Inquiring readers, During this month of holiday celebrations, Laurel Ann and I will be offering the Twelve Gifts of Christmas. Some of the gifts will be giveaways, others will be free offerings online, and still others will be great gift ideas for you to give to others. Every gift will have a special relationship to this blog, us, or Jane Austen. Today in honor of Jane Austen’s Birthday we are happy to present gifts to our readers, all seven of Jane Austen’s major novels on unabridged audio by Naxos AudioBooks. Leave a comment stating why you enjoy reading or viewing Jane Austen by December 31st, and you will be eligible for a drawing for one of the following unabridged audios.Gift Eight: Jane Austen Birthday Celebration Giveaways!
Sense and Sensibility: Read by Juliet StevensonWhen Mrs Dashwood is forced by an avaricious daughter-in-law to leave the family home in Sussex, she takes her three daughters to live in a modest cottage in Devon. For Elinor, the eldest daughter, the move means a painful separation from the man she loves, but her sister Marianne finds in Devon the romance and excitement which she longs for. The contrasting fortunes and temperaments of the two girls as they struggle to cope in their different ways with the cruel events which fate has in store for them are portrayed by Jane Austen with her usual irony, humour and profound sensibility. 11 CDs • Running Time: 11½ hours • ISBN: 978-9626343616
Pride and Prejudice: Read by Emilia FoxJane Austen’s most popular novel, originally published in 1813, some seventeen years after it was first written, presents the Bennet family of Longbourn. Against the background of gossipy Mrs Bennet and the detached Mr Bennet, the quest is on for husbands for the five daughters, beautiful Jane, witty Elizabeth, scholarly Mary, impressionable Kitty and wilful Lydia. The spotlight falls on Elizabeth, second eldest, who is courted by Mr Darcy though initially she is more concerned with the fate of her other sisters. This marvellous account of family life in Regency England is read with vigour and style by Emilia Fox. 11 CDs • Running Time: 15 hours • ISBN: 978-9626343562
Mansfield Park: Read by Juliet StevensonWhen timid, ten-year-old Fanny Price is plucked from her large, raucous and somewhat impoverished family in Portsmouth to live with wealthy relatives in Mansfield Park her life is changed for ever. Immediately forming a strong attraction for her cousin Edmund, she develops into a genteel and mature young woman, whose love for him remains undimmed despite the diversion brought into both their lives by the attractive but morally bankrupt Crawfords. With its suggestion of adultery, and written with all the wit and style of the mature Jane Austen, this is the work of a writer at the peak of her powers. It was published in 1814, and unlike its predecessors, Pride and Prejudice and Sense and Sensibility which were revisions of her juvenile writing, Mansfield Park was completely original. Like its heroine Fanny Price, who develops during the course of the story to reach maturity, Jane Austen’s third published novel was a much more mature work from a writer of increasing experience. 14 CDs • Running Time: 17 hours • ISBN: 978-9626344675
Emma: Read by Juliet StevensonArrogant, self-willed and egotistical, young Miss Emma Woodhouse is Jane Austen’s most unusual heroine. Her interfering ways and inveterate matchmaking are at once shocking and comic. She is ‘handsome, clever and rich’ and has ‘a disposition to think too well of herself’. When she decides to introduce the humble Harriet Smith, the natual daughter of who knows whom, to the delights of genteel society and to find her a suitable husband, she precipitates herself and her immediate circle into a web of misunderstanding, intrigue, and comedy from which no-one emerges unchanged. 13 CDs • Running Time: 16 hours • ISBN: 978-9626343944
Northanger Abbey: Read by Juliet StevensonWhen Catherine Morland, a country clergyman’s daughter, is invited to spend a season in Bath with the fashionable high society, little does she imagine the delights and perils that await her. Captivated and disconcerted by what she finds, and introduced to the joys of ‘Gothic novels’ by her new friend, Isabella, Catherine longs for mystery and romance. When she is invited to stay with the beguiling Henry Tilney and his family at Northanger Abbey, she expects mystery and intrigue at every turn. However, the truth turns out to be even stranger than fiction. 7 CDs • Running Time: 9 hours • ISBN: 978-9626344279
Persuasion: Read by Juliet StevensonAnne Elliot has grieved for seven years over the loss of her first and only love, Captain Frederick Wentworth. When their paths finally cross again, Anne finds herself slighted and all traces of their former intimacy gone. As the pair continue to share the same social circle, dramatic events in Lyme Regis, and later in Bath, conspire to unravel the knots of deceit and misunderstanding in this beguiling and gently comic story of love and fidelity. Juliet Stevenson reads this unabridged recording with her customary clarity and particular understanding for the words and world of Jane Austen. Running Time: 8½ hours • ISBN: 978-9626344361
Lady Susan: Read by Harriet Walter, Kim Hicks, Carole Boyd, and castLady Susan was the first of Jane Austen’s novels to be completed. An epistolary novel in eighteenth-century style, it tells the story of the recently widowed Lady Susan Vernon, intelligent but highly manipulative, who is intent on gaining financially secure relationships for both herself and her wayward but shy teenage daughter Frederica. Less known than Austen’s six great later novels, it demonstrates the wit and sharp observations of Jane Austen – and is shown at its best in audiobook form, with different actresses presenting real characters as they read their letters. Featuring nineteenth-century chamber music. 2 CDs • Running Time: 2½ hours • ISBN: 978-9626342282
Both Vic (Ms. Place) and Laurel Ann adore audio books and know that each of the winners will be thrilled to listen to one of these quality recordings. You can visit the Naxos AudioBooks web site for detailed information on each of the audio recordings and listen to previews.
