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Pride and Prejudice
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Pride and Prejudice
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Pride and Prejudice
Audiobook (abridged)3 hours

Pride and Prejudice

Written by Jane Austen

Narrated by Jenny Agutter

Rating: 4.5 out of 5 stars

4.5/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this audiobook

Pride and Prejudice is a key title for the new Naxos AudioBooks series ‘Young Adult Classics’. An abridged recording with music makes this Regency novel much more accessible to the 21st century young adult keen to get to grips with the classics.

Pride and Prejudice is a leading title for ‘Young Adult Classics’, being one of the pillars of English Literature, and Jenny Agutter’s friendly reading bridges the gap between the films and the book.

LanguageEnglish
Release dateApr 1, 2009
ISBN9789629548483
Author

Jane Austen

Jane Austen (1775–1817) was an English novelist whose work centred on social commentary and realism. Her works of romantic fiction are set among the landed gentry, and she is one of the most widely read writers in English literature.

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Reviews for Pride and Prejudice

Rating: 4.5264423076923075 out of 5 stars
4.5/5

416 ratings366 reviews

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  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love this classic & read it / listen to it a million times ??
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    feast to the mind & ears. simple and elag ant
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Pride and Prejudice was my first foray into the world of Jane Austen, an author who - despite the sincere recommendation of friends - I had avoided throughout my adolescence. I think, all things considered, that this was probably for the best, as her subtle brand of humor would have been lost on my sincere - and VERY earnest - younger self. Like some other readers, moreover, I would have balked at the idea of reading an entire novel devoted to marriage-obsessed young ladies of the English landed gentry.However that may be, I finally decided to read Miss Austen's magnum opus in December of 1995, in preparation for the release of the much-anticipated television miniseries (starring Colin Firth and Jennifer Ehle) in January 1996. How fortunate that I did! Captivated from the very first line, in which Austen ironically casts her domestic tale in heroic terms - "It is a truth universally acknowledged..." - I quickly discovered that here was an author of lightning-quick wit and sly wordplay, whose keen observations of the world around her are as relevant today as when she first wrote them in 1812.The tale of judgmental Elizabeth Bennett and stiff Mr. Darcy, two stubborn souls who eventually learn how to accommodate one another, plays out against the backdrop of an England just on the cusp of sweeping change. The slow disappearance of bloodline as the sole means of determining social status is just beginning to be felt, a reality best exemplified perhaps, by the figure of Lady Catherine de Bourgh, who represents an earlier generation...Here is no sweeping social commentary, ala Dickens; nor any of that Gothic rebellion to be found in the Brontës. Rather, Austen simply observed the people of her own time and class, and in setting down those observations, created a portrait of the human condition in miniature.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Great girl meets boy read. I recommend to anyone over my age (12)! It's brilliant and I think it truly shows how amazing Jane Austen really is!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Jane Austen wasn't taught at my high school and I didn't take any English lit classes in college. I was in my mid twenties and the Jane Austen phenomena was gaining momentum. Since then I've been trying and failing to read any Austen book start to finish. That is until this year when I discovered the perfect way to read her books: audio in the car.Pride and Prejudice is now the best known and most popular of Austen's books. When I was a teen, it was Sense and Sensibility (thanks to Clueless). P&P's current popularity is due in large part to the film adaptation Collin Firth was in.The Bennett family is in a bit of a pickle. Mr. Bennett's financial affairs (and the house) are in the red. If he dies, the house goes to his creditor and Mrs. Bennett and their five daughters are out on the street. The only thing to do — marry off the daughters.Jane is the oldest and most beautiful. Tradition states she should be married first to pave the way for her sisters. But there's a snag in the form of Mr. Darcy who makes an ass of himself at the first dance and thoroughly pisses of the second daughter, Elizabeth. She pegs him for being prideful but is blind to her own prejudice.Like a modern day soap opera, the novel contrives to put Darcy and Elizabeth together in as many frustrating and embarrassing ways as possible. Eventually though the reasons behind Darcy's behavior comes out and Elizabeth softens.Listening to the audio gave me a better appreciation for the novel. I can see why it's popular. I had a few problems with the production of the audio. The woman reading the book gave Mrs. Bennett a harpy voice. It literally set my teeth on edge.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    Two stars is my rating from when I read this on my own in high school. I liked it more the second time through when we read it for class, and I started to understand the humor in it. I even wrote my AP English literary criticism/research paper on this book, which helped me appreciate it more than when I read it independently.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A friend of mine gave me a copy of Pride and Prejudice a year ago. I had read other Austen novels for classes, but never this one. I started out a little slow with it because I was working my way through some of those detective novels I love so much.

