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The Fault in Our Stars
Goodreads Choice Award
Winner for Best Young Adult Fiction (2012)Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.
Insightful, bold, irreverent, and raw, The Fault in Our Stars is award-winning author John Green's most ambitious and heartbreaking work yet, brilliantly exploring the funny, thrilling, and tragic business of being alive and in love.
313 pages, Hardcover
First published January 10, 2012
About the author
John Green
224 books306k followersLibrarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.
John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next novel, Paper Towns, is a New York Times bestseller and won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best YA Mystery. In January 2012, his most recent novel, The Fault in Our Stars, was met with wide critical acclaim, unprecedented in Green's career. The praise included rave reviews in Time Magazine and The New York Times, on NPR, and from award-winning author Markus Zusak. The book also topped the New York Times Children's Paperback Bestseller list for several weeks. Green has also coauthored a book with David Levithan called Will Grayson, Will Grayson, published in 2010. The film rights for all his books, with the exception of Will Grayson Will Grayson, have been optioned to major Hollywood Studios.
In 2007, John and his brother Hank were the hosts of a popular internet blog, "Brotherhood 2.0," where they discussed their lives, books and current events every day for a year except for weekends and holidays. They still keep a video blog, now called "The Vlog Brothers," which can be found on the Nerdfighters website, or a direct link here.
John Green's first novel, Looking for Alaska, won the 2006 Michael L. Printz Award presented by the American Library Association. His second novel, An Abundance of Katherines, was a 2007 Michael L. Printz Award Honor Book and a finalist for the Los Angeles Times Book Prize. His next novel, Paper Towns, is a New York Times bestseller and won the Edgar Allen Poe Award for Best YA Mystery. In January 2012, his most recent novel, The Fault in Our Stars, was met with wide critical acclaim, unprecedented in Green's career. The praise included rave reviews in Time Magazine and The New York Times, on NPR, and from award-winning author Markus Zusak. The book also topped the New York Times Children's Paperback Bestseller list for several weeks. Green has also coauthored a book with David Levithan called Will Grayson, Will Grayson, published in 2010. The film rights for all his books, with the exception of Will Grayson Will Grayson, have been optioned to major Hollywood Studios.
In 2007, John and his brother Hank were the hosts of a popular internet blog, "Brotherhood 2.0," where they discussed their lives, books and current events every day for a year except for weekends and holidays. They still keep a video blog, now called "The Vlog Brothers," which can be found on the Nerdfighters website, or a direct link here.
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December 5, 2013
EMOTIONAL BLACKMAIL.
You will cry, because this is VERY sad.
So a discussion occurred in my head after I rated the book.
You will cry, because this is VERY sad.
So a discussion occurred in my head after I rated the book.
November 17, 2019
Update (25/06/2014)-
Since I've been receiving a lot of cyber bullies and hate messages, I’m going to clarify few things.
-Firstly, this is a negative review of the book and it has got a lot of potential to infuriate the fans. If you think that your opinion is the only opinion that exists on earth and that no one should dislike your favourite book, then I would suggest you to avoid this review.
-Stop harassing me. Why can't you get it through your thick skulls that everyone has different opinions, they’re going to interpret books differently from you and stop being selfish to think that just because you loved a book that means the whole world should love it. This world is full of people with differing opinions, differing thoughts and differing likes and differing dislikes, learn to respect them even if you don’t agree with what they have to say about your favourite books. Just because you love a particular book that I hate doesn't make you a good person and me a bad person, It simply shows that people like different things.
Every reader has the freedom to dissect and critically analyse any book and write their thoughts on it in their own review space without the fear of anyone (or fans bossing them into writing what the fandom wants). Critically analysing books and criticising problematic aspects of any reading material prevents people from being passive readers.Shakespeare and J.K Rowling too have their own share of critics then what makes Green’s book flawless that it’s not allowed to be criticised?
-Stop cyber bullying and trolling me. Your hate messages and death threats will show much more of your personality than your love for this book. Remember, every time you comment any bullshit here, you’re giving your own fandom a bad name and my review more popularity. Also, your hate messages aren't going to put me down. I’m a strong girl and I’m always going to stand up for what I believe in come hell or high water. I don't fear anyone and no one can ever force me to follow their orders like a puppet especially not a fandom where most of the fans are immature cyber bullies who can’t respect other’s opinions. Also, I've caught fans making fake accounts to troll my review, this shows me that they are big cowards who hide their faces and send me spiteful comments.
-Lastly, I’m NOT shaming anyone for loving this book. You can love whatever you want to and believe in whomever you want to. I have no problem with people who genuinely love this book; I have problems with those who think readers should not have the rights to express their dislike for any book, I have problems with those who approve of and participate in cyber bullying reviewers who write negative reviews on their favourite books, I have problems with those who refuse to acknowledge the fact that their favourite books can have flaws and not everyone’s going to love them, I have problems with those who come here to shove their opinions down my throat. Do you find anyone who hated this book shoving their opinions in comments of positive reviews? Then what makes you think that you have the rights to troll negative reviews?
Alright, now let's begin with the review.
