No, not modernizing The Count of Monte Cristo or Oliver Twist, if that were possible. The question is should pop lit books from several years ago be modernized for today’s readers with no sense of history. Speaking of Sweet Valley High, BuzzSugar says, “It’s as though Random House sat down with the ’80s editions and thought, ‘huh, these unrealistic expectations just aren’t quite unrealistic enough!'”
In other bad news, Madonna apparently wants to remake Casablanca and set it in Iraq. This is a rumor, but the article quotes an unnamed source: “She and her representatives have been touting around a project which is a remake of Casablanca. The reception has been lukewarm to say the least.”
Well, as I understand it, the people who publish Nancy Drew have been updating her adventures constantly for decades.
I don’t care if Madonna remakes Casablanca. That would be a threat to the original in the same way Classics Illustrated comic books were a threat to great literature.
Those are good points, especially the second one.