Classic literature pops up in airports

Readers who pick up a Danielle Steel novel are probably not the same readers who pick up Jane Austen's "Pride and Prejudice." Yet, new marketing and packaging of classic romantic literature might change that. \nPublisher Hodder Headline is introducing a new line of six Austen novels beginning this spring. This republishing is different than others before it, though. Hodder Headline is packaging her novels as "Classic Romances." What does this mean?\nWell, the books' covers will feature "glossy pastel covers depicting dashing dandies and bonneted Regency beauties," according to an article in The New York Times. Also, they will primarily be sold in airport bookstores and grocery store markets, not in neighborhood bookstores.\nGreat literature such as Austen's has had an important role in Western society. They sit on bookstore shelves next to "The Catcher in the Rye" and "Great Expectations" instead of next to "The Boy Next Door" by Meg Cabot, a modern comedic romance in the "chick lit" genre. Filmmakers made five of her books into successful movies. High school and college students read her books and Barnes & Noble Classics publishes many of them, too. Now that's a sure mark of a classic, right?\nNext up for these novels is a dive into the realm of popular romantic fiction. \nHodder Headline is marketing these books to appeal to people looking for quick, entertaining and fluffy reads. Thus, its market is the bored traveler or lovelorn shopper instead of someone searching for a piece of 19th-century British literature.\nThe announcement about marketing Austen's books as airport and grocery store fiction disturbed me at first.\n I don't deny the enjoyment readers get from reading light romances. I enjoy them, too. But the difference between "chick lit" and classic literature lies in the quality of the writing and the recognition the public gives it.\nAusten wrote "Pride and Prejudice" almost 200 years ago. Its endurance as beloved literature through 2006 is evidence of its "classic" status. Also, Austen's books might be about romance, but they have more depth than that. Her characters defy traditional stereotypes and the plots speak to the flawed social norms and cultural expectations of the time period. \nAs I re-read the article in The New York Times, I realized something. Hodder Headline is broadening the market for Austen's novels. If a weary, bored traveler in an airport picks up "Emma" or "Persuasion" while waiting for his or her delayed plane, I think that would be fantastic. Perhaps the pale yellow cover and swirly designs Hodder Headline created will catch a few more eyes on the pop fiction rack at the supermarket, too.\nThus, I must abandon my critical attitude concerning the packaging of my favorite authors. In the end, does it really matter how a publisher markets and packages a book? No, it doesn't. The expanding market for Austen's books is good news for the bank account of Hodder Headline. But more importantly, it is good news for readers. The more people reading classic novelists' work the better. At the least, more readers will be falling in love with good literature. Who can argue with that?