I had a shower thought last night that it would be cool if Dune or some of those older classics had a modern ramake applied across the books to revamp them and update them with what we know now in terms of technology, our ability to imagine and make the style of writing more palatable to younger/new audiences.
I had a couple of friends try read the dune books and said they really struggled with the style of writing and English.
Is this a dumb thought lol
The most dramatic example of revision that I’m aware of is from Walt Whitman’s Leaves of Grass.
”Whitman published the first edition of Leaves of Grass in 1855. He produced varied editions of the work ending with the ninth, or “deathbed” edition, in 1891–1892. What began as a slim book of 12 poems was by the end of his life a thick compendium of almost 400. Whitman regarded each version of Leaves as its own distinct book and continuously altered the contents. He added new poems, named or renamed old ones, and, until 1881, repeatedly regrouped them. He developed the typography, appended annexes, reworded lines, and changed punctuation, making each edition unique.”
https://www.loc.gov/exhibits/whitman/leavesofgrass.html
Library of America publishes a volume which includes both the initial 1855 and final 1892 versions.
https://www.loa.org/books/76-poetry-amp-prose/