    Then she told me a local theater company was putting on Pride and Prejudice! I had to rededicate myself to the novel so I would have it done in time for the play. Once I really got into it I loved it.

    Even though the characters are old fashioned and the book was written long ago when social conventions were different, I still found it easy to relate to the sisters. Seeing the play just cemented my renewed love of Jane Austen's storytelling.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I tried to read Pride and Prejudice once before, but stalled out on it. I was determined to read it this summer, though -- we're often told at my university that to really join in the 'conversation' that is the study of English Literature, we've got to be familiar with Jane Austen. I'll have to look up what the other requirements are, but I'm steadily plodding onward with Jane! This time, I actually enjoyed Pride and Prejudice rather more -- to the point where my mother, who has no affection for Austen, wondered if I was sick. I read it in ebook format, three or four pages at a time, and got it finished very quickly.

    I'm still not sure it's so utterly vital, or the pinnacle of wit or writing talent, but I do confess to enjoying it. Given how famous and influential it is, if you are in the position I adopted before, do give it a try. I don't blame you if you don't find it interesting. I obviously eventually got into it. The characters were really what got me, with their little quirks and flaws. Even Mrs Bennet, who is irritatingly hysterical, is kind of endearing -- heck, even Lydia and Wickham are kind of endearing in their lack of repentence and their silliness. I know a lot of girls swoon over Darcy, and maybe this is the fact that I haven't seen any tv/movie adaptation, but I didn't at all: I was rather of Lizzy's opinion to begin with. Still, he became more likable later on, and I enjoyed that. Lizzy herself -- well, she jumps to conclusions, but she has a mind of her own and isn't afraid to snub and refuse a man. I imagine that would have taken some guts, in that period.

    I have to say, I still found the plot fairly boring. If I didn't kind of want to see how the characters reacted and eventually got together, I probably wouldn't have stuck with it. It's not that the pacing is bad or anything, not when you consider the novel in context, but I'm just not really one for books in which the main object is everyone getting together at the end. Especially when the supposed love and affection between the characters falls relatively flat for me.

    I swear I'm not a pod person. And I still defend people's right to utterly loathe and detest Austen.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Loved listening to the audio of this book! Made the drive to and from work really enjoyable! The story has many different love triangles and stories that all seem to center around who really want who. The main characters fall for one another but of course it takes the whole book before they live happily ever after. Would use in classes to show an almost time capsule of how things once were.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I first read this book in a library summer reading program many years ago. I've reread it probably at least every 5 years or so since, and it never fails to entertain and inform me with its trenchant observations of the way people are -- even with the changing mores of today, we have all met an Elizabeth, a Darcy, and a Lady Catherine DeBourgh!
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Enjoyable, satirical, funny, and a great slice of 18th century bourgeois life, but I am surprised this is anyone's favourite book as there is no story at all. However character development is beautifully crafted, and the sense of how people negotiated the mores and morals of the time is superb.
    I do have a few criticisms, though, although these may not be entirely valid, as the way in which people were able to behave, particularly women, when JA wrote this, may have something to do with it.
    I would however have put in a couple of showdowns, one with Mr Collins, which was relegated to a line in a letter from Mr Bennett, and the other with Lady Catherine, which so should not have been ex camera.
    Worth a read, surely, and I will read again I am sure, and what greater accolade for a book could there be?
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What can I say? It's been more than a month since I finished a book. Would that there were a service called "GoodArticleReads": then I'd be a busy recorder.

    Given that this is outside my field, I'm allowed to *prefer* without thinking....so, I get to say that I liked Austen's decision in Emma to make the most talented, beautiful, and wise character Jane Fairfax, not our heroine. It's easier in terms of, you know, "relatability," to mark the protagonist with genius.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A love story? No, not really. The soul and literary stell-cells of two of the finest characters ever to walk off the printed page and into your mind. Once they've taken up residence in your heart, you'll find yourself helpless not to occasionally catch a glimpse of the world as it would be seen through their eyes -- and a merry, vibrant, and more colourful globe that should be.