**WARNING- MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD**
EXPECTATION-
REALITY-
So I happily bought the hardcover of The Fault in our stars back in December 2012 after seeing the high average GR ratings and raving reviews saying how beautiful, life-changing, thought-provoking and blah blah it is. Surprisingly, this book was so special that it became the first book that I slammed on the wall twice after reading it. It didn’t only disappoint me but also angered me. I'm surprised to find that harsh critics are swallowing up this trash and calling it a masterpiece. Ugh!
I’m going to make a list of everything I hate about this book that earned it the topmost place on my list of Worst books ever.
The characters- Hazel and Augustus are the flattest cardboard cut-outs I have ever seen in any book. Both of them were like 60-years-old stuck in some teenager's bodies making them very boring and unlikable. Hazel was such an annoying, stupid and pretentious Mary Sue that I wanted to punch her right in the face. One great example of her stupidity-
”Why are breakfast foods breakfast foods...Like, why don’t we have curry for breakfast?”
"A nonhot boy stares at you relentlessly and it is, at best, awkward and, at worst, a form of assault.
But a hot boy . . . well."
Augustus and Hazel have the same boring, pretentious, know-it-all and indistinguishable personality. Hazel is the female version of Augustus (no, I’m not going to call him affectionately with Gus) and he is the male version of Hazel. These two characters meld together and have no depth at all. I couldn’t connect with them, I felt no pain and sympathy for them and they annoyed me so much that I wanted to stab them.
Romance- It fell from the sky. Seriously, I don’t get what’s so “beautiful” about the relationship between them. They both fall in love within seconds just after laying eyes on each other ~love at first sight~ . The romance is undeveloped and it comes from nowhere. I was baffled when Hazel accepted to go to Augustus's house just minutes after meeting him. WHAT THE HELL? How stupid can you be? You fall for a guy's words whom you met just few minutes ago and agree to go to his house! What if he were a murderer or rapist?
Not to mention that the kissing scene in Anne Frank's house was so effing disgusting. Anne Frank's house is considered to be a place of remembrance, a place where 2 families hid during the dark days of Holocaust. If anyone makes out at such a revered site, they would be kicked out regardless of who or what they are. People present around will be disgusted, they won't stand and watch much less clap for the "lovely" couple.
Writing- Cheesy. Emotionless. Terrible. Want to hear some favourite quotes of mine?
“My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.”...Why compare your thoughts to stars and constellations? *sighs*
"Some infinities are bigger than other infinities."
"That's the thing about pain. It demands to be felt."...Yeah, that’s the thing about chocolate, it demands to be eaten.
”I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.”
“There will come a time when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything. There will be no one left to remember Aristotle or Cleopatra, let alone you. Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught. Maybe that time is coming soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive forever.”
Me-
There were senseless dialogues, brain-cell burning metaphors and words thrown around in the book from the dictionary. I’ll stop here because just thinking about them gives me an awful migraine.
And you know what? Teenagers living in the 21st century DON'T speak like that. No teen can spontaneously come up with long monologues within seconds. Also, genuinely sick teenagers don’t have the luxury to be so witty and clever every single time. One thing I don't buy is that teens with cancer suddenly become magically wise. They become terrified, confused, depressed and angry. They DON’T magically gain great insight in life and go around puking long monologues about the meaning of life. This book made me roll my eyes in disgust.
(UPDATE- In response to gazillion questions and arguments I've been getting on the paragraphs above, I have written a detailed explanation below)***
Plot- Predictable. Boring. Uninspiring. Put me to sleep. I had to plough through the whole book. Cancer is hard, it's painful but this book didn’t show me that. I couldn’t feel Hazel and Augustus’ struggle against it. I couldn’t feel their pain. TFioS is nothing but a cheesy romance novel.
Me throughout the book-
"He died eight days after his prefuneral"
WHAT THE HELL?? Green tried to make his death sound LIKE HE WENT TO A PARTY LAST WEEK!!!
Ok, so this book made you cry, right? If a book makes you cry it doesn’t mean that it’s a masterpiece. I can understand that you must’ve felt sad and sympathetic for the characters and must’ve cried but considering that this novel is sad and it made you cry doesn’t make it an awesome, life-changing and beautiful story. I cried after reading Allegiant for days but I hated that book with burning passion, it was one of the worst books I ever read.
Before you start calling me a cold-hearted bitch for hating and criticising this book, let me tell you that if you think you have every right to go around fangirling how wonderful this book was then I believe that I have every right to express my hatred for it whether you like it or not.
*** I never mentioned or implied that teenagers are illiterate or can't have a large vocabulary, don't accuse me of something I haven't said. I just find it hard to believe that any teen can come up with nonsensical monologues like the ones below or think it's appropriate to use them in their conversations-
"I’m awash in the metaphorical resonance of the empty playground in the hospital courtyard”
“That kid never took a piss without pondering the abundant metaphysical resonances of human waste production”. (wtf?!)
It's hard to believe that anyone would talk like that in a normal conversation every single time.
I am a teen and I go to high school, I know many other teens of my age who have developed a large vocabulary and have brilliant writing skills. That is simply because they love reading and have developed the habit of learning new words from the dictionary from a very young age. They write amazing poems and honestly, it takes them a lot of time to ponder over and make their metaphors or poems perfect. They obviously cannot open their mouth and spontaneously say
"My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations".
