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Northanger Abbey

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Northanger Abbey

By: Jane Austen
Narrated by: Anna Massey
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About this listen

 Catherine Morland reads tales of Gothic romance, yet leads a country life in Wiltshire. When she travels to Bath, she meets and falls in love with Henry Tilney. She is invited by his sister and father to stay at Northanger Abbey, where she meets all the trappings of Gothic horror that she has read about. Fortunately, she has her own good sense and irresistible but unsentimental hero, Henry Tilney.©1989, 2008 BBC Audiobooks Ltd (P)2014 Audible, Inc. Classics Funny Witty Feel-Good Inspiring Classic Historical Romance

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The reader of this edition of Northanger Abbey is Juliet Stevenson, whose voice is perfect for Jane Austen. She brings out the character of each personality in the book and beautifully and subtly conveys Jane Austen's gentle irony. However this version is spoiled for me by the intrusive music at the end of each chapter, which breaks up the flow of the story. The music itself is beautiful and appropriate to the period of the book, but if I want to listen to music I will listen to a CD, and if I want to listen to a book I do not want to have the flow constantly and artificially interrupted.

A beautiful reading

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Never read this book but thoroughly enjoyed hearing it. The narrator was just perfect and I shall enjoy listening to it several times more.

Northanger Abbey

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I didn't enjoy reading this book myself, but this version is wonderfully read and really brought to life Jane Austen's superb dialogue and social commentary - this is now one of my favourites 😀

superb reading

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I loved reading Jane Austen's Pride & Prejudice while at uni but I definitely enjoyed listening to all her works thanks to audible. I had never read this one and it's already one of my favourite 😉

perfect

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I enjoyed the story but found some of the voices varied in volume which is difficult for me as I go to sleep listening to audiobooks. Some voices being louder than the others means I have to choose between not being able to hear the quieter voices clearly or being shocked slightly awake by the louder voices. The story is nice, but does go on a bit at times. I did quite like Austen’s musings throughout the book, which I thought were more direct than in other things I’ve read by her.

Good story but slightly variable voice sounds

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With most Jane Austen stories you know what you’re going to get. Virtue is rewarded, youthful naivety acquires wisdom and everything comes out right in the end. In Northanger Abbey Austen toys with her readers. Is this a comedy of manners, or a simple romance, or is it, perhaps, a gothic melodrama? Great fun.

Jane Austen at her most playful

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a wonderful performance but for it being very high pitched in places which was uncomfortable

elegant performance

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I’m a huge lover of Jane Austin and have re-read, and listened to and watched various adaptations and always considered Northanger Abbey to be a practice for the later written favourites such as Pride and Prejudice, Emma and Sense and Sensibility.
It’s style isn’t as polished, the characters not as rounded and the slight indiscretion and satire into Gothic horror feels out of character in comparison to all her other novels.
But the language and social observations are as vivid as ever.
The narrator for this version is clear and has befitting voice, but for me the voice she used for Isabella was very grating and to a first time reader may give a little too much of Isabella’s character away. But other than that, I enjoyed it so much I want to start all over again!

As a major Jane Austin fan….

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This seems like Austen's sassiest book in many ways, especially in the chapters set in Bath, and the actor narrating really brings that out well.

Catherine is a relatable woman whose imagination leads her into a couple of hilarious scrapes and whose naïvete means she is completely oblivious in certain social situations. She is the perfect contrast to the narrator voice who is wiser, more cynical and playfully sarcastic.

Is it the most exciting story ever? No. Is it more relatable though? Yes I think so. And Austen seems to play with that idea quite a bit too, with some light mocking of her own works and about her heroine not fitting with more dramatic expectations, and with reference to other novels throughout the book which contrast nicely.

That all said, I've never got so angry with an Austen character as with one of the jerks in here. Maybe because his behaviours were also, extremely annoyingly, more realistic - I've met jerks like him :/ (This added to the interest of the novel though.)

It wrapped up a bit too quick, I was sad to see it end.

Overall, the novel brings out some of the genuine magic in just a fairly typical falling in love tale.

Playful and super fun

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being addressed directly by Jane Austen is wild. this novel is very conscious of its being a novel, and includes the author's musings on the subject. the main character is not as likeable as her other heroines, and though much more eventful, the frequent asides to the reader sort of stalls the action.

very different!

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