Happy Birthday Jane Austen! Pass on the celebration by sharing the news of this giveaway with your friends. A big thank you to the folks at Naxos AudioBooks USA for their generous support in our celebration of Jane Austen’s Birthday.
Happy Holidays from Vic(Jane Austen's World) & Laurel Ann (Austenprose)
Though I was lucky enough to win a recent drawing, I have to comment on why I love reading Jane Austen. As someone who didn't discover her work until later in life, I really appreciate the nuances of her characters. Her wit, often biting, is so well pointed at society. Her observations are as relevant today as they were two hundred years ago, but above all, her language and turn of phrase is what I enjoy the most.
ReplyDeleteI have read Jane Austen since I was eleven years old. I love her characters, her narrative, her suspense and her humour. As I have grown older and my circumstances have altered, so my character affiliations have changed. For example, where once I was Elizabeth Bennet, I now have more in common with Mrs Gardiner. As for the adaptations, I love them where they are faithful to the original, but when they deviate or reinvent, then I speak my idignation out loud to all that will listen!
ReplyDeleteI love Austen's style and take great pleasure in reading her novels. The sharp wit of both the author and her characters, is an unbetable combination. As English is not my first language (I'm Norwegian), I've also learned a great deal of language during the years, with the help of Austen's works - and I'd love to continue doing so, also by listening to the pronounciation. Recently I've begun listening to audio books again, but never gotten around to get an Austen one. I'd love to be able to listen to the novels while traveling to and from my current school and it'll certainly come in handy next year, when I leave for University where I'll study History and English Literature.
ReplyDeleteI can't go through a year without reading Jane Austen! I love her use of language and her characters. Reading her books are like visiting moments in time and visiting old friends.
ReplyDeleteI came to the novels later in life, having thought them "required reading" and deadly dull. Foolish me. I love both reading and listening to Jane Austen novels (unabridged, of course) for the richness of detail and characters. You can slip into them and be in another place, far removed from whatever is going on in the 21st century.
ReplyDeleteJane Austen books are a great way to travel to a different time. I know I have been lost too long in reading her stories when I start talking to my family like she would. "I am excessively diverted"
ReplyDeleteWhat an excellent giveaway in honor of our most excellent Austen! I particularly love Harriet Walters' reading of Lady Susan. I have read Austen since I was a young teenager--first for the stories, then for the humor, now for the wisdom. She has a compassion that transcends her knive-edge wit, and the combination is comforting and challenging at the same time. Reading Austen inspires me to try to be a better person.
ReplyDeleteHappy Birthday, Jane! We love you!
ReplyDeleteLife just wouldn't be the same without her novels or the film adaptations. I have not read the books as much as I have watched the movies, but I have watched those so many times I have lost count!
I have made it my mission to read her novels again. There still is no greater way to experience her!
Thank you for this opportunity to share our love of Jane on her birthday!
I love reading Jane's books because they are a gateway into a world I will never know, and in her stories I find wit, comedy, and mirth in equal measure. She also helps balance out the Patrick O'Brian influence in my life.(I also read Austen because my English Major makes me, but that's not all of it, really.)
ReplyDeleteOh, Please sign me up for this! I would love an audiobook! Thank you!
