Shorter Classics Are Still Classics

So England’s Orion Books is publishing shortened versions of classic literature. And what’s the harm? “Of course great art deserves to be experienced on its own uncompromising terms, flaws and all. But the older I get, the more I appreciate those artists who say what they have to say, then shut up. Is there a more powerfully moving novel than F. Scott Fitzgerald’s 56,000-word ‘The Great Gatsby’? Or a funnier film than Buster Keaton’s 44-minute ‘Sherlock Jr.’?”