Persuasion
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- USD 0.99
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- USD 0.99
Descripción editorial
Jane Austen's final novel Persuasion is one of her most intense and readable, charting the journey of Anne Elliott from impressionable youth to independent adulthood.
Austen's primary topic within this work is the personal development of her protagonist Anne Elliott, whose naivete and tendency to accept the advice of others without due consideration is shown to be an obstacle. We see her reject - on the advice and opinions of others - a suitor named Commander Frederick Wentworth who in terms of personality is a very good fit. Hereafter Anne weathers the financial troubles her family fall under, navigating a number of trials produced at no fault of her own.
Through her various adventures and associations in society, Anne gradually turns from an easily influenced girl to a woman with considerable independence and faculties upon her own life and destiny. Her perception and self-awareness eventually reach a point where her peers apologise for offering her poor advice in years gone by.
Persuasion is notable for demonstrating Austen's style in full maturity; her writing showcases a refinement which scholars and critics note as absent in her earlier works. Although other writings by Austen were published posthumously, Persuasion was the final work to be completed in full by Austen during her lifetime.
PUBLISHERS WEEKLY
Stevenson has read all of Austen's novels for audiobook, in abridged or unabridged versions, and her experience shows in this delightful production. Though dominated by the intelligent, sweet voice of Anne Elliot the least favored but most worthy of three daughters in a family with an old name but declining fortunes Stevenson provides other characters with memorable voices as well. She reads Anne's haughty father's lines with a mixture of stuffiness and bluster, and Anne's sisters are portrayed with a hilariously flighty, breathy register that makes Austen's contempt for them palpable. Anne's voice is mostly measured and reasonable an expression of her strong mind and spirit but Stevenson imbues her speech with wonderful shades of passion as Anne is reacquainted with Capt. Wentworth, whom she has continued to love despite being forced, years before, to reject him over status issues. Listening to Stevenson, as Anne, describe a sudden encounter with Wentworth, one hardly needs Austen's description of how Anne grows faint Stevenson's perfectly judged and deeply felt reading has already shown that she must have. Even those who have read Austen's novels will find themselves loving this book all over again with Stevenson's evocative rendition ringing richly in their ears.
