I was tricked tonight into purchasing an abridged audio book on audible.
Here's the thing: The abridged books are un-labeled as abridged. You have to go and look at the finer print to see that its an abridged version. The un-abridged stuff is clearly labeled unabridged, but as a stict anti-abridgment reader, I sometimes forget to be warry of books without the abridged and un-abridged icons.
DAMN YOU AUDIBLE!!!!!!!!!!
Why would anyone listen to an Abridged book. Better question: why would any self-respecting intelligent person spring for the book which has clearly had 12 hours of content boiled down into 2 hours. That's like 15% of the original book. Do you tell your friends, "well I read 15 percent of that book, all the good parts, all the worthy parts...?"
Abridged fiction is a representative of all that is souless and wrong with people, and especially publishers (my family is in the biz, so it hits close to home ). Its fine art in black and white, its colorized classics, its the cliff-notes on Shakespeare, its fan-fic erotica gone horribly MAAAD.
As you can tell I am so angry at the world right now, I'd like to call the author of this book up on the phone and ask him whatever part of his dignity allowed some hack to chop his book down a shadow of its former self, and sell it as the genuine article.
*Stalks away angrilly, barking at the trees as the wind wips his hat into a pond* Posted by Amilia (Member # 8912) on :
A few months ago, I was looking at classic books in a used book store. I found a copy of Moby Dick that looked suspiciously thin. I opened it up. I don't remember what the first sentence was, but it was NOT "Call me Ishmael."
Now, I can understand not wanting to read all of Moby Dick, but if you are going to abridge a novel with a famous opening line, don't you think that famous opening line is one of the things you really should not cut?
Posted by theresa51282 (Member # 8037) on :
I hate when that happens. I listened to one all the way through once before I realized it was abridged. I was really mad as it was by one of my favorite authors and I was really looking forward to reading it. Knowing the end took a lot of the enjoyment out of going back and reading the unabridged version. I don't get it either. I've never met anyone who wants to listen to a fiction book in a drastically shortened format. I guess I can understand some if the person was reading for something other than pleasure, so maybe if it was a book designed to be educational there might be a market. But otherwise, ICK!
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
If I were published, I would NEVER under any circumstances allow my book to be sold as an abridgement. As a writer or as anything, you want your material to be presented in the strongest way possible; so if an abridgment were superior to the original, you wouldn't have written all that other stuff... GOD I don't understand people. Who buys these things???
I feel like I'm taking CRAZY PILLS!
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:If I were published, I would NEVER under any circumstances allow my book to be sold as an abridgement.
Not even if you were offered obscene amounts of money?
Posted by dab (Member # 7847) on :
It's not just books... In Vegas they are now doing abridged versions of broadway musicals. But I agree 100%, abridged books are rediculous.
And if you are offered obscene amounts of money for an abridged version, you would probably be able to get at least a simmilar deal for a complete version.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
quote:If I were published, I would NEVER under any circumstances allow my book to be sold as an abridgement.
Not even if you were offered obscene amounts of money?
If they'll give you 1 million for half the book, they should give you 2 million for the whole thing. I'd even just take 1 million for the whole thing.
Posted by Palliard (Member # 8109) on :
quote:I was tricked tonight into purchasing an abridged audio book...
Like "War without Peace" or "A Tale of A City".
Gah! I realize that if they advertised it as "a bad summation of a book" it wouldn't sell as well... but it would be truth in advertising.
Posted by TL (Member # 8124) on :
quote:If they'll give you 1 million for half the book....
They won't.
Posted by mr_porteiro_head (Member # 4644) on :
quote:Originally posted by Orincoro:
quote:Originally posted by mr_porteiro_head:
quote:If I were published, I would NEVER under any circumstances allow my book to be sold as an abridgement.
Not even if you were offered obscene amounts of money?
If they'll give you 1 million for half the book, they should give you 2 million for the whole thing. I'd even just take 1 million for the whole thing.
But would you take 1 million for half of it?
I know I would.
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
quote:A few months ago, I was looking at classic books in a used book store. I found a copy of Moby Dick that looked suspiciously thin. I opened it up. I don't remember what the first sentence was, but it was NOT "Call me Ishmael."
Well, that is actually the first line of Chapter 1.
Posted by Amilia (Member # 8912) on :
Right. But not in this particular abridged version. They had changed the famous first line to something else.
Posted by Valentine014 (Member # 5981) on :
Oh, sorry. I misundestood.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
They changed it to "i'm Izzy" since it is shorter and hipper.
Posted by Lissande (Member # 350) on :
I also accidentally bought an abridged copy of Moby Dick when assigned to read it in high school. It was thick enough to be credible, but just to be sure, I looked through all the publishing information and at both covers, and nowhere in the book was there any hint that it was abridged. I found out the truth when I missed a question on a quiz because that information was cut out of my book. I was already more than 3/4 of the way through, so I was ticked. *glare* Heck if I was going to read that again.
Posted by Audeo (Member # 5130) on :
I agree with not abridging books in general, and certainly not abridging most modern novels, but there are a few exceptions. For instance as a kid I liked reading the abridged version (illustrated classics version) of the classics like Ivanhoe or the Prince and the Pauper. Those books were abridged with children specifically in mind, and were pretty good. Another exception is certain russian authors. Crime and Punishment was a novel with some very interesting ideas in it. But after the second epilogue, and indeed some chapters in between, I found myself selectively abridging it. I think either a better translation or an outright abridgement might improve the story.
Posted by Orincoro (Member # 8854) on :
something about dostoyevsky's style doesn't translate for Americans IMO. You don't have a yard of snow outside and a glass of vodka at your side.
![[Wall Bash]](graemlins/wallbash.gif)
![[Frown]](frown.gif)
). Its fine art in black and white, its colorized classics, its the cliff-notes on Shakespeare, its fan-fic erotica gone horribly MAAAD.![[Grumble]](graemlins/grumble.gif)
![[Wink]](wink.gif)