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frameofmind6So, after finishing Hemingway's Chair, I downloaded the abridged audiobook version -- partly because I'm always glad to have another audiobook read by someone I like (I often put something on when I'm falling asleep -- helps the brain stop spinning off on tangents and settle down), but also because I was really curious how exactly they had managed to condense a 300-page novel into a three-hour audiobook. It was interesting to hear what they'd cut and how the remaining pieces fit together -- as I'd just finished reading the full-length version, it wasn't difficult to tell when they'd jumped ahead or left off a bit of a scene. Of course, I definitely prefer the long version, as there was a lot of good stuff cut out -- but the biggest surprise was that the abridged version of the book had a completely different ending.
WTF?
See, in the original, Martin (the protagonist) finally realizes his dream of becoming like Hemingway by stealing a boat and sabotaging this new telecommunications tower thing (part of a major scheme to modernize and privatize the village post office, which will make a lot of money for certain outside investors -- long story, but suffice it to say they're the bad guys). Once he's pulled down the mast, he's at the stern of the boat sitting in Hemingway's fishing chair when the uncontrolled boat (he's the only one aboard) veers off course, rams into another boat, and explodes into a million pieces. The captain of the other boat is recovered, but there's no sign of Martin.
Then a couple of days later, Ruth (a Hemingway scholar who is in love with Martin) is sitting trying to finish writing her book when a letter arrives. Inside is a newspaper clipping with a picture of Martin and a caption announcing that "English newcomer Martin Sproale" has just won the Hemingway look-alike contest in Key West, along with a little note that simply says "Ruthie, legends never die!" In other words, Martin apparently survived the crash, fled the country (he would have been in some pretty serious trouble if he'd been caught, after all), and has gone off to have adventures like Hemingway did. Yay! Happy story!
In the audiobook version, however, everything happened in largely the same way -- sabotage, boat crash, huge explosion, Ruth is finishing up the book when a letter arrives...except that this time, the letter is a long, cheerful, and heartfelt one, written before Martin got on the boat, telling Ruth that he loves her and he has no regrets, and that he will get in touch with her once he reaches Norway or wherever the boat happens to take him. Ruth then sits down and finishes her book with a paragraph about Hemingway's suicide and how he left behind a woman who loved him. In short, the obvious implication is that Martin died in the boat crash. Not so happy story.
How weird is that? Now I'm really curious how that happened. I mean, clearly he went back and forth on how to end it -- I guess he just decided to try both and let people take their pick? I almost wonder even if he was pressured into the happier ending by publishers or something (it was sold as a comic novel, after all) -- but then wouldn't they have wanted the same thing on the audiobook? Why would they have let him do both if they were that keen on it? And anyway, the author really gets final say -- a publisher can refuse to publish the book at all if they're that concerned about some particular element, but short of that they can't force the author to let them publish it with changes. And I'd be really surprised if any publisher would play that card on a book being published by a name anyway -- there's enough security in having an author who's a name that it would be worth something to them even if the ending was atrocious.
Huh. Well, I guess now I have a good question to ask him if lighting ever strikes and I get the chance to meet him...lol...
WTF?
See, in the original, Martin (the protagonist) finally realizes his dream of becoming like Hemingway by stealing a boat and sabotaging this new telecommunications tower thing (part of a major scheme to modernize and privatize the village post office, which will make a lot of money for certain outside investors -- long story, but suffice it to say they're the bad guys). Once he's pulled down the mast, he's at the stern of the boat sitting in Hemingway's fishing chair when the uncontrolled boat (he's the only one aboard) veers off course, rams into another boat, and explodes into a million pieces. The captain of the other boat is recovered, but there's no sign of Martin.
Then a couple of days later, Ruth (a Hemingway scholar who is in love with Martin) is sitting trying to finish writing her book when a letter arrives. Inside is a newspaper clipping with a picture of Martin and a caption announcing that "English newcomer Martin Sproale" has just won the Hemingway look-alike contest in Key West, along with a little note that simply says "Ruthie, legends never die!" In other words, Martin apparently survived the crash, fled the country (he would have been in some pretty serious trouble if he'd been caught, after all), and has gone off to have adventures like Hemingway did. Yay! Happy story!
In the audiobook version, however, everything happened in largely the same way -- sabotage, boat crash, huge explosion, Ruth is finishing up the book when a letter arrives...except that this time, the letter is a long, cheerful, and heartfelt one, written before Martin got on the boat, telling Ruth that he loves her and he has no regrets, and that he will get in touch with her once he reaches Norway or wherever the boat happens to take him. Ruth then sits down and finishes her book with a paragraph about Hemingway's suicide and how he left behind a woman who loved him. In short, the obvious implication is that Martin died in the boat crash. Not so happy story.
How weird is that? Now I'm really curious how that happened. I mean, clearly he went back and forth on how to end it -- I guess he just decided to try both and let people take their pick? I almost wonder even if he was pressured into the happier ending by publishers or something (it was sold as a comic novel, after all) -- but then wouldn't they have wanted the same thing on the audiobook? Why would they have let him do both if they were that keen on it? And anyway, the author really gets final say -- a publisher can refuse to publish the book at all if they're that concerned about some particular element, but short of that they can't force the author to let them publish it with changes. And I'd be really surprised if any publisher would play that card on a book being published by a name anyway -- there's enough security in having an author who's a name that it would be worth something to them even if the ending was atrocious.
Huh. Well, I guess now I have a good question to ask him if lighting ever strikes and I get the chance to meet him...lol...