Just started Sense and Sensibilities with the Rosamund Pike narration. I could say, as a first time reader of S & S that it is very immersive. I couldn’t stop listening
I agree with you that 19th century literature is better on audiobooks. It also brings back wonderful memories when my parents read to me as a child and me reading to my children. xo
I love the Juliet Stevenson audiobooks, every year I would use a credit to get the next one I wanted to read till I have them all. I love listening to classics on audio as sometimes its easier for me to pick up on some of the nuances of humour or critique when I hear someone else say it so to speak.
Absolutely love audiobooks! I have listened to Sarah Bidel’s version of sense and sensibility absolutely countless times - and she just makes me howl when she does the bits on Robert Ferrers. Highly recommended! He’s now one of my favourite Austen characters.!
Katie, I totally understand your love of audio books, because I love them too! I don’t like reading from a computer screen, but on those occasions, I read along with a narrator so my eyes don’t have to catch every word. Mil Nicholson and Peter John Keeble have read many of Dickens’ novels to me. I’ve listened to Great Expectations numerous times and like it more each time. Thanks for reminding the viewers there’s more to reading than meets the eye if instead it meets the ear!
I have all the recordings of Juliet Stevenson reading Austen. Her Persuasion has a wonderful tinge of melancholy to it, and she brings out the ironic wit of Northanger Abbey. (I have all those Naxos CDs--they came in a big set with Stevenson reading 5 novels, Emilia Fox reading P&P and several actors taking the parts in Lady Susan. I picked up Stevenson's P&P separately).
I also get migraines. I will be playing Jane Austen with a sleep timer for comfort with my next one. Thank you for the idea! Loving this years read along of Sense and Sensibility. Rosamund Pike is so lovely to listen to. I really enjoy reading and reading The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner. It’s become a favorite for JAJ. Happy reading and listening everyone!
I definitely do recommend Jane Austen for migraines! I like them, because I can never tell how long it'll take me to fall asleep (it might be half an hour or 3 hours), and with Jane Austen, I sort of don't need to set a sleep timer, because wherever I wake up, I'll know where I am in the story!
I'm a huge fan of audiobooks in general since they allow me to read much more than I otherwise would, and in some cases add more dimension to the story, when the narrators are particularly great. I agree with pretty much everything you said about Jane Austen audiobooks, lol, but especially the part about how the humor in them is so effective when well-narrated. Sometimes, listening to the JA books in audio, I almost get the sense that I'm being brought up to date on the latest gossip by a (really articulate, lol) girlfriend while I sit there and do a puzzle and sip some tea. It's one of my favorite things in the world. I'm currently following along the Sense & Sensibility readalong with the audio, and Mrs. Jennigs' voice/lines are particularly hilarious and so well done by Rosamund Pike. I feel like part of why she's so successful as JA narrator is how well she's able to inject that wry humor that is apparent on the page, even when voicing characters, like Marianne, who are perfectly serious in their dramatics, lol.
I love this video Katie! You're making me rethink reading S&S in print this year. Andy read his first Jane Austen on audiobook and plans to do the same with his second (both the Rosamund Pike versions of course).
I’m an American who loves listening to a Jane Austen novel on audiobook because that enables me to hear it with a British accent. For me, that makes a huge difference in the way I experience her works. I also like to listen to other British authors as I follow along with their books. In this way, I can hear the various class accents as a good audio narrator acts out the dialogue.😊
I started listening to Jane Austen last year on audio and I could not agree with you more about the listening experience. I think for me, part of it is that language has changed since the 19th century, and for those of us who are not British, we are one step further removed from the stories. Hearing a great narrator can really bring any book alive and in the case of classical literature, audio becomes a great invitation into reading more of it.
I'm listening to the Juliet Stevenson audiobooks, already finished Sense and sensibility, and it is just fantastic. I do plan to listen to all six novels this month, all rereads.
I’m listening to Pride and Prejudice on Listen with Audrey audiobook. It’s narrated by Emilia Fox and comes with an expert guide who provides notes and additional resources.