Btw, none of the teenage characters from this book show any interest in reading high literature and poetry (the only book Hazel claims to read is An Imperial Affliction) then what's the reason behind their ability to spew pretentious monologues? They aren't geniuses, they aren't teens who read avidly or analyse high literature and show interest in oratory, existentialist philosophy and poetry. Therefore, it's not plausible for them to speak with profound words. I would believe their monologues had they shown interest in Kant, Sartre, Nietzsche and Heidegger.
Now going over the cigarette metaphor, Augustus buys a pack of cigarettes regularly just so he could put one in his mouth and not light it thus, giving us another stupid dialogue "It's a metaphor. You keep the killing thing between your teeth but don't give it the power to kill you". Funny that he won't kill himself by lighting up the cigarette but will regularly give money to an industry that is the largest cause of cancer thus, promoting the cigarette industry and indirectly killing others. (What a genius!) Not to mention that he mocks Hazel's cancer right on her face and guess her reaction? She's impressed and readily approves of and participants in his metaphor.
There's a lot of difference between being wise and being pretentious and Hazel and Augustus are the latter. I don't buy their dialogues because they are extremely ridiculous and cheesy and no argument by fans and authors can change my opinion because Green makes no effort in making the dialogues IN THE BOOK seem plausible. There's no reason for their large vocabulary and ability to spew long monologues IN THE BOOK. I've read Green's post on Augustus' character being pretentious and imo, he misses the point that his characters are not only pretentious; they are extremely unrealistic as well. Augustus' pretension is not "an intentional flaw", it's simply poor characterisation.
I'm not saying that kids with cancer cannot be intelligent. A lot of fans say that the characters in the book are special and wise because they have cancer and this book tries hard to show that too. I merely said that having cancer does not mean that you can automatically become wise and gain a lot of knowledge.
I couldn't sympathise with the characters and feel their pain. That doesn't mean that I'm cold hearted. It's not my fault that I couldn't get emotionally connected to the characters, it's the authors fault for not writing characters I could sympathise with. It's the author's fault for making shallow, judgemental and annoying characters. It's the his fault for making characters with personality that mocks cancer patients and who show disrespect to millions of people who died in the Holocaust. It's the author's fault for romanticising cancer and using it as a ploy to sell his book. I'm NOT hating people who have cancer, I'm NOT hating the characters because they have cancer. I'm hating them for who they are. I'm hating the book because it's poorly written.
I don't need to have cancer to analyse this book. Having cancer does not mean that you get the rights to say whatever you want to about this book. Every reader whether sick or not has equal rights to analyse and voice their opinions freely on any book.
/end rant
Since I've been receiving a lot of cyber bullies and hate messages, I’m going to clarify few things.
-Firstly, this is a negative review of the book and it has got a lot of potential to infuriate the fans. If you think that your opinion is the only opinion that exists on earth and that no one should dislike your favourite book, then I would suggest you to avoid this review.
-Stop harassing me. Why can't you get it through your thick skulls that everyone has different opinions, they’re going to interpret books differently from you and stop being selfish to think that just because you loved a book that means the whole world should love it. This world is full of people with differing opinions, differing thoughts and differing likes and differing dislikes, learn to respect them even if you don’t agree with what they have to say about your favourite books. Just because you love a particular book that I hate doesn't make you a good person and me a bad person, It simply shows that people like different things.
Every reader has the freedom to dissect and critically analyse any book and write their thoughts on it in their own review space without the fear of anyone (or fans bossing them into writing what the fandom wants). Critically analysing books and criticising problematic aspects of any reading material prevents people from being passive readers.Shakespeare and J.K Rowling too have their own share of critics then what makes Green’s book flawless that it’s not allowed to be criticised?
-Stop cyber bullying and trolling me. Your hate messages and death threats will show much more of your personality than your love for this book. Remember, every time you comment any bullshit here, you’re giving your own fandom a bad name and my review more popularity. Also, your hate messages aren't going to put me down. I’m a strong girl and I’m always going to stand up for what I believe in come hell or high water. I don't fear anyone and no one can ever force me to follow their orders like a puppet especially not a fandom where most of the fans are immature cyber bullies who can’t respect other’s opinions. Also, I've caught fans making fake accounts to troll my review, this shows me that they are big cowards who hide their faces and send me spiteful comments.
-Lastly, I’m NOT shaming anyone for loving this book. You can love whatever you want to and believe in whomever you want to. I have no problem with people who genuinely love this book; I have problems with those who think readers should not have the rights to express their dislike for any book, I have problems with those who approve of and participate in cyber bullying reviewers who write negative reviews on their favourite books, I have problems with those who refuse to acknowledge the fact that their favourite books can have flaws and not everyone’s going to love them, I have problems with those who come here to shove their opinions down my throat. Do you find anyone who hated this book shoving their opinions in comments of positive reviews? Then what makes you think that you have the rights to troll negative reviews?
Alright, now let's begin with the review.
