Customer Reviews

Emma

5 star:		(5)
4 star:		(3)
3 star:		(0)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(1)

 

 

Prunella Scales is wonderfully talented. Good separation of characters. Her rendition of Miss Bates is incredible - leaves one breathless.

Lively, vivid rendition of my favourite Jane Austen novel. Prunella Scales interprets the characters with great individuality and spirit.

EMMA is a joyful read, made even more entertaining through Prunella Scales's vocalization of several characters and through her interpretation of the text. Her complementary pace actually improves the listeners' appreciation of Austen's comedic plot. Austen's novels, a treasure any time, are given a fine aural performance by Ms. Scales.

I've always been a fan of the British actress Prunella Scales and already own some of her readings of classic novels, including Cranford which she handles delightfully.
So it was a big disappointment to find that she seems to have completely misjudged her narration of Emma. One of the pleasures of a Jane Austen novel is the author's deceptively quiet tone; its very understatement sharpens her satire and makes her jokes even funnier. Unfortunately, Miss Scales has adopted the opposite approach, using a hopelessly inappropriate shrill, impatient voice. Given that the opening chapters are dominated by two of literature's most tiresome characters, Emma Woodhouse and her feebleminded father, the result is unbearably irritating. I gave up after an hour, and was glad to track down a far more enjoyable reading by Juliet Stevenson Emma (Classic Fiction)- by far the best Austen narrator on the market today.

This was the first time I had "read" Emma. What have I been missing? This is a beautiful book, and beautifully read in this CD version. I don't think literature gets any better than this. Enjoy!

I love to read Jane Austen's Emma on a regular basis and with this rendition at my fingertips, I can hear the story in-between times. What better way to listen to a book on tape than by a professional actress like Prunella Scales. She does a wonderful job and I couldn't be happier with her interpretation. While driving, folding laundry, cooking or cleaning, I can absorb Emma once more! I highly recommend this one!
Kerri Bennett Williamson, Author

A classic gem done full justice by the superb reading of Prunella Scales. A great listening experience was marred, however, by a surprising and disappointing flaw in disc 8 which rendered the final track unintelligible.

It would be much appreciated if you could replace this faulty disc, as such a literary masterpiece deserves to be presented and preserved in mint condition.

The damaged disc apart, Jane Austen would surely applaud this excellent rendition of her beloved Emma.

One of the better audiobook readings of any Austen novel. Prunella Scales is particularly fine at delineating the voices of the various characters: the forthright and sensible Mr Knightley, the self-satisfaction of Emma, the tremulous old-womanish Mr Woodhouse, and the silliness of Harriet Smith, are all definitely and exactly given utterance. The dialogue has all the crack and vivacity you could ask for.

However, Scales is slightly less convincing in the author's own voice. She doesn't always fully characterize the many distinctions the author makes but her reading still remains on the happy side of neutrality because it never intrudes: it understates rather than obscures the point of Austen's writing. Even so, delicate reticence is always more welcome than brazen misreading of which, alas, many examples abound.

While this isn't the only great narration of "Emma" available, I've enjoyed it for years. Prunella Scales' Miss Bates and Mrs. Elton are especially wonderful. Not every actor can do a creditable West Country accent, but Scales' redition of Mrs. Elton is one I recommend to people as just right. I think that you'll very much enjoy this version.