The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I don't know where to start with this book. Green has created a novel that is so real and so true that it is almost unimaginable. He created a world where the two main characters have cancer, but often, that is the least interesting thing about them. Hazel and Augustus feel so real that it hurt to set the book down. I cried more than once, and I feel a bit empty walking away from the story. I almost want to reread it just so I'm sure I didn't miss anything. It has been so long since I've read a love story like this one. Green has written one of the best YA books in the last ten years. This book will end up being made into a movie, it will end up becoming the template for many other ripoff novels, and it will the standard that high school girls use to measure relationships. Move over Bella and Edward you are now fighting Hazel Grace and Augustus.
The novel doesn't pull any punches, within the first ten pages it is established that it will be a tragedy. I knew death was part of it. I hunkered down and hoped that it would be worth the emotional involvement. Oh boy, was it ever. Green also seemed determined to be so honest it hurts. Hazel's job is to show how fetishizing the world of cancer has set up people for disappointments. Often those afflicted don't live up to the heroic stereotype. It is worth noting that Hazel and Augustus give many moments of laugh out loud hilarity. It's not that cancer in and of itself is funny, it's that the world surrounding it often is. This is the absolute best part of this sad story, it's funny honest moments turn into self reflection. The reader learns the truth though laughter and through tears.
I absolutely recommend this novel with out any hesitation at all. It is fantastic, it will be discussed often, and it is worth paying the money to get a hard bound copy.* Cancel all appointments, set aside five or six hours, and enjoy. It is quite the ride. Walking away from this, I am so glad I gave Green a second chance. I read Looking for Alaska, and intensely disliked it. I was nearly beaten into submission and forced to read An Abundance of Katherines. I'm now a fan and hope to remain one.
My next book is Pulphead a collection of essays by John Jeremiah Sullivan. There have been numerous comparisons of this book to A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace. If that is the case I will be very pleased.
I don't know where to start with this book. Green has created a novel that is so real and so true that it is almost unimaginable. He created a world where the two main characters have cancer, but often, that is the least interesting thing about them. Hazel and Augustus feel so real that it hurt to set the book down. I cried more than once, and I feel a bit empty walking away from the story. I almost want to reread it just so I'm sure I didn't miss anything. It has been so long since I've read a love story like this one. Green has written one of the best YA books in the last ten years. This book will end up being made into a movie, it will end up becoming the template for many other ripoff novels, and it will the standard that high school girls use to measure relationships. Move over Bella and Edward you are now fighting Hazel Grace and Augustus.
The novel doesn't pull any punches, within the first ten pages it is established that it will be a tragedy. I knew death was part of it. I hunkered down and hoped that it would be worth the emotional involvement. Oh boy, was it ever. Green also seemed determined to be so honest it hurts. Hazel's job is to show how fetishizing the world of cancer has set up people for disappointments. Often those afflicted don't live up to the heroic stereotype. It is worth noting that Hazel and Augustus give many moments of laugh out loud hilarity. It's not that cancer in and of itself is funny, it's that the world surrounding it often is. This is the absolute best part of this sad story, it's funny honest moments turn into self reflection. The reader learns the truth though laughter and through tears.
I absolutely recommend this novel with out any hesitation at all. It is fantastic, it will be discussed often, and it is worth paying the money to get a hard bound copy.* Cancel all appointments, set aside five or six hours, and enjoy. It is quite the ride. Walking away from this, I am so glad I gave Green a second chance. I read Looking for Alaska, and intensely disliked it. I was nearly beaten into submission and forced to read An Abundance of Katherines. I'm now a fan and hope to remain one.
My next book is Pulphead a collection of essays by John Jeremiah Sullivan. There have been numerous comparisons of this book to A Supposedly Fun Thing I'll Never Do Again by David Foster Wallace. If that is the case I will be very pleased.
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