**WARNING- MAJOR SPOILERS AHEAD**
EXPECTATION-
REALITY-
So I happily bought the hardcover of The Fault in our stars back in December 2012 after seeing the high average GR ratings and raving reviews saying how beautiful, life-changing, thought-provoking and blah blah it is. Surprisingly, this book was so special that it became the first book that I slammed on the wall twice after reading it. It didn’t only disappoint me but also angered me. I'm surprised to find that harsh critics are swallowing up this trash and calling it a masterpiece. Ugh!
I’m going to make a list of everything I hate about this book that earned it the topmost place on my list of Worst books ever.
The characters- Hazel and Augustus are the flattest cardboard cut-outs I have ever seen in any book. Both of them were like 60-years-old stuck in some teenager's bodies making them very boring and unlikable. Hazel was such an annoying, stupid and pretentious Mary Sue that I wanted to punch her right in the face. One great example of her stupidity-
”Why are breakfast foods breakfast foods...Like, why don’t we have curry for breakfast?”
"A nonhot boy stares at you relentlessly and it is, at best, awkward and, at worst, a form of assault.
But a hot boy . . . well."
Augustus and Hazel have the same boring, pretentious, know-it-all and indistinguishable personality. Hazel is the female version of Augustus (no, I’m not going to call him affectionately with Gus) and he is the male version of Hazel. These two characters meld together and have no depth at all. I couldn’t connect with them, I felt no pain and sympathy for them and they annoyed me so much that I wanted to stab them.
Romance- It fell from the sky. Seriously, I don’t get what’s so “beautiful” about the relationship between them. They both fall in love within seconds just after laying eyes on each other ~love at first sight~ . The romance is undeveloped and it comes from nowhere. I was baffled when Hazel accepted to go to Augustus's house just minutes after meeting him. WHAT THE HELL? How stupid can you be? You fall for a guy's words whom you met just few minutes ago and agree to go to his house! What if he were a murderer or rapist?
Not to mention that the kissing scene in Anne Frank's house was so effing disgusting. Anne Frank's house is considered to be a place of remembrance, a place where 2 families hid during the dark days of Holocaust. If anyone makes out at such a revered site, they would be kicked out regardless of who or what they are. People present around will be disgusted, they won't stand and watch much less clap for the "lovely" couple.
Writing- Cheesy. Emotionless. Terrible. Want to hear some favourite quotes of mine?
“My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations.”...Why compare your thoughts to stars and constellations? *sighs*
"Some infinities are bigger than other infinities."
"That's the thing about pain. It demands to be felt."...Yeah, that’s the thing about chocolate, it demands to be eaten.
”I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying myself the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you.”
“There will come a time when all of us are dead. All of us. There will come a time when there are no human beings remaining to remember that anyone ever existed or that our species ever did anything. There will be no one left to remember Aristotle or Cleopatra, let alone you. Everything that we did and built and wrote and thought and discovered will be forgotten and all of this will have been for naught. Maybe that time is coming soon and maybe it is millions of years away, but even if we survive the collapse of our sun, we will not survive forever.”
Me-
There were senseless dialogues, brain-cell burning metaphors and words thrown around in the book from the dictionary. I’ll stop here because just thinking about them gives me an awful migraine.
And you know what? Teenagers living in the 21st century DON'T speak like that. No teen can spontaneously come up with long monologues within seconds. Also, genuinely sick teenagers don’t have the luxury to be so witty and clever every single time. One thing I don't buy is that teens with cancer suddenly become magically wise. They become terrified, confused, depressed and angry. They DON’T magically gain great insight in life and go around puking long monologues about the meaning of life. This book made me roll my eyes in disgust.
(UPDATE- In response to gazillion questions and arguments I've been getting on the paragraphs above, I have written a detailed explanation below)***
Plot- Predictable. Boring. Uninspiring. Put me to sleep. I had to plough through the whole book. Cancer is hard, it's painful but this book didn’t show me that. I couldn’t feel Hazel and Augustus’ struggle against it. I couldn’t feel their pain. TFioS is nothing but a cheesy romance novel.
Me throughout the book-
"He died eight days after his prefuneral"
WHAT THE HELL?? Green tried to make his death sound LIKE HE WENT TO A PARTY LAST WEEK!!!
Ok, so this book made you cry, right? If a book makes you cry it doesn’t mean that it’s a masterpiece. I can understand that you must’ve felt sad and sympathetic for the characters and must’ve cried but considering that this novel is sad and it made you cry doesn’t make it an awesome, life-changing and beautiful story. I cried after reading Allegiant for days but I hated that book with burning passion, it was one of the worst books I ever read.
Before you start calling me a cold-hearted bitch for hating and criticising this book, let me tell you that if you think you have every right to go around fangirling how wonderful this book was then I believe that I have every right to express my hatred for it whether you like it or not.
*** I never mentioned or implied that teenagers are illiterate or can't have a large vocabulary, don't accuse me of something I haven't said. I just find it hard to believe that any teen can come up with nonsensical monologues like the ones below or think it's appropriate to use them in their conversations-
"I’m awash in the metaphorical resonance of the empty playground in the hospital courtyard”
“That kid never took a piss without pondering the abundant metaphysical resonances of human waste production”. (wtf?!)
It's hard to believe that anyone would talk like that in a normal conversation every single time.
