Emma

pure pleasure

Jenny Agutter gives one of the best readings I've heard here. This is a wonderful, witty, and wise rendering of the novel. Her characterizations are subtle and smart; it's clear she's given such care and attention to the novel and to Austen's world. Her skill in delivering the meaning and emotion of the words makes this such a delightful journey. Loved it!

9 people found this helpful

Fun story, but narrator could have done better

Listening to this on audio was only my first time reading Emma and my third time reading a book by Jane Austen, and it did not disappoint. I just love how Austen makes me feel I am being transported into another time in history and how lifelike and fun her characters and stories can be. It is not necessarily my favorite Austen novel, but Emma's antics trying to be a matchmaker were very enjoyable, and I will definitely read it again someday. To rate the technical side of things, the performance of the narrator, Jenny Agutter was not awful, but it was not the best either. Jenny has a pleasant voice and reads with clear pronunciation, but she did not always do quite enough in the way of changing her voice for different characters' dialog and because Jane Austen also did not always use dialog tags when there was a back-and-forth between two characters I sometimes got confused as to who was speaking or who had just done what and ultimately had to look the book up online to clarify as to whether or not I had understood things correctly. Since listening to this book I have since discovered a narrator by the name of Juliet Stevenson who has become my favorite narrator when it comes to Jane Austen. She does much better in the way of giving the characters unique voices and pausing to be sure the listener knows the speaker of the dialog has changed and I will and have gone out of my way to make sure any Jane Austen novel I want to listen to is narrated by her and no one else

4 people found this helpful

Matchmaker thy name is Folly

This age old favourite by Jane Austin is always pleasing. The characters are well drawn and interesting. The main character, Emma may be, " handsome, clever and rich" and have an exceptionally pleasant lot in life but she has some important lessons to learn.
Humility and being less judgmental of those around her are two for a start and then there is her profound belief that she is a matchmaker without exception!
Many of her views on those she believes beneath her station or attention might be held to be unacceptable today. However, at the time the book was written her views would have been considered quite correct and "proper" for a young lady born in her circumstances. For all her failings it must be said that she has a good heart and luckily for her she has Mr Knightly as her conscience and guardian angel so all ends happily.
I like Jenny Agguter but in this instance the speed at which she read the book was disappointing and had I not known the story so well I might have had to re-listen in some sections. Hence the 4 stars for performance.

4 people found this helpful

Needs chapter breaks fixed

For some reason the chapter breaks that are in the book are not the correct ones. When the chapter changes, it is said, however the breaks that are seen are not correct. Once I was so lost that I listened to a whole chapter again, because I couldn’t find where the next one started.

3 people found this helpful

Emma

Jenny Agutter does a superb job as narrator. She "does" each character's voice to just the degree needed for the listener to discern them without the voices being grating or annoying. Thoroughly enjoyed it.

2 people found this helpful

Love Story - performance, not so much

I have read all of Ms. Austen's books many times. Recently listened to Pride and Prejudice and thought it was great - allowed me to enjoy the genius of her writing in a whole new way. So looked forward to this version of Emma. What a disappointment. Voice is shrill, story telling lacks nuance and overall is read too quickly. I won't finish it.

2 people found this helpful

Very Disappointed

What a disappointment! I was all set to enjoy Emma, really my first non-movie Austen, when it became apparent Jenny Agutter, an actress of some experience, has only one voice, her own. No way to even tell between male and female. Why do recording companies allow this?

2 people found this helpful

A little hard to follow

Narrator has a beautiful dramatic voice but I had to concentrate very hard to tell which character was speaking as all voices sounded very much the same. Sorry

1 person found this helpful

Biting Satire of Manners

I greatly enjoyed the book and the narration. This is only the fourth Jane Austen novel that I have listened to/read and found it very different than the others. It is much more biting in its satire of the life, manners, and prejudices of the English country gentry. Unlike the other novels that I am familiar with- Pride and Prejudice, Sense and Sensibility, and Persuasion - the main character is not particularly likable as are almost all of her acquaintances except for Mr. Knightley and Jane Fairfax. I especially liked the fact that by the author focusing on describing the interactions of the many characters, I could not determine the final outcome of the plot until almost the end of the novel. The narrator was terrific. It is obvious that Ms. Agutter is a very experienced and talented actress; she was able to bring all of the novel's many characters to life, each with their own distinctive personality.I recommend this Audible recording most highly.

1 person found this helpful

Reader spoke too fast

I have read this in paper and enjoyed it. I did not enjoy this audible version. I’ve tried it twice over the last several years and finally figured out why. The narrator speaks so rapidly that I could not savor the writing. It was as though she needed to be done on some schedule. Perhaps a different version would have been more satisfying.