ReplyDeletehttp://penelopesoasis.blogspot.com/
Happy Birthday Jane! I love reading and re-reading Jane Austen's works because I always find something new every time I read them. Something different to laugh at or some new nuance in a character.
ReplyDeleteI started reading Jane Austen a few years ago and she has quickly become one of my favorite authors. Every book is unique and I love them all, although I have a particular soft spot for Northanger Abbey. Maybe it is b/c I am not too far removed from teenage girldom. Her writing is clever and brilliant, but I am most amazed by her accurate portrayal of human nature, which makes her books still so relevant 200 years later.
ReplyDeleteReading Jane Austen is like visiting with a friend. A very smart, observant, clever friend. This quote (I don't know who to attribute it to): "If you don't have anything good to say about a person -- then come sit next to me." - that's Jane Austen, but she shares what she knows with such elegance. Who could stay away?
ReplyDeleteI love reading Jane Austen's works because in her writing she was able to elevate the everyday to a universally appealing level.
ReplyDeleteOh wow what a great contest! :)
ReplyDeleteEven if I don't actually have any audio reading cds I listen to books on the internet sometimes and I love it! :) I usually only listen to Jane Austen, just because she's the best. ;) HAPPY BIRTHDAY JANE DEAR! <3 :)
every time i read jane i find something new to love. but most of all i love that she's funny. it's not just the gentle wit of the period, it's downright hilarious! and even when it's heartbreaking...i love it because i know there's always happiness and fun to be had.
ReplyDeleteBecause they never get old--every time I read them, there is always something new to be found in them!
ReplyDeleteI love reading Jane Austen simply because I enjoy reading classics and the rich and clever romance within it and Jane's beautiful way of writing.
ReplyDeleteHappy B'day Jane! I started reading jane Austen more years ago than I can count, it seems. Her writings are timeless classics. She gets right to the innermost heart of her characters.Please enter me in the contest.
ReplyDeleteFirstly I must congratulate you for the quality of your blog, which is exceedingly agreeable! Simply splendid, milady...
ReplyDeleteThere is simply nothing like reading Jane Austin, and I shall never accept her early death, which has deprived the world (particularly thousands of fans and admirers in her posterity) of an inestimable additional number of romances, which, I'm persuaded she would clearly have written, had time so permitted…
At least, we may count upon a few “Safe Havens” such as your lovely blog which, along with a few other sites focused on Jane’s time period, in order to derive a few moments of diversion, making believe we might actually be visiting Great Britain in 1808
Austen's book offer something different for me every time I read (or even just talk about them or watch an adaptation). There's always a new nuance that I didn't notice before. I love reading her novels because they are both old, familiar friends as well as new discoveries.
ReplyDeleteNo other author seems able to do this for all of their books.
I am also very excited about Juliet Stevenson reading NA!
I posted a birthday reminder on my blog before I read yours.
ReplyDeleteI love introducing friends and young girls to Jane Austen. Thanks so much for celelbrating!
Oooo! I love audio books! It's always as if they're a whole new book when someone else reads them to you.
ReplyDeleteA very happy birthday to Miss Austen. I enjoy all of her novels and have reread them several times over. I would love to be able to listen to one of them as well!
ReplyDeleteI read my Jane Austen books at night. When the house is quiet and my bedroom has only me in it - I read Jane and forget my age, my modern day life and my obligations and anxieties.
ReplyDeleteJane Austen takes me back to another place that is quite often, not so very different to my own. People really are just people..her characters are so real that in my day to day life I often catch a glimpse of somebody behaving in a strange fashion and think, 'Oh that would have tickled Jane Austen's fancy'.
I love reading Jane Austen because she lets me slip back into her world, that is only a few steps back from my own.
I love re-reading and especially listening to Austen's books because I think her novels were meant to be read aloud for both the humor and the irony so I love reading them aloud and listening to them so that I get the full effect. It is a wonderful way to re visit Austen.
ReplyDeleteThank you for putting together a peaceful and refreshing site!
ReplyDeleteI, too, discovered Jane Austen as a grown-up just recently. Her writings are clever and classy. In every re-read, there is more to enjoy.
I seriously began reading jane austens books in 1996 when the PP 1995 TV -series was first broadcasted in sweden. I visited her home sin Steventon and chawton in 2002 or 2003. I have read all her books and some sequels too.