    Elizabeth Bennet, with her ready wit and sparkling repartee, with add a jingle of unheard music and half-glimpsed rainbows to whatever already harkens in your tired subconscious. Holding hands with her will be Mr. Darcy, his droll cynicism and sarcastic edge providing the perfect backdrop and grounding to her more gracious allowances.

    A love story? Yes, perhaps there was such sketched upon the pages. But what you take from this book will be the outlines of these two lovingly etched, ineffably charming, faultlessly proper, and brilliantly bellicose beloveds; a true "book-mark" to keep you from ever again losing your place in the world :-)
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I've been thinking about this one now and then since I read it, First, I thought back to it while reading Nafisi's novel Reading Lolita in Tehran as it is one of the Western books put on trial by the class. Most recently, I considered it while reading Virginia Woolf's A Room of One's Own in which she speaks of early female writers.

    I had a Major British Writers teacher at university who was easy for me to like immensely. He lived in a world where television was an anathema and where he watched films like Naked and read everything from Coleridge to Irvine Welsh. His one true flaw? He also loved Jane Austen. Over the course of our class, he tried in earnest to get me to realize that Austen was a feminist writer. I disagree wholeheartedly and the only reason why this gets two stars from me is because it was written during a time when it was difficult for women to write especially publicly. I also think that Jane was a fairly keen observer of the high society that was taking place and if I enjoyed frivolous poetry that tends to go nowhere, I'd have a much higher appreciation for the writing of Marcel Proust. Really, it's such a shame Marcel Proust was born a century later and wasn't interested in women anyhow. He and Jane could have made the most boring couple in human history.

    One thing I want to be considered here and this is where my main justification lies has to do with women in relation to men. Women have always been seen in terms of this alone. That's why the idea of feminism is still considered rather radical today. The idea of woman as a separate identity existing in a way which she has no consideration for men in terms of how it affects her actions and thoughts is rare. John Berger explores this in (I think) his novel G about the poet Goethe and Woolf explores the idea in A Room of One's Own. In Virginia Woolf, we have some examples of the female entity as separate from the male. None can be found in any Austen I am familiar with. Instead, every function of the female is intended to ensnare a male. While it's true that the female protagonist shows some evidence early in the book of being able to function independently, it all predictably falls apart at the end, doesn't it? And what is the true goal of it all? Well, class rank, fortune, and incredibly shallow views of others. I think Jane Austen is somewhat evil actually because she's perpetuated the subconsciousness of thousands of women that these things (and men) matter more than their own identities. I'd even go so far as to say that they perpetuate the idea that these exact things are what identity is instead of the thought processes, actions, and personal history that may be separate from all of this.


    True, Austen was a feminist by being a writer in her time period but I would not describe any of her writing as feminist and would instead label them harmful to humanity in subtle ways of course. If you want to read a better example of early female literature that had more of a feminist tone, I'd suggest Anne Bronte's The Tenant of Wildfell Hall.

  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I am still surprised that I didn't encounter this novel during my English degree. When approaching it as a romance novel (without the messiness of actual physical contact), this is not a bad read. It smacks of "will they, won't they" and can be infuriatingly slow for those readers accustomed to a bit more action. Much of the actual story is told second hand, through letters or ladies gossiping. It is also difficult to trust Elizabeth's opinion. She is quick to judge based on what one character says and then changes her mind based on what another character says. She also seems to be unfairly ashamed of much of her own family and their behavior.



  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    While I quite like Pride & Prejudice, I still don’t see why most people salivate over the book. (My guess is Colin Firth. Thanks, BBC.) I noticed more of the satire and Austen’s commentary of social expectations rather than great, epic romance(!!!). Mr. Bennet, though, is my favorite character just for his awesome snarkiness, and I do love the little subplots strung throughout the book. It’s a must-read, but it only ranks in the middle of my personal Jane Austen list.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    It was okay. I had hoped to like it more than I did. I enjoyed the story, but will probably never read it again.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I reread Jane Austen every few years and finally, last year, got my surly partner to read Pride and Prejudice (he was seduced by a PBS version). The book changes with the years, but is always dearly satisfying. What mystified me when I was 11 enchants me and amuses me now.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I absolutely adore Pride and Prejudice. Probably the easiest to read out of all the classics because the language is very accessible. Lizzie is one of the strongest characters I've ever come across, and I love the transformation of Mr. Darcy throughout the book.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I love this book. Why?

