Abridged and unabridged

**Tombrun** · March 27th, 2009

Those two words..."abridged" and "unabridged"...I have no idea what they mean. I've read then countless times while reading about books, but since english isn't my first language I don't know what they mean. I probably know the norwegian words for them, but I don't know what they translates to...if you know what I mean.

Can someone help me? What does it mean when it says "the unabridged version of a novel"? I've been wondering about this for quite some time.

**Matticus** · March 27th, 2009

"Unabridged" means that you are hearing an audio presentation that is exactly how the book is written.

"Abridged" means that the presentation was cut (like a movie on TV) to fit into a time frame. So they took some stuff out.

King does not allow abridgments of his work and I love him for it.

**Haunted** · March 29th, 2009

My dictionary says abridge means to give the substance of in few words; condense.

And un means not.

Then Unabridge is not condensed.

I hope that clarifies and does not confuse further.

**kingfanalaska09** · March 29th, 2009

Always stick to Unabridged audiobooks I do

**Tombrun** · March 30th, 2009

Thanks for clearing that up for me. I didn't even know that it was just about audio books. I thought it had something to do with the book being in hardcover or pocketbook. Hehe...

**Moderator** · March 30th, 2009

Abridged is correct to use for print books as well as audiobooks.

**Todash** · March 30th, 2009

Originally Posted by Matticus

"Unabridged" means that you are hearing an audio presentation that is exactly how the book is written.

"Abridged" means that the presentation was cut (like a movie on TV) to fit into a time frame. So they took some stuff out.

King does not allow abridgments of his work and I love him for it.

He doesn't? I did not know that. I agree; he was already pretty high in my estimation and just stepped up even more.

**tillyn** · March 30th, 2009

I always get unabridged when possible.

**smooth operator** · April 1st, 2009

What about The Stand? I have read both the abridged and unabridged versions.

**JRLauer** · April 2nd, 2009

Originally Posted by smooth operator

What about The Stand? I have read both the abridged and unabridged versions.

From my understanding, and I'm think this is right, the original version of The Stand was abridged. I believe Sai King didn't want it to be that way but it was still early in his career and he had to bow to the publishers demands. Later on, when Sai King was an established author, he was able to call the shots, that's when The Stand was re-released in the unabridged version.

If I have any details wrong please correct me.