I mostly listen to audiobooks at night and I know I’m going to fall asleep listening, so I usually set the audible timer for a short time. Just like you mentioned about when you’ve got a migraine, I prefer listening to well known books this way because it doesn’t matter if I miss some of the story when I fall asleep. (My absolute comfort book to listen to is Jane Eyre, but that is also my most re-read physical book too)
You're the one who really got me back into audio books. I had this old school idea that it was somehow "cheating" not to physically read the book first. But especially with classics, it helps to bring the story alive! And as you point out, so many novels written prior to radio and TV, were written with the intention and expectation that they would be read aloud. I had tried so many times to read "Mansfield Park," and it wasn't until I listened to it that I really understood it. Altho--my favorite line is from your husband who said it was "one woman's journey to marry her cousin." Ha! Last summer I listened to "The Jane Austen Collection: An Audible Original Drama" (of all 6 novels). Claire Foy & Emma Thompson were two of the narrators. As I recall, the stories were abridged but they had different actors and even sound effects. Fun!
I am planning on reading Mansfield Park mostly as an audiobook this year. I agree audiobooks work particularly well for a reread. I am delighted to hear you rate the Frances Barber as that's the one I have.
Thanks for explaining this, and yes, it's good to wish one of the originators of Jane Austen July "Happy Jane Month" (HJM). I used to think it was a gender thing or even a Scottish/Celtic thing of being mulish and stubborn (rather than modern and English), but I fear it is more personal. I don't appear to have the attention span to gain much benefit from audiobooks. I can listen to one of your fast-talking videos and have no problem following along, but if I tried to fold laundry or put up my hair in curlers (joke) while listening, one task would suffer. I sit watching while you (or anyone) talks, and if I wander off (like Our Dear Joe) and contemplate my shuffling shoes, pour coffee or watch the cat eat his breakfast, I miss something. I can listen to music and do something else (the music suffers only a little) but carrying on conversations is beyond the pale for me. It's called a one-track mind. That's not to say that listening to someone read is unpleasant (in fact, I very much enjoy it). I simply have to pay attention to ONE TASK, and paying attention to a text (for me) is a very good thing.
I don't know if I have a two-track mind, but I find it much easier to concentrate on audiobooks when I'm also doing sometimes else! I weirdly also have to fold paper while watching TV or I can't concentrate on it, so there we go.
@@katiejlumsden Interesting........I used to enjoy watching my grandma knit or crochet while sitting with the family in the evening, usually in front of the TV. She said she needed something to keep her hands busy. Perhaps the repetitive motion and pattern building helps still the mind to sharpen concentration. I think that means I have a noisy or messy mind, easily distracted.
I reread Shakespeare often though, oddly, I seldom listen to recorded performances (there's a good Hamlet starring Richard Burton). Generally I do enjoy audiobooks, Hartwick Hall for example, or David Copperfield ("donkeys, donkeys!") so you would expect I would listen to them more often than I do, but somehow they seem to work better for me on the stage. Thx; happy J.A. July!
Last year I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook of Emma in Spanish narrated by Ximena Sarinana. I loved it! This year I’m listening to Sense and Sensibility in Spanish narrated by Vanesa Amezquita. I’m hoping it’s a good translation!
My comfort audiobook for when I have insomnia is any Harry Potter book narrated by Jim Dale. Not nearly as literary as Jane Austen, but it works for me. I do love any of Jane’s books on audio.
I agree it is wonderful to hear a professional narrator read the books. I also like listening to different readers address a book because you often get a different take on the scenes. I also rather like Nadia May as a narrator and you might give her a try. Her Adam Bede is wonderful and she has done some other great classics. I will try Francis Barber for Mansfield Park as I am not mad keen on the novel so need a good narrator to "sell" it to me.
I listened to Nadia May's Persuasion, and her voice wasn't hugely for me? I'm not sure what it was, but I didn't hugely get on with that one. Maybe I should give something else from her a try.
I got excited, only to find out that our library system doesn't have the Rosamond Pike version of the audiobook. 😢 But I did find Emmett. The cover turned me off, but the audio sample, plus the description that said it references Clueless, sold me. So I'm listening to Emmett and will watch Clueless, and will sort out S&S later.
with me I like reading better than listening to audio books. I know people love them,but for me not so much. But I will give it a try and see if i like it. I joined for one day on audio and found i didn't like it. but I will give it a go. Like always great video! thanks for sparking my interest in audio books to listen instead of reading .
The last audiobook I tried to listen to as my hearing loss was progressing was Persuasion, which I hadn't read yet at that time. It was so frustrating not being able to hear well enough to keep track of the story. No idea who the narrator was. Sorry to post a negative experience. I just wonder how much access deaf people would have had to literature in the 19th century, and I'm feeling grateful for the access I do have (literacy, videos, technology in general).
