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Persuasion
- Narrated by: Greta Scacchi
- Length: 8 hrs and 13 mins
- Unabridged Audiobook
- Categories: Literature & Fiction, Classics
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Summary
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What listeners say about Persuasion
Average customer ratingsReviews - Please select the tabs below to change the source of reviews.
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- Chloe
- 25-01-15
A More Adult Love Affair
I confess that as a teenager when I first read Persuasion, it didn't captivate me in the same way as the more comedic and clever Pride and Prejudice or even Emma. As a young person, you want the characters to find the path to true love quickly and relatively trouble free - yes, there will be obstacles and misunderstandings, but ultimately the young and attractive couple will end up happy and content.
Persuasion of course is about wasted youth and faded heroines - about failing to take your chances and regretting past decisions. The couple have been apart for 8.5 years after a broken engagement, and Anne has lost her spirit and bloom as a result. She is a gentle character who keeps her feelings close and rarely speaks impetuously or thoughtlessly. Captain Wentworth, while handsome and eligible, is bitter and resentful over past events and influences. The manner in which the two gradually return to each other is a story of self-realisation and forgiveness.
As a 32 year old, listening to the novel now I found so much more to enjoy and engage. Austen is truly a master of storytelling, and this novel should not be overlooked as a perfect example of what she could do. As always, I marvellled at how little human nature has changed in 200 years, despite our very different circumstances and social mores. Greta Scaachi read beautifully and never intruded into the narrative with overblown voices/accents.
Well worth downloading, especially with the reduced price when you own the Kindle book.
9 people found this helpful
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- Sue
- 08-09-07
Wonderful
Beautiful reading of a great story. I couldn't fault it. Very much enjoyed.
8 people found this helpful
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- Cecilia
- 13-03-07
An excellent reading for an excellent book
I wonder why Persuasion is not as popular and acclaimed as it deserves. To me, this is Jane Austen's more modern novel. Always playing on the brink of unbalance, the more Anne Elliot's voice is gaining confidence, the more other characters' self-assurance is falling to pieces. Greta Scacchi's excellent reading brings Anne Elliot's voice and all other characters alive. She definitely pours emotion to the dialogue.
12 people found this helpful
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- Amazon Customer
- 07-07-14
Great!
If you could sum up Persuasion in three words, what would they be?
Work of art
Who was your favorite character and why?
Anne Elliot has always been my favourite Austen character as she, in my opinion, embodies the pinnacle of female perfection.
Have you listened to any of Greta Scacchi’s other performances? How does this one compare?
Not yet
Did you have an emotional reaction to this book? Did it make you laugh or cry?
It captured my feelings
Any additional comments?
Gretta Scacchi renders justice to this wonderful story
5 people found this helpful
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- Sally B
- 14-04-13
fabulous audio book
Really beautifully narrated book. I love Jane Austen, but often when someone is reading a book out loud you can lose your interpretation to the readers. Not so with this one though. The narrator had just enough 'northern' in her accent to make it authentic. I loved it!
3 people found this helpful
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- lucy
- 18-01-12
fantastic
Very good narration , lovely to listen and relax to. An easy way to introduce a book by one of Britain's favourite classic author.
3 people found this helpful
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- Hamish M Imrie
- 09-10-16
Excellent
This is a really excellent reading of my favourite of JA's books. The powerful tension is well conveyed, as are the emotions of Ann - surely one of the most self aware and perceptive of heroines. I love, too, the tone which comes through to mark the biting and perhaps bitter sarcasm which adds such flavour to the book.
2 people found this helpful
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- Gabrielle Harvey-Jones
- 13-06-15
Jane Austen! Always my favourite!
Beautifully read by Greta Scacchi! She made this perennial favourite even more enjoyable! A delight!
2 people found this helpful
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- Abigail
- 12-01-14
One of my favourite audio books
What made the experience of listening to Persuasion the most enjoyable?
The reader fits the book well, and her expression and enunciation of the language is very done. It is also my favourite Austen novel and this audio book does it justice.
Who was your favorite character and why?
I love the last chapter with the letter. (not giving to much away)
What does Greta Scacchi bring to the story that you wouldn’t experience if you had only read the book?
I think having this read gives a better idea of characters.
Was this a book you wanted to listen to all in one sitting?
I think its a bit long to listen too in one sitting, and also you sometimes need a break because of the language, but I could if the idea took me.
Any additional comments?
I would advise listening to this audio book if you like Austen
2 people found this helpful
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- Chris W
- 27-11-19
TV adaptations are better
I knew the story, but had forgotten how hard the original prose is to listen too. I found the narration a little hard to listen to. possibly the audio quality is not as good as some audio books
1 person found this helpful
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- Patricia S.
- 20-05-07
Really lovely . . .