ReplyDeletei like her because of the humour and wit as well as the historical background . her books have made me more intrested in English history of that period
Anna-Karin S
I enjoy viewing Jane Austen because I can escape from my dull and boring life and enter into her world where decency and polite conversation are highly valued. On the other hand, I read her books so that I can enjoy the way her style of phrasing words politely to disguise her original intended meaning.
ReplyDeleteI first read Jane Austen in high school and have continued to read at least one of her books every year (this year I read all her works again). Her words can make me laugh out loud, burst into tears and really think about society (which hasn't changed all that much from when she was alive). I just got back from visiting her house, Chatsworth estate and Bath, which makes reading her books now even more fun...
ReplyDeleteWow, even Lady Susan is in audiobook! That's great. I loved the sampler from Gothic month.
ReplyDeleteIt's hard to sum up just why I love Austen. At this point I think a lot of it is becasue her books are familiar and comforting too me, yet I still discover nuances and details on every re-reading!
Jane Austen has been my constant companion since my teens. She's seen me through the various stages of my life, from young and single, to now many years later, mother of two who are soon to leave the nest. And with each phase of my life, every time I re-read her I still see something new, or gain a different perspective on a character or situation. Jane has grown with me.
ReplyDeleteSo, a lifetime of thanks to Jane and thank you for this lovely drawing.
I absolutely love Jane Austen's works! Her writing is very witty and intriguing. The number one thing I love about her work is her characters. Every one of Jane Austen's characters has so much depth and personality. The way she develops and describes her characters are absolutely amazing. No matter how many years or centuries pass, there will always be people like Mrs. Jennings or Mrs. Bennet. Jane Austen has created characters that never die; they will always be cherished amongst her novels, and there will always be people who portray her characters. Jane Austen Rocks!!
ReplyDeleteI've known the thrill of introducing Jane Austen to many young people in my high school English classes over the last dozen years. I made extensive use of audio books to warm students up to the language and help them with what for many of them was a challenging read.
ReplyDeleteI love Jane Austen's books for their whit, morals, and the fact that fashions and language have changed some, but people still have the same personalities that they did back then. One also gets a glimpse into real life for that class of people back then. Jane Austen wrote what she knew.
ReplyDeleteHow did it begin? I cannot remember exactly. P&P was mentioned in "You've Got Mail" but at that time I was not interested in the novel. I think it was when I moved to the US (am back in Japan now) and got tired of Hollywood movies. Then I found Colin Firth's P&P in the library. Ever since Jane Austen has been part of my life. Even read carelessly, her novels are enjoyable. But as you read many a time, you realize there is much more and much deeper than the first impression.
ReplyDeleteI love audio books---they are especially helpful for non-native speakers to "feel" the sprit of Austen. I love dramatised versions, too. In other words, I love everything Austen!
Happy Birthday Jane Austen!
ReplyDeleteThanks to Jane, we can enjoy lovely readin and learning about how it was during her times, I truly enjoy learning about her all the time.
Dina
My first impression on reading Jane Austen was of the carefully phrased words by everyone in the books. This led me to be conscious of thinking before speaking in order to be precise. Of course one can say one set of words and intend an entirely different set of unsaid words, and for this Jane Austen is the best! I travel by car frequently and love to listen to audio books. What better than the well chosen words of Jane Austen!
ReplyDeleteWow! 7 audio's! They would be great to listen to. I love audio's. I listen to them all the time. Thanks!!!!
ReplyDeleteCGNarnia: Thank you for your comment! Just one minor correction - we are giving out one Naxos audio book per reader, not all seven tapes to one reader. This means seven readers who comment will have a chance to win a tape! Fabulous odds.
ReplyDeleteMy daughters have taken a sudden passionate need to hear and see Jane Austins stories. Being a writer myself, I have absolutely adored her work since I was a young woman. Please consider us when deciding on a winner.
ReplyDeleteI love reading Jane Austen because her books are always relevant and never get tired of them. Every time I discover something new, I'm in awe of her genius.
ReplyDeletePatty
Cool! Sorry about the last Comment. I got confused. I would still Love ONE of the audios. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteAbout two years ago i first read pride and prejudice, and from that point i completely fell in love with everything austen. I have read all the books, I'm working on reading all the adaption and continuations on the stories and i've watched every movie adaption i can find.
ReplyDeletei own the mansfield park audio tape and found it an enjoyable new take on "reading" the book.
I love JA because her books are timeless and always make me laugh.
