Where'd You Go, Bernadette? by Maria Semple

A review &

the difference

between

audiobooks &

e-books
(and probably paper & ink books, too)

 In 2012, shortly after Where'd You Go, Bernadette was published, I'd listened to the audiobook version. My husband was still working full-time. I was still doing a lot of driving back and forth between home and where my daughter was attending college about an hour and a half away. I still had lots of alone time in the car to listen to whatever audio book I cared to listen to.

(Prior to moving to Florida in 2010, I spent lots and lots of time in the car alone, giving me plenty of time to listen to audiobooks. I think that's how I managed to complete an average of more than 2 books a week in 2009.)

A few weeks ago, I realized that I still had the Where'd You Go, Bernadette audiobook on the second generation iPod that lives in my car. This is the May book for my community book club so I started to listen. It worked fine when I was in the car alone. Not so much so when my husband was in the car. Remember, he's not a reader. And it meant I had to catch him up to the point of the story before I could start listening. I ended up taking the e-book out of the library and finished up the book that way.

I loved Where'd You Go, Bernadette? when I listened to it 4 years ago. I really liked it a lot when I read it traditionally this second time. (You might also remember that I don't usually like to reread. In this case I reread because I remembered liking some of the quirkiness of the characters - but couldn't remember the exact quirky traits. I also remembered that the book did divulge where Bernadette had gone and I couldn't remember that!)

Where'd You Go, Bernadette? is a book that consists of narratives told by Bernadette's daughter, Bee. It's also a bit of an epistolary novel as it includes all sorts of written documents - e-mails, magazine articles, doctors' reports, secret correspondence, etc. Somehow (don't want to insert a spoiler here), Bee is given these documents during the period that Bernadette is missing. Bee takes these documents and writes a book about her mother during that time. In other words, it's a book within a book.

At the start of the book, Bernadette, Bee and Elgin, Bernadette's husband, are living in the Seattle, Washington area. Bernadette is a quirky stay-at-home mom, Bee is a brilliant 8th grader and Elgin is a workaholic Microsoft employee. Bee has made it through her entire early education with straight A's (or as Bernadette likes to point out, straight S's since that's what they assign at Bee's second tier private school) and as a reward both her parents agree to take her on a trip to Antarctica. Bernadette hires a virtual assistant from India to help her plan the trip.

We quickly learn that Bernadette's personality goes way beyond quirky, that Bee had health issues earlier in life and that somehow the family isn't how it seems in the opening pages. Bernadette quickly begins to unravel as she's dealing with the stress of planning Bee's dream trip and she has a few altercations with one of the moms at Bee's school.

The book is satirical  and pokes fun at the Microsoft culture, the community at Bee's second tier private school and people who call Seattle home and the city itself. The pace for most of the book is quick. Quick wit, clever, sometimes laugh-out-loud funny. The pace slows down a little bit after Bernadette goes missing. And while I did really like the book, even the second time around, the ending is disappointing. (Maybe that's why I had no memories of how the book ended?) Even with a disappointing ending, I'd still recommend the book. 

I think I enjoyed the book more as an audiobook not only because it was the first time "reading" Where'd You Go, Bernadette? but because the satirical humor somehow seemed funnier and more endearing listening to it rather than reading it. You'd think a novel based on written correspondence would do better in written form. I'm not so sure.

Here are my thoughts on the difference between audiobooks. I'd love to hear your thoughts.

The difference between

audiobooks & e-books

Traditional Books	Audiobooks
Can read anywhere, anytime without needing the cooperation of someone else.	Much easier to listen to when you’re on your own. So listening in the car when you’re not alone can be a problem. (Some people I know like to listen to audiobooks while doing housework. That wouldn’t be me!)
Can easily go back and reread exactly what you need to reread.	With the way some audiobooks are tracked, it’s difficult to rewind to precisely the right spot if you need to “reread.”
You can choose where to skim and where to pick up serious reading.	Zoning out while listening to an audiobook is not the same as skimming. It means that you probably won’t realize when it’s time to do some serious listening.
Skimming can shorten the length of time it takes for you to complete a book.	The length of the reading of the book is the length of the reading of the book.
Requires no training beyond knowing how to read.	It took me several books until I got into the swing of audiobooks.
It’s your voice reading the book to you. You need to imagine more of the story.	A professional reader is reading to you. A bad reader can ruin an audiobook for you. You also hear the book the way the reader reads it which might not be the same as the way you’d read it to yourself.
Jargon and dialect can really slow down your reading experience.	Personally, I find it easier to understand both jargon and dialect when I’m listening to it. I know that’s not the case for everyone.
Available at your public library.	Available at your public library.