A very charming, well-paced, straightforward, reading by Greta Scacchi. What I like so much about this production is that Scacchi doesn't get in the way of Austen's voice. Scacchi, unlike some readers of period novels, conveys the personality, tone and intonnation of the characters without the use of gimmicky overacting or absurd vocalizations. I felt like I was sitting in a Regency drawing room on a quiet evening being read aloud to by an intelligent, sympathetic interpreter. All the more to appreciate this tale of second chances and enduring love.
43 people found this helpful
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- Jennifer
- 18-06-10
Perfect
It is senseless to extol the virtues of Austin. It's been done so many times, by so many people far more eloquent than I. I will confine myself to the narration.
I always have a problem with the narration of Austin books. Despite the fact that absolutely everyone has read them, there is always something grating in the audio productions. Austin shouldn't have to be something you suffer through. It is something you should have to smile through.
This book is. The narration is perfect. It never detracts from Austin's funny, touching, witty, and beautiful writing. Usually that is the very most I could say about an Austin narrator. Here I can go farther. Several times, the narrator's reading clued me in to a barb I'd missed in my reading or moved me in a place I ordinarily would have skimmed.
This is the version to get. It is Austin at her very best.
32 people found this helpful
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- Expat Sidekick
- 09-01-08
A work of art
Greta Scacchi reading Jane Austen is a perfect pairing. Scacchi reads with such subtelty of voice tones and timing that each nuance of Austen's word choice becomes a tapestry stitch in silk. Austen's words were so clearly written to be read aloud, but Scacchi uses them to captivate her listeners into a story that is a slower, much more autumnal love story than Emma or Pride and Prejudice, and without her art, might feel muted instead of delicate.
21 people found this helpful
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- Wanda S Sauerland
- 23-08-08
Persuaded to purchase PERSUASION!! Excellent.
The narrator of Persuasion actually *persuaded* me to continue listening. Very nicely read. I find that my volume and bass normally need to be changed with each and very audiobook; most likely because my headset is not the greatest. Yet, this book needed no such alterations of sound. The narrator wonderfully produces the personalities, the story line, and character rendition; really fantastic. If you love Jane Austen, then you will love the way the narrator has read this. Yes, it is a great addition to my library of audiobooks. Personally, I believe others will thoroughly enjoy this.
11 people found this helpful
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- Camy
- 01-05-07
A good audio version of my favorite book
I really enjoyed the reader for this audiobook. The characters were easily distinguished, the pacing was good, vocal inflections were pleasant, and the voice of the reader was perfect for this particular story. I've listened to this audiobook several times already.
7 people found this helpful
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- Ro
- 29-03-10
"Outstanding"
I believe this the most mature of Austen's novels and it is timeless (as are all of Austen's novels). Of course, Austen was always about character, and Persuasion demonstrates this. I find the novel as fresh as the first time I read it, and learn something different after each re-reading of it.
Although I have read the novel 5 or 6 times, Ms Scacchi brought the characters to life. Her tempo was outstanding, as was her ability to "act" out the characters. I highly recommend this narration, even for those who have read the book several times.
The only negative thing is that there appear to be long pauses (8 seconds) between some paragraphs, but a minor distraction that has very little affect on the reading's flow and continuity.
In addition to personal enjoyment, I hold group get-togethers with older people, and present "the classics" to them, using a combination of Audiobooks, Texts, and BBC/PBS productions. Ms Scacchi's narration has received high praise by my audience as well.
6 people found this helpful
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- bluestategirl
- 13-11-20
A Perfect Reading of a Perfect Book
This is my favorite version of this book, and Greta Scacchi is the reason why. I can't recommend it more highly. It's simply perfect.
5 people found this helpful
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- J.B.
- 02-03-19
Embedded Love
Persuasion, written by Jane Austen and narrated by Greta Scacchi. Love of another is embedded into our existence; not emotions for just anyone, rather a select other. With that understanding in hand, Ms. Austen tells us of the once was but as the book opens the lost love between Anne Elliot and Captain Frederick Wentworth. I tell you not whether the novel is a tragedy or a return to happiness.
What you will have in reading or listening is a deep analysis of how those around us, our society, put us into places we may not really want to be. What is perhaps the most magnificent part of this imperial story is how well Ms. Austen uses words to shape and mold the story's characters to bring about our understanding of what happened to Anne and why.
There is a trick in this book that is thrilling for a literary. Wentworth and Anne are almost never in the conversation. Yet their affection is always in plain sight. A perfect plot ploy to engender one’s fascination with the read (listen). The words used to convey the story are enchanting and Ms. Scacchi was a supreme delivery vehicle.
5 people found this helpful
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- Sara
- 31-07-08
choppy reading
This is one of my favorite books, the reader is very good. However there are 3-4 second pauses at weird points during the reading. This always gets on my nerves! I recommend the book however.
5 people found this helpful
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- Christi
- 05-09-07
First rate performance
Ms. Scacchi is a terrific narrator. I enjoyed all of her character voices and the story is read with a great deal of verve. I'm very pleased to have purchased this version and it will definitely get multiple listenings.
4 people found this helpful