ReplyDeleteI love reading Jane Austen because she makes me feel at home; her world is so small but so universal that anyone can recognize themselves in it - I love most of her heroines as well, and I particularly like the fact that all her novels end well...the langage is so good too! Well, there are millions of reasons why I love reading Jane Austen !
ReplyDeleteJane always tells me the truth. That's why I love her. Jane taught me that even Miss Bingley may have a point, and even Mr. Darcy may act like an idiot on occasion. Elinor Dashwood feels more than she can say - Fanny Price's goodness wins in the end. The truth and a happy ending. What more is there worthy of love?
ReplyDeleteI have read and re-read Jane's books since I was 10. I started after we visited Winchester Cathedral in the summer of 1969. My mother got visibly upset when she saw people walking around the Cathedral and not noticing that they were stepping on a particular brass plaque -- a plaque showing where someone named Jane Austen was buried. So, when we got home from our summer in the UK, I decided to read something by Jane Austen to see what got my mother so agitated. I read P&P (I took a break to read Jane Eyre) and then went on to read Emma. And the rest is history.
ReplyDeleteHer books can be read on so many levels -- as social commentary, as satire, as romance, as comedy, etc. In short, there is something for (almost) everyone in a Jane Austen novel. And the best part is that they never get old. I got as much pleasure reading Persuasion (my absolute favorite -- can't you tell from my username!?) for the fifth time as I did when I read it for the first time. Perhaps even more because, with each successive reading, I see more layers. I can say the same about all of her books. I hated MP at age 18, but at age 40 I loved it. You really can't say that about most authors.
There's a reason people are still reading her books and talking about them almost 200 years after their publication. Via the silver screen, Austen novels have been successfully transplanted to 20th century Los Angeles and 21st century England, India and Utah. And, thanks to fanfic, even more locales have been the setting for Austen's characters. Austen's work transcends time and place.
I've never owned an Austen audiobook, but this contest is my opportunity to do so. *crosses fingers*
I came to read Jane Austen a bit late, I'm afraid. I would hope, if I'd lived at the same time as Jane, to be clever enough and 'good' enough to be her friend. She would be such a good friend.
ReplyDeleteThere are so many reasons that I love reading Jane Austen.
ReplyDeleteI didn't read my first Austen until I was an adult, and it started with a film version of Pride and Prejudice (Colin Firth, of course). I fell in love instantly.
I love Austen because her stories are about real people. Her heroines are not princesses, or aristocrats. They are ordinary middle- and low- class women (with the exception of Emma, I suppose). They are women to whom I can relate.
I am learning that Austen gets better with each reading. The first time I read Sense and Sensibility, I didn't enjoy it at all, but the more times I read it, the better it gets.
Austen also created some of the most interesting characters I've ever read. There are the characters I love, the characters I hate, and more than enough characters that I love to hate!
Then, there is the language. I love the language. I love the way she wrote and the way her characters speak.
Why WOULDN'T you love to read Jane Austen?? Her stories are beautifully written, clever, and timeless. You can tell she was a keen observer of relationships!
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ReplyDeleteI love Jane Austen because her books are the perfect fix for my longing to live in a different time. I feel I relate very much to Miss Austen herself. As a aspiring artist, the imagery she weaves with her words are a source of inspiration, as well as a sanctuary when I feel overwhelmed or just plain fed up with the modern age. She writes what I would like to know of love, relationships (romantic or not), and life's pleasures. Her novels are my substitute for a time machine! (Northanger Abbey is my personal favorite!)
ReplyDeleteJane Austen is the reason why, over 20 years after graduating from college, I went back to get certified to teach English. I want to teach Jane's novels - her messages ring as true today as they did when she wrote them. I heart Jane, and my love runs true and deep. I'm also filled with no small amount of envy. What I wouldn't give to write like she did!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy your blog a great deal.
Wow---what a great giveaway. I spend my day driving around delivering flowers, so I'm crossing my fingers to win this one!
ReplyDeleteI read the books because Austen makes me laugh. People really haven't changed since the 18th century. Society and fashion have changed---and as a history and fashion history nerd I love her books for a peek into life back then. But I can read her books and know exactly who Mrs. Elton is because I know a Mrs. Elton. She makes me laugh at people, the world, even myself and every time I read her books I can't help but feel that she & I could have spent hours drinking coffee and laughing at the days exploits.
