Northanger Abbey

By: Jane Austen

Narrated by: Mary Sarah Agliotta

Length: 6 hrs and 27 mins

Publisher's summary

In Northanger Abbey, a young woman's penchant for sensational Gothic novels leads to misunderstandings in the matters of the heart. Austen's first, this is considered by many to be among her most charming novels.

Public Domain (P)2012 Trout Lake Media

Edge of your seat.

I was sitting on the edge of my seat while I was hearing the story unfold.

Quick moving story and happy ending

I enjoyed listening to the storyline as it continually moved along and did not have any dead spots in my opinion. Always something happening and multiple characters in the story line to provide interest. A great education again on the limited opportunities for females in that period. Thoroughly enjoyed the performance I do enjoy listening to this narrator

Like the book, dislike the narrator

I love Jane Austen and her books. I dislike Mary Sarah and her weird/fake??? off and on accent.

Kudos

The book is very well read. The story is engaging. The style of narration is different from other Jane Austin novels.

Beautiful story but...

What could have made this a 4 or 5-star listening experience for you?

Different narrator. It sounds like it is being read by a computer. Her voice completely lacks emotion so it makes it very difficult to enjoy the story.

The narrator is grating both on the ears & reason

The narrator is grating both on the ears and on reason, as her voice is uncannily void of humanity and emotion. The characters blend together in a retelling entirely lacking in punctuation, so that when one voice ends and another begins, the result is a cacophony monotone nonsense.

Terribly drall and boring

This was one of the most boring books I’ve ever attempted. I don’t think anything happened. It was also difficult to follow. I don’t know why I finished it. It was almost due to the sheer challenge. And I ended up as terribly disappointed as I was throughout.

I couldn't even get through this ....

I was looking forward to an engaging rendition of the story, but the narration was AWFUL. The narrator spoke quickly, but extremely softly, as if she were trying to hurry through the narration as quickly as possible without waking someone sleeping in the other room. Raising the volume didn't help because she would occasionally punctuate with a loud word - this was not a good rendition. I clearly see why it is the least expensive one on here.

A Monotonous Reading - No Characterization

This book wasn’t for you, but who do you think might enjoy it more?

Jane Austen's novel is as good as ever, but Ms. Agliotta's vocal interpretation is nearly impossible to listen to.

Would you recommend Northanger Abbey to your friends? Why or why not?

The story is quintessential Austen and though not her best work, will please Austen fans.

How could the performance have been better?

This reading cannot be called a "performance" in any sense of the word. Ms. Agliotta simply reads, and reads, and reads -- rapidly and with no character voices or even pauses. Most of Austen's dialogue (and there is an abundance) does not use he/she said tags, but relies on quotation marks and line spacing to identify changes in speakers. So an audible experience requires the reader to skillfully depict each character's voice. There is no such skill in Ms. Agliotta's reading. Even with close listening it was difficult to discern who was speaking, and there was no differentiation between male or female. The best parts of this audible book were the chapter announcements - at least then she took a breath and I knew who was speaking.

Boring

I just read Pride and Prejudice and Emma and this book was really disappointing. The heroine had no spark and was dull and the story ended before it began