Pride and Prejudice captures the affections of class-conscious eighteenth-century English families with matrimonial aims and rivalries. This story of the Bennet family and the novel's two protagonists, Elizabeth Bennet and Mr. Darcy, is told with a wit that author Jane Austen feared might prove "rather too light and bright, and sparkling." The romantic clash between the opinionated Elizabeth and her proud beau, Mr. Darcy, is a splendid performance of civilized sparring. Austen's artistry is also apparent in the delineation of the minor characters: the ill-matched Mr. and Mrs. Bennet, Charles Bingley and his sisters, and particularly the fatuous Mr. Collins, whose proposal to Elizabeth is one of the finest comic passages in English literature.Austen's radiant wit sparkles as her characters dance a delicate quadrille of flirtation and intrigue, making this book the most superb comedy of manners of Regency England.
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About the Author
Jane Austen was born on December 16, 1775, to the Reverend George Austen and his wife, Cassandra Leigh Austen, in the village of Steventon in Hampshire, England. Though her mother was from a family of gentry, Jane's father was not well off, and the large family had to take in school boarders to make ends meet. The second youngest of the Austens' eight children, Jane was very close to her elder, and only, sister, Cassandra, and neither sister ever married. Both girls were educated at home, as many were at that time.From a young age Jane wrote satires and read them aloud to her appreciative family. Though she completed the manuscripts of two full-length novels while living at Steventon, these were not published. Later, these novels were revised into the form under which they were published, as Sense and Sensibility and Pride and Prejudice, respectively.In 1801, George Austen retired from the clergy, and Jane, Cassandra, and their parents took up residence in Bath, a fashionable town Jane liked far less than her native village. Jane seems to have written little during this period. When Mr. Austen died in 1805, the three women, Mrs. Austen and her daughters, moved first to Southampton and then, partly subsidized by Jane's brothers, occupied a house in Chawton, a village not unlike Jane's first home. There she began to work on writing and pursued publishing once more, leading to the anonymous publication of Sense and Sensibility in 1811 and Pride and Prejudice in 1813, to modestly good reviews.Known for her cheerful, modest, and witty character, Jane Austen had a busy family and social life but very little direct romantic experience. Her last years were quiet and devoted to family, friends, and writing her final novels. In 1817 she had to interrupt work on her last and unfinished novel, Sanditon, because she fell ill. She died on July 18, 1817, in Winchester, where she had been taken for medical treatment. After her death, her novels Northanger Abbey and Persuasion were published, together with a biographical notice, due to the efforts of her brother Henry. Austen is buried in Winchester Cathedral. Josephine Bailey has won ten AudioFile Earphones Awards and a prestigious Audie Award, and Publishers Weekly named her Best Female Narrator in 2002. Her native British accent has been used in many audiobooks and voice-overs, including The Wild Thornberries, Uncle Gus, and Disney-Dreamworks projects. In addition to her award-winning voice work, Josephine is involved in television, film, and theater. On television she has played parts in Robin Hood, A Tale of Two Cities, and Sword of Freedom. In film she was featured in Shadow Hours, Life's a Circus, and Corridors of Blood. Her theater experience includes lead roles in Betrayal, Otherwise Engaged, and Blithe Spirit. Josephine received her training from the Corona Stage School in London and the Tracy Roberts Actors Studio in Los Angeles. Josephine currently resides in South Carolina.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
4.0 out of 5 stars
Good rendition of Jane Austen's masterpiece,
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This review is from: Pride and Prejudice (Unabridged Classics in Audio) (Audio CD)
Pride and Prejudice has long been my favorite, and most read, book, so I am completely familiar with the text. I consider it to be the greatest romance ever written and Jane Austen's wry sense of humor shines.With the caveat that I haven't heard other audio versions of P&P, I thought that Josephine Bailey did a creditable job of reading this classic. Her male voices were less than convincing but P&P mostly has female dialog and those voices were fine. Her narrative voice, flow, and pace were excellent. A technical note: This Tantor eBook CD includes an MP3 version of the audio book as well as the entire text in Adobe PDF format, so that one can follow the text while listening. It totals about 628 MB in size, nearly all of which is the MP3 audio book. However, the written PDF text on my disc includes a duplicate of Chapter 33, listed as "Chapter 34". After that, the remaining chapters are off by one number. Nevertheless, the entire written text is present and this flaw is not found in the MP3 audio book, where the chapters are entirely correct. Because of this technical mistake in the PDF text, I gave this eBook only four stars. But for an enjoyable audio version of Jane Austen's masterpiece, this disc is a fine purchase. I'd like to put in a plug for what I consider the best screen adaptation of Pride and Prejudice, the 1996 BBC/A&E version: Pride and Prejudice [Blu-ray] Pride and Prejudice - The Special Edition (A&E, 1996) Pride and Prejudice (10th Anniversary Collector's Set) (A&E, 1996) If there are any fans of P&P who haven't already seen this excellent screen version of the novel, I would highly recommend doing so.
1.0 out of 5 stars
Would not play on 3 different cd players,
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Amazon Verified Purchase(What's this?)
This review is from: Pride and Prejudice (Unabridged Classics in Audio) (Audio CD)
Buyer beware the Cd's don't like to play. Otherwise the audio for this book is excellent I enjoy the reader and her expression very much. I had to return the Cd's and get the MP3 for this and it works much better.
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