I love J. Austen because she understands people. Her humor is priceless, timeless and just plain amazing!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting a great giveaway!
I am an Austen fan. I read Pride and Prejudice many years ago but didn't read any of the others until this past year. I have to admit that my favorite is Northanger Abbey - Henry Tilney reminds me so much of my husband! :)
ReplyDeleteJane "gets" family life. Her family lived long ago, on another continent, in a different world--but I see the reflections of her fictional families in my life today.
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading, listening, and watching her work because it gives me joy to know that every family is dysfuntional in their own way--just like mine.
I love the courtesy and manners in her world, and miss them in my own. I relish her wit and sassy comments on those around her, and wish my own such comments were as clever and well said. I delight in the sound of the language she uses. I feel smarter and more polite when I am with her work, and life generally can use a little more of cleverness and gentility.
Thanks for this chance!
I believe I have to say why I love re-reading Jane Austen's books. Many authors are wonderful to read but Jane Austen is an author that people keep reading over and again throughout out their lives. Every re-reading gives me a new enjoyment all over again. My first impressions, though very positive, of every novel have not remained the same over the years. I keep getting deeper and deeper into the story lines, more intrigued by the character drawing, by the incredible insight and understanding of human nature that Jane Austen not only possessed herself (we can see that by reading her letters) but she was then able to translate into fiction. Remarkable!
ReplyDeleteI would love to be entered for this, thanks! (laney_poATyahooDOTcom)
ReplyDeleteAs to why I love Jane Austen...I love the satisfaction, that warm-and-giddy feeling I get from reading Persuasion and Pride and Prejudice...or the big grin I get from watching Northanger Abbey, etc. They just feel good, feel right.
I love reading Jane Austen and re-read her novels constantly. It is a world I now know intimately and I can escape there and enjoy fashions, customs and sensibilities that are very different to my own. More importantly I love LISTENING to Jane Austen. I have audio copies of several of the novels and never tire of hearing them. I applaud companies like Naxos and Audible that make them available to me!
ReplyDeleteKay
I love audiobooks, they give you more time to really appreciate the story and the language. They're perfect for Jane, her words are always so carefukly chosen and her books exquisite when read out loud. I can't help but think of this scene in The Jane Austen Book Club when Prudie reads Persuasion aloud to her husband. It's such gorgeous prose.
ReplyDeleteThanks for this giveaway !stm
i loved reading pride and prejudice and would love to read more! thanks!
ReplyDeleteThe characters, the setting, the time period, the romance, the dialogue... Everything! :)
ReplyDeleteabackman66 at hotmail dot com
Merry Christmas!
I listen to audiobooks each night. I only have pride and prejudice alas, and none of the rest.
ReplyDeleteI am a true Jane fan and I wish all of the other fans out there a Merry Christmas and Happy New Year!
I love reading Jane Austen because she transports me to another time. I also enjoy her snarky sense of humor which is so modern, her characters so well portrayed, and her writing skill.
ReplyDeleteThere's a sort of magic about Austen's books that transcends time. It's the reason why I've read and re-read her books countless times and see myself doing so even when I'm a gray-haired granny. Thanks for this great giveaway!
ReplyDeletecallmeabookworm at gmail dot com
This is a great Give Away! I love reading and/or listening to her writing because falling into it is a favorite of mine!
ReplyDeleteI love Jane Austen! I love her writing style and the way she discribes the world around her.
ReplyDeleteI am a romantic and old fashioned person, so Jane fits right in with that. After I finish a book or watch a "Jane Austen" movie, I want to be a part of that world. Even though I can't, I feel that I can be when I read her books.
I just never tire of Ms. Austen. Her wit and way of describing events and scenes have a way of transporting you to another place and time, yet continue to be totally relevant.
ReplyDeleteI listen to downloaded Jane Austen audiobooks every night before I go to sleep. It's just the best way to end the day! I especially love Emma and P&P.
ReplyDeleteI first read Jane Austen's books when I was in high school, mainly because my mother and grandmother loved them so. I was quite happy when I discovered all the movie adaptations. In my busy life, Jane Austen is a wonderful change of pace. (In the films, I really enjoy seeing the various china patterns the families have.)
ReplyDeleteI discovered Jane Austen as an adult and can't believe what I missed all those years! Her characters, her wording and the way she sets each scene delights me.