I totally understand your frustrating of not hearing well enough, I have severe hearing loss in my left ear and moderate loss in my right ear ,its so annoying. to cap it all off I have cataracts in both eyes and have been waiting four years to have surgery .Its frighting hearing and sight both bad and I love reading
Sense and Sensibility is the only one of the big six that I haven't read yet, I'm planning to fix that this #JaneAustenJuly, most likely with the Rosamund Pike audio, although I agree that the audio is often amazing for rereads. I see though that Nicola Coughlan has also done an audio version (only released Nov 2023), but while I love Nicola Coughlan narrating Irish books, I find her quite distracting on the sample at least. Have you listneed to this one as yet?
I listened to Persuasion read by Greta Scacchi that was my first Jane Austen. I should thank Netflix for that dreadful adaptation. That was what got me reading Jane Austen and watching the 1995 Persuasion adaptation.
What about the Quran, can u pls read it and give us a review, as it could be freely obtained as either a hard copy or it could just be simply found on websites?
Yay for July 1st and Jane Austen July! I've been participating since the beginning and it is definitely a comforting tradition. I am celebrating in two ways: 1) purchasing a beautiful edition of Pride and Prejudice from Chiltern Publishing (highly recommend this company. Their classic editions are GORGEOUS, gold leafing and exquisite covers) and drinking a cup of Jane Austen tea from Simpson and Vail, another great company with cute tins with literary themes. And as is my tradition, I'll be listening to Pride and Prejudice on audio book, read by Elizabeth Klett on Librivox
I love Karen Savage's audiobooks. Not just her Jane Austen but also her Anne of Green Gables.
Just started Sense and Sensibilities with the Rosamund Pike narration. I could say, as a first time reader of S & S that it is very immersive. I couldn’t stop listening
I agree with you that 19th century literature is better on audiobooks. It also brings back wonderful memories when my parents read to me as a child and me reading to my children. xo
(Melanie here) I love listening to Jane Austen on audiobook for the same reasons you mentioned. I love those narrators.
I love the Juliet Stevenson audiobooks, every year I would use a credit to get the next one I wanted to read till I have them all. I love listening to classics on audio as sometimes its easier for me to pick up on some of the nuances of humour or critique when I hear someone else say it so to speak.
Grabbing Rosumund Pike’s narration of Sense and Sensibility. Great video, thank you!
Absolutely love audiobooks! I have listened to Sarah Bidel’s version of sense and sensibility absolutely countless times - and she just makes me howl when she does the bits on Robert Ferrers. Highly recommended! He’s now one of my favourite Austen characters.!
Katie, I totally understand your love of audio books, because I love them too! I don’t like reading from a computer screen, but on those occasions, I read along with a narrator so my eyes don’t have to catch every word. Mil Nicholson and Peter John Keeble have read many of Dickens’ novels to me. I’ve listened to Great Expectations numerous times and like it more each time. Thanks for reminding the viewers there’s more to reading than meets the eye if instead it meets the ear!
I have all the recordings of Juliet Stevenson reading Austen. Her Persuasion has a wonderful tinge of melancholy to it, and she brings out the ironic wit of Northanger Abbey. (I have all those Naxos CDs--they came in a big set with Stevenson reading 5 novels, Emilia Fox reading P&P and several actors taking the parts in Lady Susan. I picked up Stevenson's P&P separately).
I am listening to Mansfield Park for the first time this year (I loved physically reading it) and I'm so excited
I also get migraines. I will be playing Jane Austen with a sleep timer for comfort with my next one. Thank you for the idea! Loving this years read along of Sense and Sensibility. Rosamund Pike is so lovely to listen to. I really enjoy reading and reading The Jane Austen Society by Natalie Jenner. It’s become a favorite for JAJ. Happy reading and listening everyone!
I definitely do recommend Jane Austen for migraines! I like them, because I can never tell how long it'll take me to fall asleep (it might be half an hour or 3 hours), and with Jane Austen, I sort of don't need to set a sleep timer, because wherever I wake up, I'll know where I am in the story!
I'm a huge fan of audiobooks in general since they allow me to read much more than I otherwise would, and in some cases add more dimension to the story, when the narrators are particularly great.
I agree with pretty much everything you said about Jane Austen audiobooks, lol, but especially the part about how the humor in them is so effective when well-narrated. Sometimes, listening to the JA books in audio, I almost get the sense that I'm being brought up to date on the latest gossip by a (really articulate, lol) girlfriend while I sit there and do a puzzle and sip some tea. It's one of my favorite things in the world.
