The Jane Austen Collection: An Audible Original Drama

I found this collection to be as near perfection as a set of 6 dramatized books can be. Overall, I loved them all because I love the books and you can almost never go wrong with any adaptation. I say almost because I have seen some exceptions. Thankfully, these are not those.Sense and Sensibility - wonderful acting, beautiful narrating by Guru Mbatha-Raw. A real treat to listen to and a wonderful way to start the collection off.Pride and Prejudice - Claire Foy's narrating was flawless! Lizzie's voice actor sounded a bit older than I expected at first, but I got used to her. On the other hand, Lydia and Kitty sounded too young - like children. I know they were supposed to be mid-teens, but they sounded more like 12-year-olds. So to have Lydia then marry Wickham was a bit pervy. I mean, it should've been pervy anyway with her being 15 or 16 by the time of her marriage, but it always seemed a bit more acceptable given the time period. But sounding like she's 12?? ew.Mansfield Park - By far, my least favorite of Austen's books. Read by Billie Piper who did a brilliant job of it. She has a beautiful, flawless voice that kept my attention the whole way through. And the voice actors were perfectly chosen! Despite never caring about this book, I listened with rapt attention the whole way through.Emma - Narrated by, aptly enough, Emma Thompson. Not my favorite of Austen's, but the talent of all the actors made it wonderfully enjoyable and I listened whole-heartedly to the entire thing without wanting to put it down. There were instances, however, when I'd mistake the characters because they sounded so similar. For example, Mrs. Weston and Jane Fairfax. Equally lovely voices that blended together a little too well sometimes. Emma's actress fell in with them occasionally as well.Northanger Abbey - Quite possibly the best narration I've ever heard. Emma Thompson was absolute Perfection! And Mr. Tilney's voice actor was brilliant, charismatic, and funny. I loved everyone except one - Isabella Thorpe had a rough voice that sounded as if she was a heavy smoker. Nothing like the alluring woman she's written as being. I cringed every time I heard her, but luckily, I wasn't subjected to her gravelly voice for too long. Thankfully, this version of the book had more narrating than dialogue (though there's plenty of that of course), so I got to indulge in Emma Thompson's wonderful acting more than having to listen to Isabella.Persuasion - Narrated by Florence Pugh. What can I say? I love this book and I loved the voice acting for the characters here. Thankfully, the characters spoke a great deal because whenever it switched to the narrator, I wanted to fall asleep. Her voice is calm and not unpleasing, but she's boring and monotone. Sometimes, it almost sounds as if she's bored with the story herself and is just speaking the words. There's rarely any inflection in her voice at all. Don't listen to this one when you're sleepy or tired.On Audible, I did take a star off on Performance for the narrator in this one because she had quite an important role. I wish I could've been half a star instead because the other narrators were amazing and there were so many brilliant voice actors. It didn't seem right to take off an entire star when the cast of this collection was so gigantic. But I couldn't bring myself to give a full 5 stars for performance because her part in Persuasion was too big to ignore. Here on Amazon, however, I gave it a full 5 stars because I'm giving more importance to the books themselves.

I’m new to audio books. In my short time have come to decide that not just anyone can do this type of work. A bad narrator can ruin a good story. I HATE when they try to do a voice for each character. Especially men speaking as a woman.In the case of this one, it’s different actors doing the different parts. I think. That’s what it sounds like, and I really enjoy my first book in the series.I have read all these books years ago. Listening lets me lay back, close my eyes, and immerse myself into the story. I’m LOVING IT!! And to get to listen to it while at my drudgery job, what a treat. And while I sew, the hours fly by.Maybe I’m easily pleased, but this type of entertainment is pure bliss to me. The TV stays off, I have zero stress over world events, and living alone as a widow goes to the back of my thoughts and feelings.I’m a happy girl!

I love that this was performed like a play with full sound effects and musical score.

I have been listening to this same audiobook for over a year now. In the past month they have changed the audio of Pride and Prejudice for a different version. I do not like this new version and I do not appreciate that it was changed to begin with.