I am a teen and I go to high school, I know many other teens of my age who have developed a large vocabulary and have brilliant writing skills. That is simply because they love reading and have developed the habit of learning new words from the dictionary from a very young age. They write amazing poems and honestly, it takes them a lot of time to ponder over and make their metaphors or poems perfect. They obviously cannot open their mouth and spontaneously say
"My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations".
Btw, none of the teenage characters from this book show any interest in reading high literature and poetry (the only book Hazel claims to read is An Imperial Affliction) then what's the reason behind their ability to spew pretentious monologues? They aren't geniuses, they aren't teens who read avidly or analyse high literature and show interest in oratory, existentialist philosophy and poetry. Therefore, it's not plausible for them to speak with profound words. I would believe their monologues had they shown interest in Kant, Sartre, Nietzsche and Heidegger.
Now going over the cigarette metaphor, Augustus buys a pack of cigarettes regularly just so he could put one in his mouth and not light it thus, giving us another stupid dialogue "It's a metaphor. You keep the killing thing between your teeth but don't give it the power to kill you". Funny that he won't kill himself by lighting up the cigarette but will regularly give money to an industry that is the largest cause of cancer thus, promoting the cigarette industry and indirectly killing others. (What a genius!) Not to mention that he mocks Hazel's cancer right on her face and guess her reaction? She's impressed and readily approves of and participants in his metaphor.
There's a lot of difference between being wise and being pretentious and Hazel and Augustus are the latter. I don't buy their dialogues because they are extremely ridiculous and cheesy and no argument by fans and authors can change my opinion because Green makes no effort in making the dialogues IN THE BOOK seem plausible. There's no reason for their large vocabulary and ability to spew long monologues IN THE BOOK. I've read Green's post on Augustus' character being pretentious and imo, he misses the point that his characters are not only pretentious; they are extremely unrealistic as well. Augustus' pretension is not "an intentional flaw", it's simply poor characterisation.
I'm not saying that kids with cancer cannot be intelligent. A lot of fans say that the characters in the book are special and wise because they have cancer and this book tries hard to show that too. I merely said that having cancer does not mean that you can automatically become wise and gain a lot of knowledge.
I couldn't sympathise with the characters and feel their pain. That doesn't mean that I'm cold hearted. It's not my fault that I couldn't get emotionally connected to the characters, it's the authors fault for not writing characters I could sympathise with. It's the author's fault for making shallow, judgemental and annoying characters. It's the his fault for making characters with personality that mocks cancer patients and who show disrespect to millions of people who died in the Holocaust. It's the author's fault for romanticising cancer and using it as a ploy to sell his book. I'm NOT hating people who have cancer, I'm NOT hating the characters because they have cancer. I'm hating them for who they are. I'm hating the book because it's poorly written.
I don't need to have cancer to analyse this book. Having cancer does not mean that you get the rights to say whatever you want to about this book. Every reader whether sick or not has equal rights to analyse and voice their opinions freely on any book.
/end rant
March 16, 2013
I HATE this book. Absolutely hate it. Not just from the bottom of my heart (which would literally mean my ventricles, and so, no) but with my whole heart. I hate it, hate it, hate it.
I hate the fact that it made me laugh, so hard!
I hate the fact that it made me smile, so much!
I hate the fact that it made me chuckle, so profusely!
I hate the fact that it gifted me with so much Laughter, Smiles and Chuckles when I was expecting to come face to face with tragedy at any moment....it changed my expectations, made me believe in Something which did not happen...or maybe did happen.
I hate the fact that while Hazel Grace fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once , I just fell ...no warning, no time to process the myriad emotions coursing through me, nope, nothing, just a huge endless void-filled fall and then a sudden crash that took my breath away, like literally...
I hate the fact that I fell in love with this bound-to-end-in-oblivion, bound-to-end-in-disaster boy who stared with blue blue eyes and put the killing thing right between his teeth, but never gave it the power to do its killing. (Putting a cigarette right between your teeth and never lighting it, yes, that's Augustus Waters for you, people, a guy huge on metaphors and symbolism...that hopeless boy).
I hate the fact that when I least expected it, the story, the words just grabbed me and pulled me in so deep that even the thought of ever resurfacing never entered my mind.
I hate that the fact that right in the middle of my dance in the rain of laughter, dry wit, and humour without any warning, without any lightning as it's precedent, this thunder would stun me, startle me, wipe the smile right off my face, and sober me up, wake me up from the intoxication of the very real yet false jocularity spun by them, a humour which was nothing but human tragedy waiting-to-happen-and-had-already-happened in disguise and then push me back into that rain to dance again.
I hate the fact that I'm not making my much sense right now....that right now my thoughts are stars I can't fathom into constellations...
And yes, all the hate above is a metaphor, a symbolic word for love... weird, right? But right now I can't bring myself to say that I love this book....I don't, I don't, I don't (yes, I do, I do, I do...)
So, *deep breath*, it's a story of a girl named Hazel Grace Lancaster, a girl diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the age of 13 who's still alive at 16 thanks to a miracle drug which didn't work it's miracle in about 70% of the people but it did work in her.
