E-books are yet to become a threat to printed books says Penguin Classics' Creative Editor Henry Eliot

He was recently in Kolkata as part of the Great Classic Festival organised by Penguin Random House India in association with Starmark. 

According to Henry, the festival aims to invoke an interest in the classics among young readers.

He said that classics like ‘Oliver Twist’ and ‘The Great Gatsby’ have survived the test of time.

"These classics are like time capsules, they have a spark inside them," he said. "We see these stories through the author’s eyes every time we read them."

According to Henry, a book has to prove that it can survive over time.

So Penguin has a section called Modern Classics, which includes the best batch of books which has the potential to become Classics in the future, he said.

Talking about e-books giving competition to traditional printed books, he said, ‘It is convenient to have a lot of books in a slim device. After the arrival of e-books, publishers feared that printed books will eventually fade away. However, that hasn’t happened luckily because the publishers took to producing better quality books. Therefore, the sale of print books are steady."

"Many readers also enjoy the physical quality of a printed book, like the touch and smell of the pages which e-books can’t provide, said the author of The Penguin Classics. "I am not against e-books but I think nothing can compare to the physical feeling of reading a traditional print book."

Penguin Random House India’s The Great Classics Festival will conclude on November 30.

(Reporting by Meghna Dunbar)