ReplyDeleteI return to Austen year after year, because of her characterization and her astute observations of human nature. Don't we all know a Mr. Collins, or a Mrs. Norris? I think one of the reasons the adaptations have been so successful with mainstream audiences is that the characters practically walk off the page.
ReplyDeleteI've listened to a few audiobooks through my library, but haven't thought much of the readers. This collection looks fabulous!
Cassandra
I love escaping into Jane Austen's heroine's world.
ReplyDeleteIt started with the movies years ago but then about 2 years ago, I decided I had better read what I loved to watch so much. Already being a lover of reading, I thought it would be an easy read.
ReplyDeleteNot so! It was extremely difficult to begin reading due to the language ~ linguisticly. And my first book was Persuasion. The opening paragraph isn't exactly poetry as the Baron Father reads his beloved book. So I searched the internet and found a clip of it being read aloud and it changed everything for me. Being able to HEAR the sound of the english language in England made the difference in how I pronounced the words in my mind. And so the love for Jane Austen's style of writing became a year long obession - an official Jane groopie! ha ha I now got what everyone else understood and now Persuasion is my favorite because I read in my new language. I'd love to win it on audio!
I enjoy reading Jane Austen's works because she wrote very entertaining and amazing books! ..I'll admit though that I have only read Pride and Prejudice but so far I LOVE her writing! :D
ReplyDeleteI have loved Jane Austen's style of writing and stories for as long as I can remember. I have 2 daughters and they love them too! It would be wonderful if I won an audiobook of one of her works!! T
ReplyDeleteThere are so many reason why I love Jane Austen's books. The main one is probably that she has such great insight into her characters-and describes them with a gentle biting wit, that is at times so subtle that you almost miss it!
ReplyDeleteFor me the quality of Jane Austen's perceptual lens is what keeps me coming back to her novels. Her unwavering eye that reveals human nature in such a nuanced, "dead-on" way is kin to Shakespeare's
ReplyDeletecapacity in this regard, while being unique to her,
and timeless.
Joan
I love Austen's humor and insight. Her witty style is an amazing combination of the two and is a joy to read.
ReplyDeleteI would like to be entered to win, and would like to know if putting a link to this on my own blog garners extra entries? Thanks!
ReplyDeleteJane is a genius!! Persuasion is my favorite Austen creation, but the rest come in at very close seconds! :D
ReplyDeleteJust found your site today and can't wait to dig in read what else you have posted.
jane austen's work is timeless and her appreciation of the human character perfect. i have three daughters. this xmas we gave each of them a j.a. book that we
ReplyDeletepurposely choose for their individual age and situations, i'm sure they will find more than one person in the book they read to identify with. tapes would be great to share with them! I just read her biography and was happy to learn more about her & her family. Thanks~ your blog is special.
I love reading Jane Austen because her stories and characters, her humor and motifs are timeless.
ReplyDeleteThey are not only books but friends. I don't know how many different editions I own because I buy them all the time. *blush*
But have you ever tried to carry a hardcover edition of Jane's complete works in a handbag? I really needed to have the paperbacks. And the other paperbacks...
I'm currently rereading Pride and Prejudice and I love these little things one discoveres even after the 345th reading.
I wish I lived during Jane's lifetime. Her books are like a wonderful escape into a world of romance. Jane is so witty and clever!
ReplyDeleteI admire her writing skills so much. I am so happy I found Ms. Place's blog, Jane Austen's World, which I stumbled upon while researching for a book I am writing.
I am sixteen and I love to write. I am writing a book, similar in writing style to Jane Austen's novels. Before I come up with the complete story line, I need to know all I can about late 18th century, early 19th century. Thank you, Ms. Place!
I love how Jane was born two days after my birthday. I like to pretend that it means something special ;) Happy Belated Birthday!
Johannah
I love reading Jane Austen because her characters are so easy to relate to, which illustrates how human problems (with relationships, family, money, etc.) are not unique to any one time or culture.
ReplyDeleteI love Jane Austin. Her characters are realistic and her writing is so witty - I'm often laughing out-loud! An audiobook would be great for my rather long trips to and from work.
ReplyDeleteHow could you not enjoy listening to or watching something of Miss Austen's? My favorite thing is to sit back with a cup of tea and my knitting or other handwork and listen to an audiobook of her works or watch an adaptation. I feel the needlework brings me closer to her charaters and the stories simply transport me.