So, even though her lungs suck at being lungs, she's still alive and well not kicking, but breathing, with difficulty (because remember her lungs suck at being lungs), but breathing nonetheless.
She's been nothing but a terminal case ever since her diagnosis. The doctors are simply finding ways of keeping her alive rather than removing the cancer ridden lungs and replacing it with a new one, because let's face it, her chances of surviving such an operation are like next to nothing and why waste a good pair of lungs on a given, bound-to-fail body?
So, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis.
Enter Augustus Waters. He's 17, gorgeous, in remission, and very frankly and much to her surprise interested in her.
It's a match made in Cancer Kid Support Group, in the Literal Heart of Jesus (you'll know what that means when you read the book...you'll laugh, trust me, you will).
He is a tenured professor in the Department of Slightly Crooked Smiles with a dual appointment in the Department of Having a Voice That Made My Skin Feel More Like Skin.
He's the unexpected, hot, gorgeous twist in her story...a story which is about to be completely rewritten...
Their story begins with a staring contest...he stares at her...
So she stares back...because let's face it...
(Spoiler Alert: She wins.)
And it progresses into something brilliant, something as bright as the stars, into Something with a capital S....
I hate this book. (This needs indefinite repetitions, I hate it).
I hate the fact that I fell in love with their always. "Okay"
I hate the fact that Hazel Grace took the words right out of my mouth when she said what she said about being a vegetarian...
"I want to minimise the number of deaths I am responsible for,"
and about not knowing what's cool...
"I take a lot of pride in not knowing what's cool."
I hate the fact that I fell in love with this blue-eyed boy who drove horrifically and his cheesy and yet very endearing attempts to be Prince Charming....(but more so with him...the surprised, excited and innocent side of him..)
I hate the fact that Hazel Grace felt like a grenade and all she wanted to do was minimise the casualities when (not if but when) she blew up...
I hate the fact that I felt sorry for a lonely swing set...a Desperately Lonely Swing Set Which Needed a Loving Home...or maybe it was simply a Lonely, Vaguely Pedophilic Swing Set Which Sought the Butts of Children...and the fact that I absolutely love this sentence....
The Lonely Swing Set...
or maybe Just Vaguely Pedophilic...
And even though I fell in love the way you fall from a cliff or a building, (don't really know how that feels..since I've never done that)..I hate the way she fell in love...
I hate this kiss....because for who so firm that cannot be seduced?
I hate the love letter she wrote him...(Spoiler Alert: It's a Venn diagram love letter.)
I hate the fact that she did not agree with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (in which Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist, claimed that certain needs must be met before you can even have other kinds of needs.) Something like this...
Unless and until your needs of the previous level have been fulfilled, you don't even think about the needs of the next level. Of course, like all psychological theories this one too cannot be generalized or accepted universally. Because if there is one law in psychology then it is that there is no law in psychology, there is no given universal laws for human behaviour or thoughts or anything. Every theory has it's use and flaws, applicable to some while not applicable to others. And this one is not applicable in this situation. Nope, not at all.
I hate the words, the word play in this book... a quantum entanglement of tubes and bodies....triumphantly digitized contemporaneity....
I hate the fact that it made me laugh so much, smile a lot, fall in love so hard only to exact revenge later on for giving in to the false security of humour and love by making me cry....oh god, cry so much....so much...
Because that's the thing about pain, it demands to be felt.
I get it...totally get it...
I hate the fact that I ever read this sentence...
"I lit up like a Christmas tree, Hazel Grace..." .
I hate it, I really hate it (forget metaphorical resonances, forget symbolism, I actually hate it).
I hate the fact that it made me cry so much that the lovers of-god-knows-which-century entwined on my pillowcase were drenched in the torrent of my tears and were probably ruing the fact that there was no umbrella during their time.
I hate the fact that I stayed up whole night reading this book, half of the night crying, and even after finishing it I couldn't go to sleep, so the rest of the dawn just pacing in my room with all these haphazard, desultory stars jumping around in my mind finding absolutely no avenue to become constellations.....and my eyes puffy (Note to self: Do not stay up all night or add crying to it if you do to avoid puffy eyes.)
Why do I do this to myself??
And I absolutely hate this...
I hate that this story is stunningly overwhelming, insightful, irreverent, raw and devastating...and to quote Markus Zusak, it's the kind of story reading which "You laugh, you cry and then you come back for more."
Some infinities are bigger than other infinities... ...I'm grateful for having known this little infinity...grateful for this epic love story of two star crossed lovers....
[image error]
I like my choices. I hope you like yours.
And by hate you know I meant love, right?
I love this book.
Right now, my thoughts are too jumbled up...
I hate the fact that it made me laugh, so hard!
I hate the fact that it made me smile, so much!
I hate the fact that it made me chuckle, so profusely!
I hate the fact that it gifted me with so much Laughter, Smiles and Chuckles when I was expecting to come face to face with tragedy at any moment....it changed my expectations, made me believe in Something which did not happen...or maybe did happen.
I hate the fact that while Hazel Grace fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once , I just fell ...no warning, no time to process the myriad emotions coursing through me, nope, nothing, just a huge endless void-filled fall and then a sudden crash that took my breath away, like literally...
