Listening is the new reading - Page 26

Apache · 01-02-2018, 05:08 PM

How about roofing in South Georgia when it is 155 degrees with 100% humidity.

Apache

Bookworm_Girl · 01-02-2018, 05:52 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by issybird

One of my Goodreads friends posted this yesterday:

I also believe audiobooks are frequently abridged.

Somehow, I was reminded of this thread!

I think the comment about abridged is interesting. I do make a point to select audiobooks that are unabridged. Maybe this is just my own perception, but it seems that more books are unabridged these days than used to be the case.

tubemonkey · 01-02-2018, 08:10 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I think the comment about abridged is interesting. I do make a point to select audiobooks that are unabridged. Maybe this is just my own perception, but it seems that more books are unabridged these days than used to be the case.

I agree with you. I rarely come across abridged audiobooks.

Alohamora · 01-02-2018, 08:49 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Bookworm_Girl

I think the comment about abridged is interesting. I do make a point to select audiobooks that are unabridged. Maybe this is just my own perception, but it seems that more books are unabridged these days than used to be the case.

Totally. Abridged audiobooks were common in the cassette tape era. 2 tape or 4 tape abridgements were all I commonly found on bookstore shelves. The rare unabridged audio was a boatload of tapes and very expensive ( by my standards of the time).

I also remember the Readers Digest hardcover volumes of abridged print books. I remember my father bringing home a big box of those that someone gave him. I and my mother were the big readers of the family. I must have been in high school, and had no idea what I was missing by reading those. I'm not sure if my mom ever touched them. I can't remember the last time I saw an abridged print book.

Catlady · 01-02-2018, 08:51 PM

The book I'm currently listening to is over 33 hours long. It's not abridged.

4691mls · 01-02-2018, 09:08 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catlady

The book I'm currently listening to is over 33 hours long. It's not abridged.

If that were an abridged version I'd be scared to know how long the unabridged would be!

tubemonkey · 01-03-2018, 01:00 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alohamora

Totally. Abridged audiobooks were common in the cassette tape era. 2 tape or 4 tape abridgements were all I commonly found on bookstore shelves. The rare unabridged audio was a boatload of tapes and very expensive ( by my standards of the time).

I also remember the Readers Digest hardcover volumes of abridged print books. I remember my father bringing home a big box of those that someone gave him. I and my mother were the big readers of the family. I must have been in high school, and had no idea what I was missing by reading those. I'm not sure if my mom ever touched them. I can't remember the last time I saw an abridged print book.

While I rarely see abridged audio and ebooks, I see abridged roads quite often; usually over rivers

Richwood · 01-03-2018, 01:36 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Alohamora

Totally. Abridged audiobooks were common in the cassette tape era. 2 tape or 4 tape abridgements were all I commonly found on bookstore shelves. The rare unabridged audio was a boatload of tapes and very expensive ( by my standards of the time).

I also remember the Readers Digest hardcover volumes of abridged print books. I remember my father bringing home a big box of those that someone gave him. I and my mother were the big readers of the family. I must have been in high school, and had no idea what I was missing by reading those. I'm not sure if my mom ever touched them. I can't remember the last time I saw an abridged print book.

I still see them in Salvation Army and Goodwill type stores occasionally. I also remember that they were printed in installments in the Reader's Digest magazine every issue.

barryem · 01-03-2018, 02:23 PM

The Reader's Digest condensed books weren't abridgements at all. In an abridgement they cut parts out but they don't change anything. The Reader's Digest condensations were complete re-writes that told the same story with a lot less detail.

Audiobooks in stores in their early days were usually abridged. Most were cut down to 180 minutes. Some to 360 minutes and longer. These were sold on cassette with 2 or 4 tapes and the prices were from about $15 to about $30 or $40. You could also buy unabridged audiobooks in those days but the selection was small and they usually started about $60 and most were over $80 and $100 was pretty common. Some of those books came on a lot of cassettes. Most took 8 to 10 cassettes and quite a few were over 20 cassettes.

The very first audiobook I bought in a store was a 60 minute abridgement on a single tape of "Nerve" by Dick Francis, who I'd never heard of before. When I bought it I had no idea it was abridged even though I later realized it said so plainly on the package. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the price was about $8 on sale. I've been reading his novels ever since. I recently read "Nerve" on my Kindle. I don't remember much about that early audio version so I can't compare but it was a fun book to read.

Barry

leebase · 01-06-2018, 07:20 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Catlady

The book I'm currently listening to is over 33 hours long. It's not abridged.

42 hours for the third Game of Thrown book. I used to pick Long audiobooks on purpose...but these are a bit much

Alohamora · 01-06-2018, 07:43 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by leebase

42 hours for the third Game of Thrown book. I used to pick Long audiobooks on purpose...but these are a bit much

My longest audio book last year ( or ever) was Stephen Fry's reading of the Sherlock Holmes stories. Over 62 hours. And yes, I did listen to all of them without switching to a different book.

When a choice between 2 audio books is a toss up, I usually pick the longer one.

barryem · 01-06-2018, 07:48 PM

I just checked my Audible library and my longest book is Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged", a little over 63 hours long. I have a lot of books over 40 hours long, too many to count at a glance so I didn't bother.

