Emma by Jane Austen
My rating: 3 of 5 starsI believe this novel, Emma, by Jane Austen rates 3 stars but still recommend I as a 5 star classic. I might have given it 4 stars if I hadn't thought more than once to abandon it entirely. My frustration isn't entirely an issue with the book. I was trying to listen to the book while doing other things.
I'm reviewing two versions of the audiobook and the ebook by Feedbooks. Volume 1 of this 3 volume book I primarily listened to the audiobook read by Juliet Stevenson. Ms. Stevenson is a fine narrator but the speed of her reading and my unfamiliarity of Jane Austen's style, verbiage, and vocabulary of the era, along with a large Dramatis personæ with regularly changing names via marriage or adoption left me feeling lost and confused. Such was my first 5½ hours with the audiobook.
I obtained another copy of the audiobook read by a full cast of the "online stage". I don't generally like dramatic readings of books but it was an unabridged edition and I thought I'd try it since I was struggling with Ms. Stevenson's reading. My next 10 hours and two volumes was more pleasant. I didn't struggle so much with the dialog with different artists reading the dialog, which is a largest portion of the novel.
