Emma

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: Jenny Agutter

Length: 14 hrs and 45 mins

Publisher's summary

Exclusively from Audible

Emma can be enjoyed as a charming love story, a detective story, and a comic and lively picture of English life 200 years ago.

Austen's beautiful, clever, wilful but fallible heroine Emma Woodhouse believes she knows best. Perfectly content with her life she sees no need for either love or marriage, yet nothing pleases her more than meddling in the romantic lives of others. But when she fails to heed the warnings of her good friend Mr. Knightley and schemes to arrange a suitable match for her protégée, Harriet Smith, her carefully laid plans soon unravel and have consequences that she never expected. She discovers that she understands the feelings of others as little as she does her own heart.

With a cast of unforgettable characters, it is a lively comedy of manners that explores the concerns of genteel women living in Regency times.

Jane Austen was an English writer known primarily for her six major novels which focused on the British landed gentry at the end of the 18th century. Her plots often explore women's dependence on marriage in the pursuit of favourable social standing and economic security.

Narrator Biography

Jenny Agutter began her acting career as a child in 1964's East of Sudan and is well known for appearing in three adaptations of The Railway Children. She starred in the critically acclaimed 1971 film Walkabout as well as receiving a string of Hollywood roles. She won an Emmy for her role in The Snow Goose (1971), as well as a BAFTA for her role in Equus (1997).

More recently she has appeared in several television dramas, including Spooks (2002-2003), and Call the Midwife since 2012. She has performed in numerous theatre productions, including roles with the National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company. She has also narrated audiobooks like Dodie Smith’s I Capture the Castle, and featured in the Doctor Who audio dramas inThe Bride of Peladon, and The Minister of Chance. In 2012 she was appointed OBE for her charity work.

Public Domain (P)2014 Audible, Inc.

Did the narrator not like the book?

Usually audible narrators are fantastic. The performance here seems rushed with little effort to distinguish among the voices of the characters. Disappointing.

A stunningly complex web of affections

Trying not to give away spoilers, but this has to be the most artfully crafted web of interpersonal true and false attachments ever to grace the pages of fiction.

To follow all the sincerity and insincerity, public narratives and secrets, spoken and unspoken communications takes a bold focus, but if you succeed, there are many sweet rewards awaiting you.

Sadly there are many whole chapters that appear to offer the story line no forward motion... just be patient. Austen enjoys merely showing off how ridiculous Victorian elite can be.

Unabridged Goodness

I love this unabridged performance by the talented Jenny Agutter. I wish I'd never purchased the Ana Lea adaptation. Emma may be my least favorite Austen character but she comes off even worse when you abridge!

beautifully written

I love these classic romances. They are among my favorite to listen to. The narrator was acceptable.

Well told classic

This is a flawless narration of a Jane Austen classic. My first time reading it, and I did enjoy the story!

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

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.

Always a favorite

Well read! Enjoyed it very much and will probably listen again before long. Can never go wrong with Jane Austen.

hm.

I absolutely loved the book, and soo greatly appreciate the narration, but was missing out on distinct voices being executed well and easily identifiable when dialogue was spoken. I would often have to wait until the end of the long quote, or unsuccessfully try to memorize the order of the back and forth phrases in conversation, because of the lack of distinction it was so hard to keep correctly in my brain. and It was also frustrating for random characters to be mentioned off hand and a little quote dropped in and the complete lack of distinction in voice made it so much more confusing as to who the hell that person was and what their context in the scene truly was!!! I kept having to rewind 30 seconds or look up sparknotes character descriptions. not great. but they can't all be jenny sterlin I guess

Hurray for Jane Austen

I love Jane Austen’s writing. She is truly understands human nature and the human predicament.