Sense and Sensibility by Jane Austen

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Two sisters, one practical and full of commonsense, the other a passionate and emotional creature, an uncaring brother and his avaricious wife, a handsome rake and a faithful gentleman – these are some of the unforgettable characters who make Jane Austen's first published novel, Sense and Sensibility such a delightful, witty and timeless classic.The novel was published under the pseudonym “A Lady” by its shy and retiring nineteen-year-old author, Jane Austen, in 1811. She was the daughter of a country rector and lived all her life in the circle of her large and loving family in a little village in Hampshire, England. There is very little autobiographical material available about her, as her well-meaning relatives burned and destroyed most of her diaries and letters after her death.Sense and Sensibility is a charming story of two sisters who see life from two very different viewpoints. When their father suddenly dies, leaving his entire estate to their half-brother John, the sisters, Elinor and Marianne Dashwood, their mother and youngest sister Margaret are thrown at the financial mercy of John and his mean-minded wife, Fanny. Mrs Dashwood and her daughters soon realize that they are not welcome at their former home Norland Hall. Fanny's brother Edward Ferrars, who is quite different from his greedy and graceless sister, arrives and begins to form an attachment to Elinor, which is violently opposed by Fanny. Mrs Dashwood is hurt and bewildered, but finally realizes that they have no option but to leave. They move to Devonshire, where Mrs Dashwood's cousin, Sir John Middleton welcomes them and helps them to find suitable lodgings. While out walking one rainy evening, Marianne suffers a small accident and is rescued by the suave and dashing John Willoughby. She falls passionately in love with him.The story takes several interesting twists and turns, driven by the opposing natures of the two sisters. More than two hundred years after publication, this delightful tale still manages to capture the reader's imagination as it echoes universal truths of passion, love, social status and ethics. Sense and Sensibility is a coming of age novel, marked by Jane Austen's deliciously ironic and sharp wit and famously under-stated style that will certainly appeal to modern-day readers.

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  • 😎🤪😏
    I could cry.
    This is the ABSOLUTE WORST book reading I have ever listened to. Edward Ferrars sounds like an eighty year old. And don’t get me started on Mrs. Dashwood. Good book reduced to a level of... I dunno. I hated it.🤮
  • lnspindler
    Mrs. Dashwood ruined it.
    Who ever chose the vocal recording for Mrs. Dashwood should be tarred and feathered. Dear Lord what went wrong? Her vocal track is clearly a robot with no accent, vocal inflections, or personality. RUINED this audio recording. Also for the love of God it’s called a Piano FORTE (for-tay)!!!!!
  • Copsdaughter
    Pretty good but...
    I loved the narrator and Eleanor, but Mrs Jennings and Mrs Dashwood were not good at all. Mrs Jennings sounded like she was recorded in a tunnel, while Mrs Dashwood had no inflection or tone whatsoever. Very disappointed by their parts due to the quality of writing and the otherwise excellent readings. Would love for those parts to be re-recorded.
  • trewqqssdfg
    Mrs Dashwood
    Is a computer? Being trained in how to pronounce words? Less grating 2nd time through. Odd choice.
  • LoverOfAudiobooks
    Too slow
    I am trying to be nice about this review... I listened only to chapters 1 and 2. Why is Mrs. Dashwood German?? Or is it Dutch? Also, the reading was very slow and foggy. To be honest, this was a disappointment to my ears... 😢
  • Chyrise7
    I tried
    The reader for Mrs. Dashwood is ridiculous. I tried to get through it hoping the other characters would outdo themselves & make up for her but I just couldn’t.
  • DocNyr
    Ok
    Most of the reading was good. Mrs Dashwood’s role was read terribly. Horrible reading.
  • daysfly
    Too bad for Marianne
    It’s not unlikely that, in her great proclivity of nature and passion that Marianne would be so capable of great reading, and in her sense of attachment Willoughby would too be of great consequence. But the unfortunate association with the almost uneducated readings of the ones most dear to her, Mrs Dashwood and Eleanor, might have well driven Marianne’s actress to hysteria. As a dear reader and listener, I found myself almost wont to throw my listening device clear across the room in chapter 14 instead to listen to the women read so raucously Austen’s writing! I am being gracious to the other characters,and in most particular generously pardoning the neutral supposing narrator, by sharing so many stars.
  • realtalkTrump
    Senseless and Sensibility
    I made it to chapter 11. Listening to this was like nails on a chalk board. I was being generous with 1 Star.
  • Maddison Brandley
    Yikes
    I could only get to chapter 5 before I gave up. Most of the readers are tolerable but there's one that I can't stand. I didn't know it was possible to be that bad. Sounded like Siri only 10 times worse.
  • Ronjohn H
    Sense and Sensibility
    I made it till chapter 17 before I simply had to stop. Even my 12 year old said she could do a better job reading. The narrator was fine; but one of the main daughters read like a set of fingernails looking for, and finding, a blackboard. Intolerable.
  • Deoxyriboneucleicacid
    Good Book Brought Down by Poor Voice Acting
    Overall, LoyalBooks productions are very high quality and this is the first for me that has disappointed at all. Sense and Sensibility is well narrated, but a few characters' voice acting and/or sound quality are really, really distracting and drag down the rest.
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