# Reading an uncondensed book **URL:** \ **Category:** Cafe Society\ **Tags:** books-writing-myths\ **Created:** [June 2, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937 "2023-06-02T23:32:57Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 2, 2023, 11:32pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/1 "2023-06-02T23:32:57Z")
I used to have some Reader’s Digest books. Three books I like well enough that I searched out the uncondensed versions. One was a novel, _In This House of Brede_ and the other two were about two natural disasters. One was _The Day the World Ended_, about the 1902 eruption of Mt Pelee on the island of Martinique. The other was _The San Francisco Earthquake_, about the 1906 quake in California. Have you ever read condensed books, or clips from books, that got you to read the whole thing? Or maybe when you were a kid you read the juvenile version of an adult book and you read the “grownup” version. Which reminds me, when I read the original adult version of Gulliver’s Travels I was surprised at the “dirty” episodes. ---
**Author:** ![AHunter3](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/ahunter3/32/368_2.png) [@AHunter3](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AHunter3)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 12:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/2 "2023-06-03T00:51:29Z")
Yes, once in particular. _Lone Woman_, the biography of Elizabeth Blackwell, first female doctor in the US. I suggested it for our book club. A bit on the dry side with a lot of details. In retrospect, the condensed version was probably a better read. Also a thriller, might have been named _Bait_, about a police detective who participates in luring in a male serial killer. Been awhile on that one. ---
**Author:** ![DPRK](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/4491bb/32.png) [@DPRK](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DPRK)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 12:52am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/3 "2023-06-03T00:52:49Z")
It is not necessarily the best method, but sometimes I have flipped through a novel or anthology to see if it looked good, also in cases when the clip or excerpt caught my eye. I have never deliberately sought out a “condensed” version, however; the synopsis on Wikipedia is usually plenty condensed enough. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 1:57am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/4 "2023-06-03T01:57:39Z")
My grandmother had them when I was a kid, and I used them to find out what books I might want to pick up at the library. This is how I got interested in the _Mrs. Polifax_ series. ---
**Author:** ![Railer13](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/railer13/32/9742_2.png) [@Railer13](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Railer13)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 2:00am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/5 "2023-06-03T02:00:17Z")
When I was perhaps 10 years old, I read the RD condensed version of _Rascal_ by Sterling North, the story of a boy who adopts a baby raccoon kit and raises it as a pet. I was enthralled by the story and was thrilled when I received the full version as a Christmas present. As I recall, the two versions weren’t that much different, but that didn’t stop me from reading the full version multiple times. ---
**Author:** ![Czarcasm](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/czarcasm/32/4050_2.png) [@Czarcasm](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Czarcasm)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 2:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/6 "2023-06-03T02:04:41Z")
Did y’all know that Reader’s Digest put out a condensed version of the Bible? [https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revised\_Standard\_Version#Reader’s\_Digest\_Bible](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revised_Standard_Version#Reader's_Digest_Bible) ---
**Author:** ![nearwildheaven](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/90db22/32.png) [@nearwildheaven](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/nearwildheaven)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 3:40am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/7 "2023-06-03T03:40:15Z")
You would not believe how many copies of that come into the library where I work. (or maybe you would?) Naturally, it was, and still is, highly controversial. One of my local TV stations carries a weekly half-hour program called “Know Your Bible”, where three pastors answer questions asked by viewers, and someone asked about this a few weeks ago; since none of them appeared to have ever heard of the RDCB, I e-mailed them and told them about it. Haven’t received a response, which surprised me a bit because I have in the past, but maybe they got a lot of other similar responses. > **[Know Your Bible](https://knowyourbible.com/)** > > Home of Know Your Bible television show. Offering Free Bible Study Courses and answers to your questions. I have read “Junior Reader’s Editions” of several best-selling nonfiction books, and one, “Three Cups of Tea”, that did turn out to be semi-fiction. I read the junior version of “Hidden Figures” (haven’t pursued the “adult” version yet) and when I found the intricate details of the boat’s construction in the book “Boys in the Boat” considerably less interesting than the author did, I tried the junior version, and couldn’t get through that either. ---
**Author:** ![hogarth](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/hogarth/32/1773_2.png) [@hogarth](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/hogarth)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 4:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/8 "2023-06-03T04:22:56Z")
I read the Canadian condensed book [Jean Val Jean](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jean_Val_Jean) (or at least the first part of it with the priest and the candlesticks) before I read **Les Miserables**. ---
**Author:** ![chela](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/chela/32/21582_2.png) [@chela](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/chela)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 12:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/9 "2023-06-03T12:00:00Z")
I checked out an abridged audiobook, The Count of Monte Cristo. I thought it too condensed and wanted more detail especially on Dante’s time in Chateau d’If. So I switched to the unabridged version, and mon Dieu, this book has so many plots and sub plots I can barely keep up. I’m at ch 44 and I’m not half way through. ---
**Author:** ![solost](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/solost/32/11776_2.png) [@solost](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/solost)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 5:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/10 "2023-06-03T17:59:20Z")
> [@Czarcasm](#): > > Did y’all know that Reader’s Digest put out a condensed version of the Bible? > [Revised Standard Version - Wikipedia](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Revised_Standard_Version#Reader's_Digest_Bible) Excerpt: > God said, “Let there be light”; and there was light. > Yadda yadda yadda, God creates man, takes a day off. 😁 I never trusted condensed books. Who chooses what gets left in and what is unimportant enough to take out? And who are they to decide? But I’ve always been a voracious reader. I was reading Dostoyevsky for fun in my teens. ---
