Whittling Down The Classics

Wow, what disturbing news from the Guardian's book blog:

Cut classics: Why not cut the padding out of old warhorses such as The Mill on the Floss and Vanity Fair?
The news that Weidenfeld & Nicolson are producing slimline versions of classics has most people apoplectic but actually I don't feel as appalled as everyone else seems to be.
According to those who are anti this idea, the whole point about these works of genius - Mill on the Floss, David Copperfield and Wives and Daughters are also to get the W & N cut-off-at-the-knees treatment - is their ambling byways, baffling dead-ends and sudden jumps of pace and tone. It is this glorious "complexity" - some might call it "muddle" - that makes a classic, classic.
I don't agree...
I plan on responding to this whole concept (or should I say "half concept"?) later, but for now I am going to huddle in the corner and sob unreservedly.