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Comment by jimbob45 | Hacker News Reader

I’m sure this means Gatsby won’t be taught in high schools anymore because that’s a ton of money for publishers to lose out on if schools can just print out 50 copies for pennies.

I’m not even mad either. No high schooler can possibly relate to that book in any meaningful way. Good forbid an English teacher picks a book palatable to high schoolers.

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yeah I remember not reading any Mark Twain in high school

“no high schooler can possibly relate to that book in any meaningful way” yes nobody has ever had messed up feelings about social status or unrequited love or what are you talking about

Might it be because if the teacher reads the n-word out loud they’ll lose their job? If they don’t read it out loud the students will pester them until they do?

Pretty sure GP was being ironic; they did read Mark Twain in high school despite his work being in the public domain.

I read the Great Gatsby in high school, not too too long ago, and it instantly became my favorite book. I would guess that English teachers pick it because it’s a short, fun read with lots of issues to discuss and lots of literary merit. I’m glad to see it’s finally in the public domain.

A benefit if it being in public domain is a variety of new editions to teach from.

Cheap paperbacks containing just the story and which cost just above the cost of its paper and ink. Slightly fancier versions with introductions by literary scholars. Thick annotated editions with every allusion and reference explained with lengthy footnotes.

Do they not teach Shakespeare or early 20th century American poets either?

It’s tough to read Shakespeare without some annotations, and those are generally copyrighted. Which is one reason I have never been able to find a good free ebook collection.

Aren't teachers supposed to provide the annotations themselves with their english knowledge?

No, not at 45K USD/year. We're lucky if they effectively provide those copyrighted annotations.

The Great Gatsby was the only book I had to read in high school that connected with me in any lasting way. What I get out of the text has changed considerably over the years, but that doesn't make my high school self's interpretation less meaningful.

Wow, the arrogance in this post to say all high schoolers can't relate to the Great Gatsby. Is this is just projection?

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