OMG! A couple of 19-year old freshmen at the University of Chicago have finally figured out a way to make classic literature less… like, SOOOOOO long and, like, you know, WAY too hard to understand. It's called "Twitterature."
It's all supposed to be in good fun. Not only will the "books" be "short," but "humorous" as well. One can imagine Ishmael in Moby-Dick: "Ahab's gone totally mental! Misses his leg? Aim for the hump, lads! LOL!"
The two young dudes have made a deal with Twitter to condense Penguin classic books into manageable size—um, that would be under 140 characters (the official limit of a Tweet, for the initiated). There are plans for a book (a real one!) containing all their collected Tweets this fall. In fact, since the University of Chicago is known for its "Great Books" curriculum, it's very likely that the two entrepreneurs have done plenty of reading.
More than one commentator over the years has noted that the definition of a classic is a book that no one actually reads.
Here's the site. Hey, English teachers! Maybe it will be ready for inclusion in your fall syllabus.
hey scott!
it's actually 140 characters... still short, but just wanna clear that up for the "initiated".
cheers,
m.
Posted by: marcos molina | June 26, 2009 at 10:26 AM