I hate the fact that I fell in love with this bound-to-end-in-oblivion, bound-to-end-in-disaster boy who stared with blue blue eyes and put the killing thing right between his teeth, but never gave it the power to do its killing. (Putting a cigarette right between your teeth and never lighting it, yes, that's Augustus Waters for you, people, a guy huge on metaphors and symbolism...that hopeless boy).
I hate the fact that when I least expected it, the story, the words just grabbed me and pulled me in so deep that even the thought of ever resurfacing never entered my mind.
I hate that the fact that right in the middle of my dance in the rain of laughter, dry wit, and humour without any warning, without any lightning as it's precedent, this thunder would stun me, startle me, wipe the smile right off my face, and sober me up, wake me up from the intoxication of the very real yet false jocularity spun by them, a humour which was nothing but human tragedy waiting-to-happen-and-had-already-happened in disguise and then push me back into that rain to dance again.
I hate the fact that I'm not making my much sense right now....that right now my thoughts are stars I can't fathom into constellations...
And yes, all the hate above is a metaphor, a symbolic word for love... weird, right? But right now I can't bring myself to say that I love this book....I don't, I don't, I don't (yes, I do, I do, I do...)
So, *deep breath*, it's a story of a girl named Hazel Grace Lancaster, a girl diagnosed with thyroid cancer at the age of 13 who's still alive at 16 thanks to a miracle drug which didn't work it's miracle in about 70% of the people but it did work in her.
So, even though her lungs suck at being lungs, she's still alive and well not kicking, but breathing, with difficulty (because remember her lungs suck at being lungs), but breathing nonetheless.
She's been nothing but a terminal case ever since her diagnosis. The doctors are simply finding ways of keeping her alive rather than removing the cancer ridden lungs and replacing it with a new one, because let's face it, her chances of surviving such an operation are like next to nothing and why waste a good pair of lungs on a given, bound-to-fail body?
So, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis.
Enter Augustus Waters. He's 17, gorgeous, in remission, and very frankly and much to her surprise interested in her.
It's a match made in Cancer Kid Support Group, in the Literal Heart of Jesus (you'll know what that means when you read the book...you'll laugh, trust me, you will).
He is a tenured professor in the Department of Slightly Crooked Smiles with a dual appointment in the Department of Having a Voice That Made My Skin Feel More Like Skin.
He's the unexpected, hot, gorgeous twist in her story...a story which is about to be completely rewritten...
Their story begins with a staring contest...he stares at her...
So she stares back...because let's face it...
(Spoiler Alert: She wins.)
And it progresses into something brilliant, something as bright as the stars, into Something with a capital S....
I hate this book. (This needs indefinite repetitions, I hate it).
I hate the fact that I fell in love with their always. "Okay"
I hate the fact that Hazel Grace took the words right out of my mouth when she said what she said about being a vegetarian...
"I want to minimise the number of deaths I am responsible for,"
and about not knowing what's cool...
"I take a lot of pride in not knowing what's cool."
I hate the fact that I fell in love with this blue-eyed boy who drove horrifically and his cheesy and yet very endearing attempts to be Prince Charming....(but more so with him...the surprised, excited and innocent side of him..)
"May I see you again?" he asked. There was an endearing nervousness in his voice.
I smiled. "Sure."
"Tomorrow?" he asked.
"Patience, grasshopper," I counseled. "You don't want to seem overeager."
"Right, that's why I said tomorrow," he said. "I want to see you again tonight. But I'm willing to wait all night and much of tomorrow."
I hate the fact that Hazel Grace felt like a grenade and all she wanted to do was minimise the casualities when (not if but when) she blew up...
I hate the fact that I felt sorry for a lonely swing set...a Desperately Lonely Swing Set Which Needed a Loving Home...or maybe it was simply a Lonely, Vaguely Pedophilic Swing Set Which Sought the Butts of Children...and the fact that I absolutely love this sentence....
The Lonely Swing Set...
or maybe Just Vaguely Pedophilic...
And even though I fell in love the way you fall from a cliff or a building, (don't really know how that feels..since I've never done that)..I hate the way she fell in love...
I hate this kiss....because for who so firm that cannot be seduced?
And then we were kissing. My hand let go of the oxygen cart and I reached up for his neck, and he pulled me up by my waist onto my tiptoes. As his parted lips met mine, I started to feel breathless in a new and fascinating way. The space around us evaporated, and for a weird moment I really liked my body; this cancer-ruined thing I'd spent years dragging around suddenly seemed worth the struggle, worth the chest tubes and the PICC lines and the ceaseless bodily betrayal of the tumors.
I hate the love letter she wrote him...(Spoiler Alert: It's a Venn diagram love letter.)
I hate the fact that she did not agree with Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs (in which Abraham Maslow, an American psychologist, claimed that certain needs must be met before you can even have other kinds of needs.) Something like this...
Unless and until your needs of the previous level have been fulfilled, you don't even think about the needs of the next level. Of course, like all psychological theories this one too cannot be generalized or accepted universally. Because if there is one law in psychology then it is that there is no law in psychology, there is no given universal laws for human behaviour or thoughts or anything. Every theory has it's use and flaws, applicable to some while not applicable to others. And this one is not applicable in this situation. Nope, not at all.