I'm currently following along the Sense & Sensibility readalong with the audio, and Mrs. Jennigs' voice/lines are particularly hilarious and so well done by Rosamund Pike. I feel like part of why she's so successful as JA narrator is how well she's able to inject that wry humor that is apparent on the page, even when voicing characters, like Marianne, who are perfectly serious in their dramatics, lol.
I love this video Katie! You're making me rethink reading S&S in print this year. Andy read his first Jane Austen on audiobook and plans to do the same with his second (both the Rosamund Pike versions of course).
I've been listening to the bbc radio jane austen on Audible at night. Relaxing.
I’m an American who loves listening to a Jane Austen novel on audiobook because that enables me to hear it with a British accent. For me, that makes a huge difference in the way I experience her works. I also like to listen to other British authors as I follow along with their books. In this way, I can hear the various class accents as a good audio narrator acts out the dialogue.😊
I started listening to Jane Austen last year on audio and I could not agree with you more about the listening experience. I think for me, part of it is that language has changed since the 19th century, and for those of us who are not British, we are one step further removed from the stories. Hearing a great narrator can really bring any book alive and in the case of classical literature, audio becomes a great invitation into reading more of it.
I'm listening to the Juliet Stevenson audiobooks, already finished Sense and sensibility, and it is just fantastic. I do plan to listen to all six novels this month, all rereads.
I’m listening to Pride and Prejudice on Listen with Audrey audiobook. It’s narrated by Emilia Fox and comes with an expert guide who provides notes and additional resources.
I started listening to Sense and Sensibility today.
I mostly listen to audiobooks at night and I know I’m going to fall asleep listening, so I usually set the audible timer for a short time. Just like you mentioned about when you’ve got a migraine, I prefer listening to well known books this way because it doesn’t matter if I miss some of the story when I fall asleep. (My absolute comfort book to listen to is Jane Eyre, but that is also my most re-read physical book too)
_First!_ 😂 I'll be reading (and _listening_ ) to _Persuasion,_ this July 😊 Love that she read aloud from her work, first, to her family.
My library has Emma on audiobook. I'll try it out.
You're the one who really got me back into audio books. I had this old school idea that it was somehow "cheating" not to physically read the book first. But especially with classics, it helps to bring the story alive! And as you point out, so many novels written prior to radio and TV, were written with the intention and expectation that they would be read aloud. I had tried so many times to read "Mansfield Park," and it wasn't until I listened to it that I really understood it. Altho--my favorite line is from your husband who said it was "one woman's journey to marry her cousin." Ha!
Last summer I listened to "The Jane Austen Collection: An Audible Original Drama" (of all 6 novels). Claire Foy & Emma Thompson were two of the narrators. As I recall, the stories were abridged but they had different actors and even sound effects. Fun!
So please you've got back into audiobooks - they're wonderful!
WOW! I am that "someone"! Many thanks 😊
I am planning on reading Mansfield Park mostly as an audiobook this year. I agree audiobooks work particularly well for a reread. I am delighted to hear you rate the Frances Barber as that's the one I have.
It's definitely a great audiobook!
I'll be re-reading Sense and Sensibility on Audio book this year. I love Juliette Stevenson, and I have not heard her reading it before. 😊
Thanks for explaining this, and yes, it's good to wish one of the originators of Jane Austen July "Happy Jane Month" (HJM).
I used to think it was a gender thing or even a Scottish/Celtic thing of being mulish and stubborn (rather than modern and English), but I fear it is more personal. I don't appear to have the attention span to gain much benefit from audiobooks. I can listen to one of your fast-talking videos and have no problem following along, but if I tried to fold laundry or put up my hair in curlers (joke) while listening, one task would suffer.
I sit watching while you (or anyone) talks, and if I wander off (like Our Dear Joe) and contemplate my shuffling shoes, pour coffee or watch the cat eat his breakfast, I miss something. I can listen to music and do something else (the music suffers only a little) but carrying on conversations is beyond the pale for me. It's called a one-track mind.
That's not to say that listening to someone read is unpleasant (in fact, I very much enjoy it). I simply have to pay attention to ONE TASK, and paying attention to a text (for me) is a very good thing.
I don't know if I have a two-track mind, but I find it much easier to concentrate on audiobooks when I'm also doing sometimes else! I weirdly also have to fold paper while watching TV or I can't concentrate on it, so there we go.
@@katiejlumsden Interesting........I used to enjoy watching my grandma knit or crochet while sitting with the family in the evening, usually in front of the TV. She said she needed something to keep her hands busy. Perhaps the repetitive motion and pattern building helps still the mind to sharpen concentration. I think that means I have a noisy or messy mind, easily distracted.