    I avoided Jane Austen for years. Through high school and college, I had a mental image of the Austen reader -- blonde flip, sweater set, pearls, plaid skirt, intense expression, English Major at some school in the Northeast. I saw them as frilly little historical romances, frivolous at best, boring at worst, and to be avoided at all costs.

    I was so wrong.

    Those who love Austen sometimes find it hard to explain the reasons to someone who dislikes them or -- like me -- has a preconceived notion of what her books are. Yes, the goals of the female protagonists is marriage, one way or another. Romantic love is a feature and a motive. But there is so much more. Austen saw, depicted, and quietly criticized the limited options and circumscribed life for women in the late 18th/early 19th century. She poked holes in the conventions of her society, mocked its conventions, and skewered the behaviors that society forced on its members. At that point in time, in England (and many other Western countries) a woman had limited options -- she could marry, or she could find some sort of work to support herself. The higher her class, the fewer options for work she found available. Educating herself could be difficult, if not impossible, and her choices in either marriage or employment were limited. Being born the daughter of a gentleman -- someone who owned property and occupied a particular socio-economic strata -- had both privilege and problems.

    This is the world Austen describes for us in Pride & Prejudice, perhaps her best known novel. In Elizabeth Bennett, she creates a character we can understand. We can like her and enter into sympathy with her. She's bright, funny, generally good humored, and as prone to making mistakes as any of us. We watch her grow and change while also enjoying her sometimes acerbic and often accurate observations of those around her. Austen uses Elizabeth's wit to great effect. Moreover, Elizabeth is not seeking romance for most of the book. In fact, she is trying to avoid it for a variety of reasons, which makes her very unusual for her time and place. Romance does not become an object for her until nearly the end of the novel. In the mean time, we watch her trying to fit into her world. She's more concerned about her friends and family, and the choices they make concerning love, life, and romantic attachment.

    Still -- why do I like this book so much? Why do I love it and read it over and over again? I guess I gave the answer to that question early on. I love this book because it isn't what I expected it to be, and each time I read it, it still turns up some new little thing I wasn't expecting. It's like a friendship -- familiar, comforting, fun, honest, and still surprising.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    Let me start out by saying I'm not really a classics kind of gal. I prefer more action and less exposition to my stories - definitely a modern-day approach to story telling.Having said that, I did appreciate Austen's wit and sarcasm in this book once I adjusted to the style. At least I'm assuming there was a heavy does of sarcasm intended here. I can't imagine an intelligent woman - even one from the early 1800s - writing some of what she did with a straight face. (Warwick's account of his life must have been trustworthy simply because he was handsome? Really? Come on, Elizabeth. You should have been smarter than that!) So while this will never be one of my all-time favorites, I did find it to be a rather fun read.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5
    I just could not enjoy this book. I don't know if I still have residual PTSD from all the Victorian literature I read in high school or if it's something else. Granted, I tried to keep in mind that this was very novel for its time and I agree that Austen should be given credit for her feminist contributions. But other than a few stray clever remarks, my eyes rolled more often than not.

