Giving great lit the fast-forward

Who needs a book anymore?

Just as the great white whale did to Captain Ahab, students have been evading literary giants such as "Moby-Dick" for decades by skipping the book and reading its CliffsNotes instead. Now the venerable study guides, with their instantly recognizable yellow- and black-striped covers, have entered a new era by being packaged with DVDs of classic films adapted from fine literature.

Called Ultimate Study Guides, they surely will tempt their intended audience of high school and college students to watch the movie, read the guide and skip the book.

"If students just watch a film, such as 'Anna Karenina,' they miss so much of the book, because it's a long, long book," said Jane Prestebak, director of media services and instructional technologies for the Robbinsdale School District. "If they were just watching the DVD and reading the CliffsNotes, would they really get an understanding of the book at all?"

Such criticism is expected, said one of the companies behind the DVD.

"We are not marketing this as a substitute for reading the book, but as a supplement to the reading," said Chris Franchino, a marketing executive for MGM Home Entertainment.

"CliffsNotes study guides are intended as an aid to all literature students, providing a resource for critical analysis, themes, character genealogy, et cetera," he added. "The addition of the film provides another level of analysis. In fact, many curriculums already require the viewing of these films as part of the lesson."

The first nine releases ($15 each) cover "Anna Karenina," "Henry V," "Inherit the Wind," "Jane Eyre," "Les Miserables," "Lord of the Flies," "Moby-Dick," "Of Mice and Men" and "Wuthering Heights." More are planned for spring, Franchino said.

The line is an example of smart cooperative packaging. It simply takes a normally packaged existing DVD from the MGM or 20th Century Fox library -- many of the discs include illuminating supplements about the making of the film -- and pairs it with the same-titled CliffsNotes in a slipcase whose design draws from the disc and guide.

While the books that inspired the releases are undeniable classics, even if they frequently serve as the bane of many apathetic students, most of the film adaptations are no slouches, either.

For example, "Les Miserables" includes the outstanding Frederic March/Charles Laughton version from 1935, as well as a 1952 remake for comparison, while "Moby-Dick" is the acclaimed 1956 version starring Gregory Peck and "Jane Eyre" is the nifty 1944 production with Joan Fontaine and Orson Welles. Others, though -- such as the 1990 production of "Lord of the Flies" and the 1970 version of "Wuthering Heights" with Timothy Dalton -- are lesser, but competent remakes of better films.

Karal Ann Marling, who teaches art history and American studies at the University of Minnesota, said she often assigns graduate students to read "Moby-Dick," which she called "formidably long," but a good model of "clear, focused, poetic and ordinary prose all in one book." But she admitted that she can't get too worked up if they skip the book and opt for the Ultimate Study Guide.

"This is just going to sound heretical, but I believe it's up to the student about what the student wants to do," she said. "As a professor, I can suggest to them that their lives will be infinitely enriched by reading 'Moby-Dick.' But if they happen to try and thwart me by watching Gregory Peck pounding around the deck with his mysterious wound, I think I'd be quite happy with that -- at least, I wouldn't be upset."

And what goes around, comes around: The CliffsNotes guides for the nine works covered in these initial releases are available in their entirety for free online at www.cliffsnotes.com. If you already have the movie on disc or want to rent it for just a few bucks, you can skip the Ultimate Study Guide.

Randy A. Salas • 612-673-4542.