Twilight-Inspired Reprints of Classics . . .

I strode into my local Barnes and Noble today, in search of a much-needed inspiring book.  After I finally found my book (Ivanka Trump’s Trump Card: Playing to Win in Work and Life), I was making my way towards the magazine stands – when I came across something that made me:

A. Stop

B. Gasp

C. Cringe

Twilight-inspired reprints of the classics: Romeo and Juliet, Pride & Prejudice and Wuthering Heights.

Pride and Prejudice?

I stared in disbelief. My beloved classics – books I have read during my studies, books that I have savored for their timeless characters, plots and literary aesthetics – have been defaced to reach a “Twilight-hungered reader.”  The covers of these three books have been altered to resemble those of the Twilight Saga Series. Do not get me wrong, I am a fan of the series, but altering these classics? I cringe.

These books are now categorized in the Young Adult age range, and they are no where near the Classics/Fiction section of the bookstore. Sure, this is a great marketing plan – reaching a young reader base- by appealing to their interests [ie. Twilight,] and striving to gain their attention to the older classics. However, is it literally moral? How would Jane Austen feel if the book cover to her most accomplished love story was altered to match that of a teen romance?  Yes, the cover of  Pride & Prejudice isn’t the most “appealing,” but that’s what the whole point was: Elizabeth was written to be plain, as should the book cover.  Also, a book’s cover should reflect the story -isn’t that the point as well?

According to The American Crawl:

Everyone is different, everyone likes things and appreciates them differently. Meyer’s reprinting process is an act of embracing those wonderful novels that once inspired her. To others, like myself, it has become an act of defacing such wonderful novels that will remain fresh and great for years to come. I do not wish them to become sellouts.

There’s just one more question: Do we want our spectacular novels to be known as the books that inspired Stephenie Meyer? Or do we want them to be known for the writer’s who did anything and everything to put a good book in our bookshelves? [Defaced of Embraced?]

I could not agree more. By reprinting these classics with Twilight-inspired book covers, the works themselves will be seen as YA Literature popular “sellouts,” rather than true literary classics. What classics are next?

I love the Twilight Series, but don’t touch the classics.

What do you think of these new reprints?

-jo