Sense and Sensibility. I loved the storyline and plot. Initially, I feared that I might get bored, but I was throughly engaged throughout the novel. There was always something of interest happening. The short chapters also helped because it made the book go by very quickly. I’m actually impressed that I finished this in less than a week because I for sure thought it would take me a least one week. I also loved the characters, the Bennet family especially. The mother was hilarious and so over the top. Elizabeth and Jane’s sisterly bond was very strong and that was so nice to see. Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner were also pretty awesome.As for Mr. Darcy, I have to admit I did find him to be pretty swoon-worthy. I didn’t want to fall for him because everyone loves him, but it was hard not to. Lastly, I found the book to be just a tad bit too short. I wanted more, but I guess that’s just the sign of a good book. Overall, Pride and Prejudice exceeded my expectations and I am glad that I finally read this much beloved and talked about classic.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was my first time to read anything by Jane Austen. I loved learning about the classism during her life time but most of all how she developed the characters so that we saw many sides and facets of them. I am now understand, a little better, all the fervor for Austen.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Read the book if you loved the movie and much as I did!
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Witty & romantic, but all veiled by proper decorum. I fell in love with P&P (and Mr. Darcy) as a teenager and the book continues to be my all-time favorite, to be savored over & over again. It just never gets old.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    It just doesn't get any better than this...
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This classic novel has many entertaining qualities about it. The most entertaining to me being the expansive insight of high-class society England. However, it wasn't as great as I had hoped. Because of the constant Austen-addicts and claims of Pride and Prejudice being the best novel ever, I began reading with much too high hopes.The writing style of Austen took me a couple of chapters to become adjusted to. Almost the entire plot of the story, as well as character development, is developed through dialogue. The characters introduced in the book are numerous and each of their doings are explained in great detail. Therefore, it was easy enough to become disinterested throughout the book. Luckily, I did enjoy Elizabeth and Darcy's relationship--and to an extent Jane and Bingley's, so the most part of the novel kept my interest.The story is overall about five daughters living with the burden of knowing their estate is entailed. As a solution, these five girls are all about courting, flirting, marrying. A handful of other characters are thrown in for the reader's amusement as well as to move the story along. I found Lady Catherine particularly humorous. My last thoughts were that I wish the book had kept its former title "First Impressions." I found that theme to have the biggest effect on me.Sorry, Wuthering Heights is still my favorite.