Some of the most complicated and wordy works of English literature are being compressed to fit the tiny screens of mobile telephones.

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Imagine the labyrinth of plots in "Bleak House" and the epic verse of "Paradise Lost" slimmed down with the jerky speedwriting of text messages. The most famous line in "Hamlet" would read: 2b?Ntb?=? The ending to "Jane Eyre" -- MadwyfSetsFyr2Haus.

A texted summary of "Romeo and Juliet" would read:

FeudTween2hses--Montague& Capulet. RomeoM falls_<3w/_ JulietC@mary Secretly Bt R kils J's Coz&isbanishd. J fakes Death, As Part of Plan2b-w/R Bt_leter Bt It Nvr Reachs Him. Evry1confuzd-- bothLuvrs kil Emselves.

The service is being launched by the student phone service dot mobile, the London Guardian says. It has heavyweight backing from John Sutherland, the Lord Northcliffe professor emeritus of English literature at University College London.