Hollywood
is famous for not only milking a story and a single idea by issuing diluted
sequels, it also remakes classics for newer generations to enjoy. Roots, the
all-time made for-for-TV miniseries is being redone. Spiderman has been
rebooted. Terminator and Jurassic Park have
sequels out this summer. Rocky VII will splash across the big screen in the
fall. Do we do the same with books?
Certainly
when it comes to fact-filled books, like an almanac, annual editions are
published. Other non-fiction books may be reprinted as second and third
editions when content is updated or added.
When it comes to novels, there are endless series and trilogies floating
around.
But
do we go back to a classic, perhaps one by a dead author, such as George
Orwell’s 1984, and tinker with it, reissuing it for a modern readership?
Legal
issues aside, is this what the reading consumer would want, and is this a good
idea?
Books
that seem significant, great, or unique at the time they are published
eventually lose their luster. As time
goes by some words lose their meaning or relevance. Sometimes, so much time
passes that we need help in translating all of the references being conveyed by
the writer, such as the works of Shakespeare or Chaucer. Would we be better served if these books are
revised, updated, and made relevant to the concerns, needs and desires of a new
society?
As
a purist, the answer is unequivocally no!
A book, like a person, is created and lives out a certain lifespan. Eventually we all die – and all books
eventually lose their shelf space. But
while we live and books breathe, we make our mark. Eventually, new books and people come along, but we shouldn’t alter the books that were written.
Perhaps
the discussion is not needed. There’s no
movement to edit classics and publish them anew, but we do see signs that some
classics are being toyed with. A few
years ago Huckleberry Finn was being scrubbed for racist language. Of late, people are saying Gone With The Wind
should be relegated to the scrap heap because of its pro-South civil war
message. We can’t let the PC police rewrite
publishing history, no matter how well-intentioned.
Every
book could be improved upon, from the minute it’s published to centuries later
when we still read them, but that doesn’t mean that we should. It’s human nature to tinker with
everything. We want to build the
tallest, fastest, smartest, strongest things.
We want to alter our foods, bodies, and minds. We’ll change the planet or even the seeds of
life. But we must keep a hands-off
policy to our classic books – and apply the pen to creating new books rather
than revising old ones.
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