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    Persuasion
    Persuasion
    Persuasion
    Audiobook8 hours

    Persuasion

    Written by Jane Austen

    Narrated by Anne Flosnik

    4/5

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    About this audiobook

    Jane Austen's final novel is the story of Anne Elliot, a woman who gets a second chance. As a teenager she becomes engaged to a man who seems perfect for her, Frederick Wentworth. But she is persuaded to break the engagement off by her friend Lady Russell, who believes that he is too poor to be a suitable match. The episode plunges Anne into a period of bleak disappointment.

    Eight years later, Frederick returns from the Napoleonic Wars flushed with success. Anne's circumstances have also changed; her father's spendthrift ways mean he has been forced to lease the family home to a naval family. Will Anne and Frederick rediscover their love? Can their changed fortunes inhibit their feelings? Persuasion is a story of self-knowledge and personal regeneration, of social change and emotional politics. It is Austen's most mature work, and also her most wickedly satirical.
    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherTantor Media, Inc
    Release dateJun 30, 2008
    ISBN9781400176861
    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 Persuasion

    4/5

    265 ratings242 reviews

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    • 1/5
      Another Austen, same old same old, nothing happens till the end of the book... yes its me again, the Austen hater! Apologies to all Austen fans
    • 4/5
      My favorite of the Jane Austen books! While Pride and Prejudice is perfectly wonderful, this one is just so much better for me. I love Anne and I love that she does get torn about a bit and is determined to not let people continue to get in her way.

      Society can be cruel and wrong about what is good for people. This is Anne's lesson in that very thing. Very relate-able, even now.
    • 3/5
      Thematisch grotendeels een doorslagje van de andere romans, vooral inzake emoties en afloop. Thema van de persuasion overheerst niet echt, zo wordt niet goed uitgewerkt waarom Anne Wentworth indertijd afwees. Wel weer mooie society-inkijk. Ook stilistisch zeer sterk vooral in de groepsdynamica en de introspectie in de wereld van Anne (dikwijls ook geluid en blik).
    • 5/5
      Jane Austin's most mature story. Anne Elliot finds unexpected love with an old flame.
    • 5/5
      My favorite Austen book--it's a more mature work, reflecting a wisdom and grace that the others don't.
    • 3/5
      I found myself uninterested in Anne Elliot or her fate. She didn't have the strong characteristics that Jane Austen's other heroines have. She didn't really have any strong characteristics except for being very relenting to others. And her explanation about the "moral" of the story, that it was a good thing that she was persuaded by Lady Russell into refusing Captain Wentworth when she was 19, did not make any sense to me. Not a bad story - it follows the Austen storyline: good girl gets overlooked/overlooks hero, falls for man of seemingly excellent character, man of excellent character turns out to be a bad character, heroine and hero finally come together at the end and everything is good. Elizabeth (Bennett) Darcy is still my favorite, but I still have Mansfield Park, Emma, and Northanger Abbey to get through.
    • 3/5
      Not Austen's strongest and yet as the book went along I appreciated the quiet quality of the novel.
    • 3/5
      this one started so well for me but lost me halfway. I think I would have liked it more if I had studied it in school. all the social class stuff is a little lost on me now that I don't study literature anymore and I don't get that deeper knowledge and subsequent appreciation for what Austen has written
    • 4/5
      Main participatory read for both #AusteninAugustRBR and at Book Rat's Persuasion Readalong for Austen in August 2012.

      Absolutely loved reading the story I've enjoyed so much on dvd. I wanted to see and hear the nuances of JA's actual story of Anne Elliot and Frederick Wentworth - Not a filmmaker's version and perspective...
      I was not disappointed.

      Full and rich characterization of people I've come to care for with insights into their lives, choices and actions that definitely had me forming my own opinions, hopes and desires for the resolution of the earlier 'persuasion' experienced...

      English tale of life and love past due date for Anne Elliot, now in her spinsterhood due to refusing the marriage proposal of her pursuer, Irishman, Frederick Wentworth. She had bowed to the persuasion of a family friend and confidant, Lady Russell, who had stepped in to fill the role of Anne's deceased mother. Convinced her sailor would not have a future other than what he was at the time of their courtship, she had let him go off to pursue his life and dreams without her by his side.

      Now, 8 years later, he returns a hero with a fortune and in need of a wife as Jane Austen has famously stated in opening Pride and Prejudice.
      "It is a truth universally acknowledged, that a single man in possession of a good fortune, must be in want of a wife". And Captain Wentworth is proving her point as he flirts with Anne's sister Mary's young sisters in law upon his return. His own sister, Sophy and her husband, have rented the Elliot's home, Kellynch Hall, for their home when Anne's father has had to retrench to save financial ruin induced by living above his means.