ReplyDeleteI love Jane's work because she is the best chronicler and critic of human nature I've ever read. The interactions between her characters are spot-on...and characters themselves are perfectly modeled to exact the response she desired of readers. Miss Bates, for instance, drives Emma and the reader to complete distraction...but Austen calls both to task by way of Knightley's remonstrations. She knew very well that how people should behave and how people do behave are often two very separate things.
ReplyDeleteI came late to Jane Austen and didn't read Pride and Prejudice until I was in my early 20's. Then when the BBC came out with Colin Firth as Mr. Darcy, I was mesmerized. That's when I decided to read all of her books and I loved them all. I keep wondering how I went through so much of my life without discovering all of Jane's works. I am no longer deprived. :)
ReplyDeleteVicky
I love reading Jane Austen's books. My favorite is Pride and Prejudice. Thank you and happy new year!
ReplyDeletelynne at fairpoint dot net
I like reading Jane Austen's books beause they catch my imagination. They are like a mini vacation.
ReplyDelete-Erin
I was 19 before I read anything by Jane Austen. I couldn't believe, being an avid reader, that I missed her!
ReplyDeleteHer stories are timeless and highly enjoyable!
My husband bought me Sense and Sensibility and I feel in love with all things Jane :) Funnily enough the movies are safe for my girls to watch and my hubby likes them too, though he may not admit t :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for the opportunity!
Julie
Jane Austen has deep insight in the most ordinary occurances. No one can make a small country village, romance, and heartbreak seem so unordinary as she. I love reading Austen because she celebrates the joys of womanhood and doesn't downplay the pains. She believes in an ordered universe where things are made right in the end. Whenever I read her a calm steals into my heart and I am always eager to return to those familiar English places.
ReplyDeleteI love Jane Austen because I can get lost in another place and time. I can always identify with at least one of the characters! Happy New Year!
ReplyDeleteI love Jane Austen's work, because in addition to being very entertaining, it teaches me about life and manners and human nature. Austen was a wise woman with an eye for people and situations as they are. After reading Emma, she because very dear to me...after reading Pride and Prejudice, she became my favorite author of all time.
ReplyDeleteI have enjoyed myself immensely with every dip into one of Austen's novels. My daughter is named for my favorite, Emma, and I would love to win the copy for listening with her.
ReplyDeleteJane Austen is my literary comfort food. Sometimes I nibble on a chapter, or gobble up 100 pages at a sitting (depending on my appetite!) I've seen every adaptation (including Wishbone as Mr. Darcy) and have traveled to see amateur productions, always wonderful because the thespians invariably love Jane as much as I do.
ReplyDeleteAs Bernadette said in The Jane Austen Book Club..."Austen is the perfect antidote - to LIFE!"
I love Jane Austen books and movies because they are so relatable and comforting in today's world. They always have a good ending too :-)
ReplyDeleteEmi
I love how she seems to every now and then break that fourth wall and really come out and talk to her readers... as if we're best friends and she's sharing a great enjoyment or amusement at her characters expense! Really, she must've had the best sense of humor ever! Pure genius!
ReplyDeleteI enjoy reading Jane Austen because of her wit. Reading and re-reading her books is one of my favorite things to do. "Pride and Prejudice" is my favorite book of all time, and I'm not even a big reader (so the fact that I re-read it is a major milestone). And I would love to listen to her books so as to give my eyes a break...
ReplyDeleteI love the time period of JA books and she is an amazing writer.
ReplyDeleteThe humor and irony of everyday life alongside its drama that Austen presents is mesmerizing. She is simply a genius.
ReplyDeleteI thoroughly and completely enjoy reading and viewing Jane adaptations. Her glorious world is a wonderful escape. I feel a weight lifted as I leave this harried world and enter Jane's. The romance, the wit, the laughter! I have never used an audiobook before, but can't imagine anything more delightful!
ReplyDeleteMight have just missed the entry date? but please would you enter me in your audio book competition.
ReplyDeleteHappy New Year
I mostly love Jane Austen for her intelligent prose. I also love continuations - read several this past year.
ReplyDeleteOnce again, we come to the Holiday Season, a deeply religious time that each of us observes, in his own way, by going to the mall of his choice. your family Happy Holidays and a great and prosperous new year!
ReplyDeleteI love Jane Austen: she is one of my favourite writers and I'm fond of the movies made by her books.
ReplyDeleteHappy birthday, Jane, and thanks for all the joy you brought to my life.
My dream? To visit the places where she lived and the locations of the movies...
Congratulations for your blog!