Quote:
Originally Posted by HarryT
We must agree to differ. I, for example, have both the UK version of the “Harry Potter” audiobooks, which are narrated by Stephen Fry, and the US version, narrated by Jim Dale. Same books, but two very different performances. I use that word deliberately; I think an audiobook narration by a good narrator is very much a performance, and I, as the listener, get my experience of the book filtered through the interpretation that the performer has placed on it. When I read the book myself, on the other hand, all the interpretation is my own; there’s no intermediary.
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I didn't read those books but at the time the first one was published I was participating in the Audio Publisher's Association's forum and there were always discussions of the differences in American and British versions of books. I think this is true for print books as well as audiobooks but I'm not really sure. In any case much is changed for the different audience.
Also be aware that even with unabridged books they're not the same, word for word. A lot of things are left out to make the reading flow more smoothly. Such things as "he said" and so forth. These aren't important changes that can affect meaning. They're changes that are needed in the different mediums. But the point is that they're not really identical.
The participants in this forum were listeners and publishers and narrators and there was a lot of detailed discussion about the various issues and problems they encountered in converting a printed work to an audiobook.
Barry