      The Captain's evident interest in the Musgrove sisters ends in a near fatal accident which allows light to dawn on him and his heart's precarious position. He and Anne are thrown together in various and increasingly frequent situations, enabling opportunities to re-evaluate their relationship and leading to the satisfying conclusion of love lost and regained...

    • 5/5
      Summary: When Anne Elliot was nineteen, she was in love with a young naval officer named Frederick Wentworth, but was talked out of it as being an imprudent match by friends and family. Now, eight years later, she is still unmarried, and still in love with Frederick - who is now Captain Wentworth, recently returned to shore with the large fortune he made in the war, and looking to settle down. When they are forced back into each other's company, things are strained between them, and she fears that by her earlier weakness, she has lost him forever. For how can they overcome eight years of heartbreak and regret to be together once more?Review: I always feel like a bit of a fraud reviewing Austen, or any classic, since so much has been written about it already - who cares about my opinion when many generations of masters theses have been written on the book by people better educated than me?Nevertheless, I thoroughly enjoyed Persuasion, perhaps not quite so much as Pride and Prejudice, but certainly more than Emma. (I read Sense and Sensibility so long ago that I really can't compare it.) Persuasion's a more mature, sober book, less sparkly and quick-witted, but still an effective send-up of class, vanity, social climbing, and the strictures of society... plus it's one heck of a compelling romance.Anne Elliot, while not a particularly lively heroine, was immensely sympathetic. First, being a unmarried lady of eight-and-twenty myself, I was rather predisposed to identify with her (although I got somewhat tired of hearing about how her - and by extension, my - bloom of youthful attractiveness was in danger of disappearing at any second and therefore she'd never get married and her life would have no meaning.) I also think that most people have, if not a long-lost love that they look upon with regret, at least someone in their past that they look on with nostalgia, and a hint of "what if...", and that makes Anne's plight recognizable and relatable. Finally, I've long acknowledged my inordinate fondness for boys on boats ("Sometimes you're just in the mood for the British Navy."), so Captain Wentworth is an eminently swoon-worthy leading man.There are two things that I did wish were a little different. First, there's no secondary romance involving sympathetic characters. Anne's story is enough to fill the pages, but in the other Austen I've read, there is a secondary couple who deserves (and of course gets) their happy ending. In Persuasion, Anne's not surrounded by any other particularly sympathetic young people, and so there's no other couple to root for. (Certainly no one to equal, say, Jane and Bingham from Pride and Prejudice.) My only other quibble with the book is that the pivotal scene at the end of the book is mostly lacking in dialogue, choosing instead to have the narrator explain to us how Anne and Frederick made up without actually letting us hear it. That's a shame, because Austen can certainly write wonderful dialogue, and by not including it at the end, it felt like we were being kept at a distance from the most important part of the story. Still, overall I thought this was a wonderful book, and most definitely one I will return to. 4.5 out of 5 stars.Recommendation: Oh, c'mon. It's Austen, it's a classic, it's not as intimidating as you might think, and it's a wonderful story of love and faithfulness and hope in the face of all seeming lost. Read it, if you haven't already.
    • 3/5
      This was Austen’s last novel, and one would think it would be the ultimate work of a mature author who had honed her craft. But it isn’t. It’s not Austen’s fault. She grew quite ill and was not able to finish it.There are still many of the elements of a treasured Austen classic here. She is able to turn a critical eye on the social mores of the time and expose the frustration and angst of the young women who were captives of their class and station in life. But the sparkling dialogue of her earlier works is missing in Persuasion. I found the plot bogging down in places, and I was confused by the cast of characters. Neither Captain Fredrick Wentworth nor Miss Anne Elliot came to life for me the way (for example) Mr Fitzwilliam Darcy and Miss Elizabeth Bennett did in [Pride and Prejudice]. Even so, I enjoyed reading this classic comedy of manners, a romantic story where all ends well. And why shouldn’t it?
    • 4/5
      At the beginning I thought it was quite boring. Forced myself to go on and after about the first quarter I couldnt stop reading anymore. Finished the whole book nearly in 1 day. Jane Austen is a fascinationg author, because she makes you excited and thrilled about totally normal and trivial things.
    • 5/5
      My favorite, favorite Austen. It's more of a pure romance than her other books. The social satire is still there, in spades, but it takes a backseat to the glowing romance. And SUCH glowing romance it is, too.
    • 5/5
      Persuasion is in my own mind, Austen's greatest literary work. It was her final novel completed before her death and published posthumously. The passion between Anne Elliot and Captain Wentworth is palpable and the "letter" at end always makes my eyes well up with tears. Some scholars say Austen based the character of Anne on herself, and I believe it as she is at her most passionate in this novel. Like most of her novels, it deals with the social issues of the time, and though the ending is predictable, at times it doesn't seem so which makes for a suspenseful read.
    • 3/5
      it's earsier to listen to Austen than just read her - this was very good - with Ann Elliott and the captain Wentworth getting back together after years of separation.
    • 4/5
      I think this is my favourite Austen novel. There is something so romantic and appealing about the story of Anne and Wentworth. Getting back your lost love like that. But it's not too syrupy which such stories can often be.
    • 3/5
      This book seems rather more subdued and serious than Austen's others -- that I've read, anyway. I was half-expecting some silly conclusion in which everyone marries and everyone is reconciled and whatever. By the time I was halfway through, I didn't really know where it was going to go, and I'm not sure I cared that much. Persuasion wasn't bad to read, I just didn't really care that much.

