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| Great Gatsby: what high school book should Baz Luhrmann take on next? | Great Gatsby: what high school book should Baz Luhrmann take on next? |
| (4 months later) | |
| Though it's failed to completely win over film critics, Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby has secured the endorsement of two important groups: people who buy movie tickets, and American high school English teachers. | Though it's failed to completely win over film critics, Baz Luhrmann's Great Gatsby has secured the endorsement of two important groups: people who buy movie tickets, and American high school English teachers. |
| It's the latter group that is especially important, because F Scott Fitzgerald's Great American Novel is one of the most commonly assigned books in US high school literature classes. As such, it's also one of the most commonly avoided books in US high school literature classes. | It's the latter group that is especially important, because F Scott Fitzgerald's Great American Novel is one of the most commonly assigned books in US high school literature classes. As such, it's also one of the most commonly avoided books in US high school literature classes. |
| "As an interpretation I think he really nailed the high school angle of it," New York teacher Kyle Mullins told the Atlantic. "The symbolism was really overt. It bothered me being someone who studied it more seriously to see it be so blunt. … It just lacks subtlety, I guess, but that's the way we teach it to sophomores in high school." | "As an interpretation I think he really nailed the high school angle of it," New York teacher Kyle Mullins told the Atlantic. "The symbolism was really overt. It bothered me being someone who studied it more seriously to see it be so blunt. … It just lacks subtlety, I guess, but that's the way we teach it to sophomores in high school." |
| Which is to say: congratulations, future generations of sophomores! You're OK to slack off on this one and watch the movie instead. (Previous film adaptions have been, uh, somewhat lacking.) | Which is to say: congratulations, future generations of sophomores! You're OK to slack off on this one and watch the movie instead. (Previous film adaptions have been, uh, somewhat lacking.) |
| This isn't Luhrmann's first encounter with high school reading lists. His Romeo + Juliet helped a generation of young Leonardo DiCaprio fans take a shortcut through their Shakespeare assignments (something Joss Whedon might also do with his upcoming Much Ado About Nothing). | This isn't Luhrmann's first encounter with high school reading lists. His Romeo + Juliet helped a generation of young Leonardo DiCaprio fans take a shortcut through their Shakespeare assignments (something Joss Whedon might also do with his upcoming Much Ado About Nothing). |
| Kids, you should, of course, always actually read the book. Gatsby is a tremendous – and very short – novel, no matter what certain Guardian readers say. But we understand life is busy and sometimes you just … need a break. | Kids, you should, of course, always actually read the book. Gatsby is a tremendous – and very short – novel, no matter what certain Guardian readers say. But we understand life is busy and sometimes you just … need a break. |
| And so, we ask: what American high school reading list book should Luhrmann tackle next on his one-man crusade to do 15-year-olds' homework for them? The oft-assigned Steinbeck novels are pretty well covered, though a little out of date. And we're not lacking for Jane Austen adaptations, with or without zombies. It's been a while, though, since we've had a good Lord of the Flies or Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Gregory Peck is great in To Kill A Mockingbird, but it's 50 years old; could you imagine a remake in Baz's hands? Maybe a well-dressed Hugh Jackman as Atticus Finch? What great literature did you slog through in your younger years, wishing Hollywood has just adapted already? Tell us in the comments below. | And so, we ask: what American high school reading list book should Luhrmann tackle next on his one-man crusade to do 15-year-olds' homework for them? The oft-assigned Steinbeck novels are pretty well covered, though a little out of date. And we're not lacking for Jane Austen adaptations, with or without zombies. It's been a while, though, since we've had a good Lord of the Flies or Adventures of Huckleberry Finn. Gregory Peck is great in To Kill A Mockingbird, but it's 50 years old; could you imagine a remake in Baz's hands? Maybe a well-dressed Hugh Jackman as Atticus Finch? What great literature did you slog through in your younger years, wishing Hollywood has just adapted already? Tell us in the comments below. |
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