Listening to audiobooks is one of the best and easiest ways to catch up on new books and old favorites without having to carve out special time in the day to actually sit down and read. Audiobooks are easy to listen to anytime, but most people take advantage of down time in their vehicles or when doing mundane chores such as housework or yard work. Often, though, you come across a section of the book you’re just not that interested in but decide you don’t want to fast forward on the chance that you might miss an important piece of dialogue or a pertinent description.
Before selecting which audiobook you’re interested in purchasing, consider whether you are purchasing an unabridged or an abridged version of that same book.
The unabridged version of the book is read, in its entirety, exactly the way the author wrote the book and exactly the way it was originally published. The definition of unabridged is “Not reduced in length by condensing. Containing the original content; not condensed.” So when you purchase an unabridged version of the book, you’re getting all the dialogue, all the flowery descriptions, all the meat and potatoes…along with veggies, sides, garnishes, and condiments!
The definition of abridged is “To reduce in scope; to shorten by omission of words without sacrifice of sense.” An abridged version of a book maintains the integrity of the story while reducing the length, thus, reducing the amount of time it might take to read. There are many reasons that a book may be abridged. Books are abridged in order to remove questionable content. They may also be abridged in order to reduce the overall size of the material to make it faster to download and faster to finish listening. Shorter books are sometimes more appealing to people because they don’t take up as much memory on their devices and can be listened to in a few short sessions rather than listening to an unabridged book for several days at a time.
Each version has its positives and negatives. When you listen to, or read, an unabridged version of a book, you can be certain you are listening to the book exactly as the author meant for you to hear it. Every word, every line, every description is read exactly the way it was meant to be conveyed. When you listen to an abridged version of a book, you are getting a version of the story, often with the permission of the author, that is shorter but just as engaging as the full version.
Why Should I Listen to Unabridged Audiobooks?
- You are listening to the book the way the author meant for it to be listened to.
- You like to define what is non-essential to any story you listen to or read.
- You have the time to invest to listen to a full, unabridged book and don’t get bored easily by the same story going on for days, or weeks, at a time.
- You read the book already but would like to listen to it this time.
- You want to listen to a book that is considered classic literature but you’re only interested in the story.
- You don’t have the time or patience to sit through days and weeks of an audiobook. You’d rather hear the shortened version.
Why Should I Listen to Abridged Audiobooks?
Whichever version you decide to choose, unabridged or abridged, rest assured you’re going to enjoy your book, no matter how long it takes you finish listening to it.
