Bookstores, book covers help Classics stay relevant: Penguin Classics creative editor

With thousands of new books published across the world everyday, what keeps readers going back to the classics? Penguin Classics' creative editor Henry Eliot gives the credit to bookstores and new, contemporary book covers.

"I think lots of people have great love for classics... the trouble is because they have been around for so long they almost feel like part of the furniture," Eliot told PTI.

But "inspiring" bookstores and catchy covers help in reinventing the genre and intriguing new readers, he said.

Describing bookstores as "beautiful and inspiring places", he said they give readers an opportunity to explore, experience, discover the world of literature and, most important, "bring back the focus on Classics".

"What's brilliant about bookstores is that you discover new books. You get surprises. You see something that you might never have thought of before."
Occasionally, he added, the bookseller will come to a visitor and say, "Look, I know you normally like this, but have you tried this over here?"
"It's also about something else, which is to read the book and look back at the cover and realise 'Oh wow! So that's why that cover, it fits so perfectly'."