MY reading and listening pattern has always been to read a long book, the longer the better, and then read a few short books and then another long one. I vary that a lot and it's not something I do intentionally. It's just how it seems to work out.

I have Michener's "The Source" on my Kindle at the moment and I'll probably reread it in the near future. It's 1100 pages. I read it when it was first in paperback and a decade or so I listened to the audiobook and soon I'll read the Kindle version.

I don't judge a book by it's length but there's something really nice about a really good really long book.

Barry

issybird · 01-06-2018, 08:23 PM

My longest listen ever was Robert Caro's The Power Broker, at 66 hours. I'm pretty sure I broke it up with something else, maybe two somethings else.

Catlady · 01-06-2018, 10:43 PM

Offhand I think my longest is Gone with the Wind, 49 hours.

barryem · 01-11-2018, 02:04 PM

If you're curious and just want to try it out there are a lot of free short stories read by narrators that you can get from librivox.org. These are mostly not professional narrators, they're volunteers, but some are very good. Other's are not so good so sample them first.

This should give you a good sense of what an audiobook is.

There are also other sources. Amazon has a lot of short stories, as does Audible.com. These usually a few dollars. Most of these are by professional narrators and actors.

You can also find a lot of these on Youtube. Just do a search for audiobook. A lot of people have posted them. They're technically videos but they're really just sound with some picture displayed while you listen.

Barry

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01-02-2018, 05:08 PM	#376
Apache Readaholic Posts: 5,282 Karma: 90000484 Join Date: Sep 2011 Location: South Georgia Device: Surface Pro 6 / Galaxy Tab A 8"	How about roofing in South Georgia when it is 155 degrees with 100% humidity. Apache

01-02-2018, 08:51 PM	#380
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,419 Karma: 52613881 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	The book I'm currently listening to is over 33 hours long. It's not abridged.

01-03-2018, 02:23 PM	#384
barryem Wizard Posts: 2,459 Karma: 68781975 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Arkansas Device: Paperwhite 4	The Reader's Digest condensed books weren't abridgements at all. In an abridgement they cut parts out but they don't change anything. The Reader's Digest condensations were complete re-writes that told the same story with a lot less detail. Audiobooks in stores in their early days were usually abridged. Most were cut down to 180 minutes. Some to 360 minutes and longer. These were sold on cassette with 2 or 4 tapes and the prices were from about $15 to about $30 or $40. You could also buy unabridged audiobooks in those days but the selection was small and they usually started about $60 and most were over $80 and $100 was pretty common. Some of those books came on a lot of cassettes. Most took 8 to 10 cassettes and quite a few were over 20 cassettes. The very first audiobook I bought in a store was a 60 minute abridgement on a single tape of "Nerve" by Dick Francis, who I'd never heard of before. When I bought it I had no idea it was abridged even though I later realized it said so plainly on the package. I thoroughly enjoyed it. I think the price was about $8 on sale. I've been reading his novels ever since. I recently read "Nerve" on my Kindle. I don't remember much about that early audio version so I can't compare but it was a fun book to read. Barry

01-06-2018, 07:48 PM	#387
barryem Wizard Posts: 2,459 Karma: 68781975 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Arkansas Device: Paperwhite 4	I just checked my Audible library and my longest book is Ayn Rand's "Atlas Shrugged", a little over 63 hours long. I have a lot of books over 40 hours long, too many to count at a glance so I didn't bother. MY reading and listening pattern has always been to read a long book, the longer the better, and then read a few short books and then another long one. I vary that a lot and it's not something I do intentionally. It's just how it seems to work out. I have Michener's "The Source" on my Kindle at the moment and I'll probably reread it in the near future. It's 1100 pages. I read it when it was first in paperback and a decade or so I listened to the audiobook and soon I'll read the Kindle version. I don't judge a book by it's length but there's something really nice about a really good really long book. Barry

01-06-2018, 08:23 PM	#388
issybird o saeclum infacetum Posts: 21,359 Karma: 235166015 Join Date: Oct 2010 Location: New England Device: Mini, H2O, Glo HD, Aura One, PW4, PW5	My longest listen ever was Robert Caro's The Power Broker, at 66 hours. I'm pretty sure I broke it up with something else, maybe two somethings else.

01-06-2018, 10:43 PM	#389
Catlady Grand Sorcerer Posts: 7,419 Karma: 52613881 Join Date: Oct 2010 Device: Kindle Fire, Kindle Paperwhite, AGPTek Bluetooth Clip	Offhand I think my longest is Gone with the Wind, 49 hours.

01-11-2018, 02:04 PM	#390
barryem Wizard Posts: 2,459 Karma: 68781975 Join Date: Oct 2012 Location: Arkansas Device: Paperwhite 4	If you're curious and just want to try it out there are a lot of free short stories read by narrators that you can get from librivox.org. These are mostly not professional narrators, they're volunteers, but some are very good. Other's are not so good so sample them first. This should give you a good sense of what an audiobook is. There are also other sources. Amazon has a lot of short stories, as does Audible.com. These usually a few dollars. Most of these are by professional narrators and actors. You can also find a lot of these on Youtube. Just do a search for audiobook. A lot of people have posted them. They're technically videos but they're really just sound with some picture displayed while you listen. Barry