**Author:** ![peedin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/peedin/32/14095_2.png) [@peedin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/peedin)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 6:02pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/11 "2023-06-03T18:02:37Z")
> [@Baker](#): > > I used to have some Reader’s Digest books. Three books I like well enough that I searched out the uncondensed versions. One was a novel, _In This House of Brede_ and the other two were about two natural disasters. One was _The Day the World Ended_, about the 1902 eruption of Mt Pelee on the island of Martinique. The other was _The San Francisco Earthquake_, about the 1906 quake in California. > > Have you ever read condensed books, or clips from books, that got you to read the whole thing? Or maybe when you were a kid you read the juvenile version of an adult book and you read the “grownup” version. Which reminds me, when I read the original adult version of Gulliver’s Travels I was surprised at the “dirty” episodes. I thought I was the only person who read _In This House of Brede_ ---
**Author:** ![SmartAleq](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/smartaleq/32/163_2.png) [@SmartAleq](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/SmartAleq)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 6:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/12 "2023-06-03T18:42:36Z")
> [@peedin](#): > > I thought I was the only person who read _In This House of Brede_ Nope, I read it too! And there was a movie too, as I recall. My parents had a metric buttload of the RDC books and I read most of them–later on I did read some of the unexpurgated ones and discovered that one thing that always got chopped was ANY mention of s-e-x lol. I’m sure y’all are shocked by that! ---
**Author:** ![Thudlow\_Boink](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/thudlow_boink/32/320_2.png) [@Thudlow\_Boink](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Thudlow_Boink)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 6:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/13 "2023-06-03T18:50:23Z")
> [@solost](#): > > I never trusted condensed books. Who chooses what gets left in and what is unimportant enough to take out? And who are they to decide? I assume Reader’s Digest had (has? do they still publish them?) people whose job it was to condense books, but I don’t know what criteria they used. Still, I imagine it’s not uncommon for the average reader to think they can condense a book—for example, all the people who read _Lord of the Rings_ and think things like “Why didn’t he just leave out the Tom Bombadil part?” (Speaking of which, condensing a book must have a little in common with adapting a book to another medium, like film.) > [@peedin](#): > > I thought I was the only person who read _In This House of Brede_ I’ve read it too! ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 7:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/14 "2023-06-03T19:16:16Z")
> [@SmartAleq](#): > > I did read some of the unexpurgated ones and discovered that one thing that always got chopped was ANY mention of s-e-x lol. I’m sure y’all are shocked by that! I was still in my early teens when I did read Gulliver’s Travels. There were two scenes that opened my young eyes. The first was how Gulliver put out the fire in the Lilliputian palace, by peeing on it. And the other was how the ladies in Brobdinag(sp?) played with Gulliver, letting him sit astride their nipples. They don’t put those scenes in the movies. ---
**Author:** ![Kropotkin](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/kropotkin/32/18045_2.png) [@Kropotkin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kropotkin)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 7:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/15 "2023-06-03T19:34:22Z")
I read it, and still don’t know who Les was. I’ll see myself out. In the 1960s, I read versions of RD condensed books from the 1940s that were more like a chapter or two, such as Grapes of Wrath, which was the chapter with the Okies trying to buy bread at the diner. It spurred me to read the whole book at a tender age. Also read Li’l Britches,but was never inspired to read more. Cheaper by the Dozen, however, got me interested in the labour process and I wrote about Frank and Lillian Gilbreth in my MA thesis. ---
**Author:** ![bibliophage](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/bibliophage/32/7615_2.png) [@bibliophage](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/bibliophage)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 7:43pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/16 "2023-06-03T19:43:32Z")
Growing up, we had the Reader’s Digest Best Loved Books for Young Readers series. It was about twelve volumes with about four condensed books in each, mostly novels but some biography and maybe poetry. I think I read almost all of them at least once. I have since read several of them in the original unabridged form, but not most. Oliver Twist, Tom Sawyer, Huckleberry Finn, Kidnapped, The Red Badge of Courage, and The Call of the Wild are some that come to mind. It was so long ago when I read the condensed versions that I don’t remember how they differ from the originals. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 8:10pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/17 "2023-06-03T20:10:43Z")
We had those! I remember _The Scarlet Pimpernal_ and _Horatio Hornblower._ ---
**Author:** ![Dendarii\_Dame](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/bbce88/32.png) [@Dendarii\_Dame](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dendarii_Dame)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 8:26pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/18 "2023-06-03T20:26:39Z")
I read it after reading the condensed version. It’s one of my favorite books. ---
**Author:** ![carrps](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/carrps/32/2957_2.png) [@carrps](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/carrps)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 9:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/19 "2023-06-03T21:16:48Z")
Diana Rigg was in the movie, but I haven’t seen it or read the book. I didn’t know it was Rumer Godden. I read her children’s books as a kid and loved them, but I only know her adult work from the movies made from them. Think I’ll check out _Brede_ since so many people seem to have liked it. ---
**Author:** ![Baker](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/bb73d2/32.png) [@Baker](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Baker)\ **Post date:** [June 3, 2023, 9:59pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937/20 "2023-06-03T21:59:59Z")
I read the whole thing myself and really enjoyed it. I also thought that whoever did the condensed version did a pretty good job, you still got the feel of the original. Did you ever see the movie version of _To Kill a Mockingbird_ It was kind of like that, the movie really did a good job of condensing the book. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/reading-an-uncondensed-book/984937.md?page=2)