    Thus, the two stars are for Austen's rebellious attitude toward gender disparity, but I just find P&P too outdated and out-of-touch with someone like me.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Jane Austen struggled to get Pride and Prejudice finally into print. Finding a publisher was not easy (she even considered self-publishing), but she did not give up. During the years the manuscript sat on her shelf, she reworked it and changed its title from First Impressions to the even more plot-descriptive Pride and Prejudice. Now, 200 years later, that novel is still one of the best known, and best loved, books in the world. Mr. and Mrs. Bennet live with their five daughters in Longbourn, a Hertfordshire town in which nothing is more important to young ladies and their mothers than making the right match. A man with a fixed annual income is a must, but even better is a handsome man with an annual income. And the highly competitive (if a bit scatterbrained) Mrs. Bennet is ready to start marrying off her daughters. This is, in fact, to her husband’s dismay, all the woman thinks about. However, the Bennet girls, beautiful as most of them are, face some stiff competition in their little town, and when a military troop makes temporary headquarters there, the game is on. But it is when two wealthy young men take up temporary quarters in one of the county’s most spectacular homes and, at the same time, a foolish young preacher comes courting the girls that the fun really begins.Pride and Prejudice, considering its age, is remarkably easy for today’s readers to read and enjoy. Austen’s witty dialogue and her writing style work as well today as when the book was first published, ensuring that the novel will continue to entertain readers for many generations to come. It does not hurt, too, that Elizabeth Bennet, the second of the Bennet daughters - and Austen’s personal favorite of all her heroines - is one of literature’s most memorable characters. Elizabeth, though, is surrounded and supported by a whole cast of characters that interact perfectly to make Pride and Prejudice the very special book that it is. There are the wealthy (Misters Bingley and Darcy and their sisters), the super-wealthy (Lady Catherine), the foolish (Mr. Collins and Mrs. Bennet, in particular), a scoundrel (Mr. Wickham), the rest of the Bennet sisters and their long-suffering father, and a town filled with friends and rivals.New readers are likely to be surprised by how much fun Pride and Prejudice is, but this is precisely the reason so many re-read it on a regular basis. Jane Austen wrote romantic comedy before there was such a thing. She was way ahead of her time stylistically, especially when it comes to dialogue, and it all comes together beautifully in Pride and Prejudice. This one is not to be missed.Rated at: 5.0
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I've been so wrong. I tried reading this book when I was freshman in high-school, and I only made it three pages without understanding any of what I had read. My first impression of the book was that it was dull, disinteresting, and the language with which Austen wrote was incomphrensible to my brain. For a few years I was smug in my conviction, content with "never getting Jane Austen" and satisfied that I had at least tried to read Pride and Prejudice.Little did I know that I was afflicted with the same problem as our spunky heroine, Elizabeth. My first impression of the book when I was a freshman might have been justified, given that I was not yet mature enough to fully appreciate Austen's wit and the world that she wrote about. However, I let that first impression build a prejudice of sorts about Pride and Prejudice and Jane Austen.For that, I am sorry, Jane Austen. I apologize for ever doubting your writing abilities. I now gift thee with the status of being one of my favorite writers. There. I'm sure you're very pleased. Be happy, Jane Austen, for it is all YOUR fault that I lost many hours of schoolwork and sleep time because I couldn't put down your bloody book.Well, I'm happy that I'll finally be able to watch The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and actually understand what they're all talking about. And now I'm going to probably be reading all the Jane Austen books I can get my grimy paws on.What have I gotten myself into?
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    This was my first time reading the novel, although I've seen many of the film adaptations. What really struck me was that Elizabeth seemed more prejudiced and Darcy less proud than in the films.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I just read Pride and Prejudice for the first time and I'm 47 years old. I don't know why I haven't read this until now but so happy to finally said I've read this book! One reason being, this book and characters are frequently referenced in books, movies, etc. and while I think I had a general idea of how the story went, it's a relief to be "in the know". I enjoyed this story very much. I relished the clever, witty banter of the dialogue between the characters. Why don't people talk that anymore? Just superbly written and I can't wait to read all of Jane Austen's work.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is one of my most favoritest books, and I always find something new in it, despite having read it many times before. The humor, of course, is marvelous, but what brings me back again and again is Austen's precise portrayals of characters and her deft manipulation of point of view in order to create suspense.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Pride and Prejudice is the story of the uncontrollable Elizabeth Bennet who is a character widely known for her dry wit. The story begins as the people of rural Meryton rush to marry their daughters off to Charles Bingley, a very eligible bachelor who has moved to an estate near the Bennets. The village holds a welcoming ball, and Elizabeth meets Bingley’s closest friend, Mr. Darcy, who is recognized for his pride and arrogance, and also his wealth. Also at the ball, Elizabeth’s sister, Jane, becomes rather close to Bingley. However, throughout the story there are many misunderstandings between both Jane and Bingley, and also Elizabeth and Darcy that threaten to put potential relationships in jepordy. I really enjoyed this book because it had so many unexpected twists and turns. I also enjoyed it because it is considered a classic novel and is a widely known and timeless love story. Sometimes I thought it was difficult to understand, but this is mostly due to the style of the era it was written. Overall I really loved this book and the incredible love story and would give it 4.5 out of 5 stars.Breanne R.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I read this (for the third time) to get a jump-start on the bicentennial. As I began it it was enjoyable but felt a little repetitive like I remembered virtually every word and scene and was not getting anything new out of them. But the time I got to Darcy's letter I was completely sucked in and absorbed as if I was reading it for the first time. And unaccountably, I had completely forgotten the magnificent interview between Elizabeth and Lady De Bourgh near the end of the book so at least that felt new to me. Overall, very much worth re-reading ever now and then.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Jane Austen. Enough said - the greatest of romance writers, and this is my personal favourite of her works.