      Anne, as a main character, is very nice. Kind of bland, really. Just nice. She bears her lot remarkably calmly, is all self-sacrificing all the time, doesn't seem to have any great passions. She's comfortable and unchallenging. I didn't really get to know or care about her paramour, either, so I was just vaguely glad when they got together. The lack of real feeling made the book lack any urgency, too.

      The characters in general didn't seem as lively and interesting in general as, say, the Bennets, and were therefore not as endearing for me. Mary reminded me of Mrs Bennet, but at least with Mrs Bennet, I felt a little fond of her.

      Mind you, I can say what I like but I probably read Persuasion in a couple of hours, all told, and I don't exactly think those hours wasted. It wasn't the most gripping, life-changing book in the world, but I enjoyed it well enough.
    • 4/5
      This is my favorite of all of Jane Austen's books, and Ann Eliot is my favorite - and probably most believable - of Austen's heroines. I just have to cheer when she foils her silly, snobbish father and waltzes off with the now-rich Captain Wentworth.. This book is a gem in every way.
    • 5/5
      Persuasion is my favorite Jane Austen novel. It gives you a couple that you can't help but cheer for. It has enough angst to keep you reading, and just overall great characters that you get attached to. Such a great read!
    • 3/5
      The problem with Persuasion is that for a novel named Persuasion, it is not, at its heart, too concerned with persuasion. (Yeah, I know, Austen died before she could officially name the novel. Whatever. The word appears about five hundred times, and the title was always going to be Persuasion.) Here's the backstory: Anne Elliot is a bookish, milquetoasty middle child who screwed up her chance to get with hunky Freddy Wentworth, an up-and-coming sailor, eight years ago because of the interference of harridan Lady Russell, who told Anne that Wentworth was and would always be a loser. Now Anne has the pick of three hunky suitors: the aforementioned Wentworth, who against expectations has succeeded, now a captain with a chunk of change and a jones for his old sweetheart; William Elliot, a cousin who can make her the lady of her family house, which due to her father's financial profligacy is now being rented out; and Captain Benwick, a poor geek after Anne's own heart. What should happen now to best suit the implied themes of the novel? Anne ought to make her choice between these suitors without the help of outside agents, taking the decision into her own hands; whereas she was persuaded against her better judgment to ditch her beau, now she ought to choose freely, disregarding all meddling. Instead, here's what happens: Captain Benwick is taken off the market by some ditzy chick completely unsuited to him, an unlikely and abrupt match for which Austen makes a point of apologizing. Then Anne's old spinster friend (no, not Lady Russell, another old spinster friend) shit-talks William Elliot, persuading Anne to quit bothering with him. The only bachelor left is Captain Wentworth, who conveniently had the highest aggregate hunkiness/richness score all along. So what's wrong with that? Well, that Anne had every important choice made for her. Eight years ago, Anne let herself be directed by the actions and wishes of others in rejecting Wentworth, and she hardly shows more agency in the present day. After Benwick's spoken for, she must needs only between Elliot and Wentworth, a decision made too easy by Mrs. Smith's revelations about Elliot's subprime personality. In order to show personal growth, Anne needed to make a tough choice. She needed to choose Benwick. Now, although Benwick is the best suited to Anne's personality, he's the least hunky/rich (in Austen these two words are synonymous). Austen couldn't have her heroine choosing a life of relative privation, though; she needs her protagonist well set up by book's end. So she takes Benwick out of the rotation before things come to a head. The book's message ends up being: choose the rich guy you like the most. Though I disliked the way Persuasion turned out, it got there really nicely. I loved the note-writing between Wentworth and Anne, maybe because I related to it personally, having been a prolific note-writer in high school. And things ended decently, though not so satisfyingly as I think would have been if it had ended my way. Well, these are the complaints that make writers write; maybe I can sublimate my dissatisfaction with Austen's ending into some work of my own.
    • 4/5
      An easy and nice read. I really loved the love story between Anne and Captain Wentworth. "Persuasion" is like a Filipino love story wherein there's a lot of coincidences throwing the two lovers together. I get "kilig" everytime ANne and Captain Wentworth are together although they avoid each other. The only thing that I did not like is the hurried ending. I hoped that Austen took her time in building up their love - again. We don't really get to read a "courting" phase. They just suddenly love each other. If she's alive I would have requested a prequel and sequel novel.
    • 4/5