I reread Shakespeare often though, oddly, I seldom listen to recorded performances (there's a good Hamlet starring Richard Burton). Generally I do enjoy audiobooks, Hartwick Hall for example, or David Copperfield ("donkeys, donkeys!") so you would expect I would listen to them more often than I do, but somehow they seem to work better for me on the stage. Thx; happy J.A. July!
Last year I really enjoyed listening to the audiobook of Emma in Spanish narrated by Ximena Sarinana. I loved it!
This year I’m listening to Sense and Sensibility in Spanish narrated by Vanesa Amezquita. I’m hoping it’s a good translation!
So fun that you're listening in Spanish!
My comfort audiobook for when I have insomnia is any Harry Potter book narrated by Jim Dale. Not nearly as literary as Jane Austen, but it works for me. I do love any of Jane’s books on audio.
I agree it is wonderful to hear a professional narrator read the books. I also like listening to different readers address a book because you often get a different take on the scenes. I also rather like Nadia May as a narrator and you might give her a try. Her Adam Bede is wonderful and she has done some other great classics. I will try Francis Barber for Mansfield Park as I am not mad keen on the novel so need a good narrator to "sell" it to me.
I listened to Nadia May's Persuasion, and her voice wasn't hugely for me? I'm not sure what it was, but I didn't hugely get on with that one. Maybe I should give something else from her a try.
I got excited, only to find out that our library system doesn't have the Rosamond Pike version of the audiobook. 😢
But I did find Emmett. The cover turned me off, but the audio sample, plus the description that said it references Clueless, sold me. So I'm listening to Emmett and will watch Clueless, and will sort out S&S later.
Yeah, I don't love the cover of Emmett, but it sounds great!
@@katiejlumsden It really brought out some of the themes.
Jane Austen’s language, almost has a musical quality to it.
with me I like reading better than listening to audio books. I know people love them,but for me not so much. But I will give it a try and see if i like it. I joined for one day on audio and found i didn't like it. but I will give it a go. Like always great video! thanks for sparking my interest in audio books to listen instead of reading .
I also prefer reading of books.
I am the same... I prefer to read physical books 👍🏻📚😊
I think it just depends on what people enjoy. Personally, audiobooks work really well, but I know they're not for everyone!
Do you read your own books aloud to family and friends as Jane Austen did?
I don't, generally, though that seems fun!
The last audiobook I tried to listen to as my hearing loss was progressing was Persuasion, which I hadn't read yet at that time. It was so frustrating not being able to hear well enough to keep track of the story. No idea who the narrator was. Sorry to post a negative experience. I just wonder how much access deaf people would have had to literature in the 19th century, and I'm feeling grateful for the access I do have (literacy, videos, technology in general).
I totally understand your frustrating of not hearing well enough, I have severe hearing loss in my left ear and moderate loss in my right ear ,its so annoying. to cap it all off I have cataracts in both eyes and have been waiting four years to have surgery .Its frighting hearing and sight both bad and I love reading
Sense and Sensibility is the only one of the big six that I haven't read yet, I'm planning to fix that this #JaneAustenJuly, most likely with the Rosamund Pike audio, although I agree that the audio is often amazing for rereads. I see though that Nicola Coughlan has also done an audio version (only released Nov 2023), but while I love Nicola Coughlan narrating Irish books, I find her quite distracting on the sample at least. Have you listneed to this one as yet?
Ooo interesting, I'll have to listen to that sometime! I really enjoyed her audiobook of Her Majesty’s Royal Coven.
I listened to Persuasion read by Greta Scacchi that was my first Jane Austen. I should thank Netflix for that dreadful adaptation. That was what got me reading Jane Austen and watching the 1995 Persuasion adaptation.
I didn't love that adaptation either, but at least it's probably got a few more people into/back into Austen!
What about the Quran, can u pls read it and give us a review, as it could be freely obtained as either a hard copy or it could just be simply found on websites?
🫖
Yay for July 1st and Jane Austen July! I've been participating since the beginning and it is definitely a comforting tradition. I am celebrating in two ways: 1) purchasing a beautiful edition of Pride and Prejudice from Chiltern Publishing (highly recommend this company. Their classic editions are GORGEOUS, gold leafing and exquisite covers) and drinking a cup of Jane Austen tea from Simpson and Vail, another great company with cute tins with literary themes. And as is my tradition, I'll be listening to Pride and Prejudice on audio book, read by Elizabeth Klett on Librivox