Everything You Want To Know About Unabridged Audio Books

One of the fastest growing domains on the Internet right now is audio books. They have witnessed an ever increased popularity and more and more people chose to buy audio books, which they can listen anywhere, anytime. The popularity of portable audio players (ipods and other mp3 players) has also grown and it is almost impossible to see a teenager or even an adult not having such a gadget. These devices become more and more complex, including many functions (they allow you to watch movies, to store and watch images), but their main role is to play audio files. Mp3 unabridged audiobooks are not the first type of audio books, as books have existed on tapes for some time now, but the compressed characteristic of the mp3 makes listening to it very convenient. All major publishing houses offer the mp3 audio versions of all their recent releases and some specialists even believe that the day when more audio books will be sold than paper books is near. This happens because having a book in the mp3 format offers just so many advantages.

There are two types of audio books regarding their content: abridged and unabridged books. Unabridged audio books are word for word readings of a book, while abridged audio books have their text taken out by the abridger. Some audio books do not contain only the read text, but also music and sound effects. Every year there is an award giving ceremony which prizes the top nominees for performance and production of audio books.

When you want to buy a certain audio book, you have to choose between its abridged and its unabridged version. So, which should you choose? There are books of both types for the differences between the silently read book and the loudly read one. Most paper books are written so they could be read silently. The text is many times very vast and it takes many hours to read fully. That is why the need to abridge the text has appeared when recording audio books. When most audio books are being prepared for release, the book text will need to be shortened.

But this does not imply simply removing some pages from here and there. The methods of abridging a book differ accordingly to the type of book. When a fiction book is being prepared, sometimes the back story is cut. Also, if there are secondary, not so important plotlines, they will not be included in the audio version of the book. This is a method to make the audio file easily listenable. However, many famous books come in both the abridged and the unabridged versions, because of their plot complexity or for the title they carry. These unabridged versions are also suitable for blind people, who would still want to read a book entirely. If a book comes out for selling in its two forms, abridged and unabridged, the unabridged version will cost more, of course. For example, the book Einstein: His Life and Universe by Walter Isaacson is available in two forms: unabridged, and it costs $49.95 and lasts for 21.5 hours and abridged which costs $29.95 and is 7 hours long.

It is up to you which type of audio book you prefer, if you want to experience the full content of the book or if you want to save some time and money and go for the abridged version.

Privacy Policy