      The only reason I didn't love this book as much as I loved Pride was because Anne and Frederick didn't have as much interaction as I would have liked. There was very little conversation until the end, some glances here and there, and a lot of introspection on Anne's part. I wanted there to be a bit more tension via conversation - I just love all the interaction Elizabeth and Darcy have and Persuasion just couldn't meet that. But still wonderful and any Austen fan should read it!
    • 2/5
      I must admit that a sizable percent of the book was unintelligible to me. But what I missed was not, I believe the meat and potatoes of the book. I was not missing the passages that confirmed Jane Austen is a literary genius. I do admit, however that Austen is dignified and tender, not to say sophisticated in her treatment of the theme of romance. On a different subject, it was fascinating to read a pre-Victorian novel. It was intriguing to read a book about mostly a woman, written by a woman during less modern times, to put it mildly. I can see that people find the book well written. I can see that it survived obscurity. I just don't see how this book is so prized by readers young and old.
    • 4/5
      My experience when it comes to reading a book adaption of a movie I have seen or seeing a movie version of a book I have read is generally the same. I tend to like the version which I have read or seen first better than the one I've experienced second. This is not necessarily the Case with Jane Austen's Persuasion.I really enjoy the film Persuasion and have just recently finished the novel. I am a big fan of Austen's works generally through the medium of film. I found that the reading of Persuasion really enhanced my appreciation of the film. Much of the dialogue in the movie is pulled verbatim from the book. The only difference being that it was adapted into dialogue from exposition in the original source. This task is done artfully by the filmmakers and removes any need of a voiceover narration which would have hampered the cinematic presentation.On the other hand, a reading of Persuasion gave me new insights and understanding of her characters some that I had grown to love and others I had learned to disdain in my multiple viewings. Mary, for example, is a much worse sister to Anne on paper than celluloid. If you have seen the film, you know that is quite an achievement. There is also more to like about Captain Wentworth, Mrs. Smith and even Lady Russell.I would definitely recommend this book to anyone, especially those fond of any Austen work in print or pixel.
    • 4/5
      Beautiful romance, the 'good' characters receive their rewards.
    • 4/5
      A very placid novel, as it was meant to be. Anne Elliot is the only one in her family worth a darn, and the only one that has the sensitivity to see the other side and feel as others do. Therefore, she is the heroine and suffers the most.
    • 5/5
      Jane Austen is known for her romances, but there is far less romance in Persuasion than there is a saga of intricate family dynamics, with a nicely played romance playing in the background. It brings into focus Anne Elliot, now my favorite among all of Jane Austen's characters that I have come to know so far. From the perspective of her immediate family, she is quite insignificant. Her opinion matters not in the least, and they think her useless in nearly every way, but she is just the opposite. Anne is the most decent of all human beings within the book, and is the one who saves her family in times of all sorts of trouble.As always, Austen includes the most unlikable sorts. The ones that are so much fun to dislike, so silly that they are entertaining, and ones who are made to make the main character stand out from their sort. Anne's father is the shallowest of all shallow people, and her sister, Mary, is the most pathetic of jealous, self-centered, selfish, attention seekers one could ever imagine. All of them attempting to hide their flaws under a layer of sophisticated class, which makes it all the more entertaining.One of the last things that I expected to see in an Austen book is a character who has some ideas of progressive thinking like Anne does while retaining her femininity. She has a lovely way of looking at the differences between men and women and seeing how they both have struggles that are exclusive to their sex, as well as strengths that each is gifted with, and sees how a pair is better off for it.
    • 4/5
      This is a love story.The background is like the story of Shakespia.One love was not attained.But in this story,no one die.The story is a little slow,but you can enjoy this book.
    • 3/5
      It's been many years since I read a Jane Austen novel. Would I like her as much now as I did when I read her PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and EMMA? I was 14 then. Answer: no. Or is it fair to compare those novels to PERSUASION, which was published after Austen died?I don't remember needing to reread many paragraphs in order to understand them when I read PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and EMMA. But that is exactly why it took me a week to read PERSUASION, which is short and should have been a quick read.Another problem with PERSUASION was probably also the same in PRIDE AND PREJUDICE and EMMA. That is, the whole story is about nothing but romance. When I was younger, that appealed to me. Now I want more.Maybe Austen intended to do some rewrites on PERSUASION before she published it. We'll never know.
    • 5/5
      Yay! Everybody lived happily ever after. So glad I listened to this, and so glad I stuck to it.