I hate the words, the word play in this book... a quantum entanglement of tubes and bodies....triumphantly digitized contemporaneity....
I hate the fact that it made me laugh so much, smile a lot, fall in love so hard only to exact revenge later on for giving in to the false security of humour and love by making me cry....oh god, cry so much....so much...
Because that's the thing about pain, it demands to be felt.
I get it...totally get it...
I hate the fact that I ever read this sentence...
"I lit up like a Christmas tree, Hazel Grace..." .
I hate it, I really hate it (forget metaphorical resonances, forget symbolism, I actually hate it).
I hate the fact that it made me cry so much that the lovers of-god-knows-which-century entwined on my pillowcase were drenched in the torrent of my tears and were probably ruing the fact that there was no umbrella during their time.
I hate the fact that I stayed up whole night reading this book, half of the night crying, and even after finishing it I couldn't go to sleep, so the rest of the dawn just pacing in my room with all these haphazard, desultory stars jumping around in my mind finding absolutely no avenue to become constellations.....and my eyes puffy (Note to self: Do not stay up all night or add crying to it if you do to avoid puffy eyes.)
Why do I do this to myself??
And I absolutely hate this...
I hate that this story is stunningly overwhelming, insightful, irreverent, raw and devastating...and to quote Markus Zusak, it's the kind of story reading which "You laugh, you cry and then you come back for more."
Some infinities are bigger than other infinities... ...I'm grateful for having known this little infinity...grateful for this epic love story of two star crossed lovers....
[image error]
I like my choices. I hope you like yours.
And by hate you know I meant love, right?
I love this book.
Right now, my thoughts are too jumbled up...
August 11, 2016
At age twenty-two, John Green worked as a student chaplain in a children's hospital.
Let's take a moment and consider all the implications of that, and why he is making a colossal understatement when he described the experience as "devastating." That was about twelve years ago, and Green has said in interviews that because of this experience, he's spent twelve years trying to write a book about kids with cancer - not poster children of strength and courage and illness-granted wisdom, but real kids and their families and friends who have to cope with the fact that they will die young.
All novels are personal, but Green's novels seem, to me, to be especially so. But this one is personal in a different way. With this novel, Green isn't trying to exorcize the memory of the girl who stomped on his heart in high school. This goes deeper than high school romance and Manic Pixie Dream Girl angst. This is about life, death, illness, love, heroism, and how a sixteen-year-old is supposed to deal with the fact that she will die and leave everyone she loves behind. Maybe it's just because I've been watching vlogbrothers videos for four years and feel like I'm actually acquainted with John Green, but this is the most deeply personal novel I've ever read.
This is not, as Hazel Lancaster might say, a Cancer Book. None of the cancer patients in this story have a wisdom beyond their years, and they do not stoically accept the fact that they will die or fight heroically. Hazel Lancaster, a terminal sixteen-year-old who has to carry an oxygen tank everywhere because "my lungs suck at being lungs" is refreshingly real - not manic, not a pixie, not a dream girl. She reads Great Books and watches America's Next Top Model marathons. Augustus Waters, her amputee friend, wants desperately to leave a lasting impression on the world and philosophizes about heroism, and his favorite book is a novelization of a video game. (can I say how much I love that an author can establish a character's intelligence without telling us that they love reading Austen yes Stephenie Meyer I'm looking at you) Everything here is real, especially the diseases. There isn't any bullshit about dying gracefully here, because cancer is ugly and unpleasant, and Green makes you feel Hazel's lungs struggling to breathe and the pain, and see the vomit and urine. (Remember how in A Walk to Remember, Mandy Moore has been secretly dying of leukemia the whole time but looks great even on her deathbed? Nicholas Sparks can fuck right off for that insult to real cancer patients) Most importantly, Hazel and Augustus are not defined by their cancer. It consumes their lives, but it doesn't define them. On every page, it's clear: this is a story told by someone who hasn't known just one person with cancer, but has seen a multitude of children with terminal diseases, and has tried to find some way to comfort them and their families.
It's for that reason that I don't feel like I can review this like a normal book. John Green didn't write this story for me, and so I don't feel like I have any place saying that it's amazing and beautiful and heartbreaking. And I certainly can't criticize any of its minor faults. All I can say, really, is that you have to read this for yourself, and go from there.
...
Okay, you guys know me better than that. I have one big complaint, which I will describe here, and all I ask is that you remember that I still gave this five stars.
Augustus Waters, in the first few chapters, comes off as a pretentious douche. When Hazel first meets him at a cancer support group, they're talking afterwards and Augustus takes out a cigarette and puts it in his mouth. Hazel, who you'll recall is dying because her lungs cannot function, freaks out: "...even though you HAD FREAKING CANCER you give money to a company in exchange for the chance to acquire YET MORE CANCER." Augustus explains that he doesn't smoke the cigarettes, he just puts them in his mouth (no, really) because "They don't kill you unless you light them...And I've never lit one. It's a metaphor, see: you put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing."
Augustus, I love you, but you're full of shit right there. Notice how he didn't address Hazel's perfectly valid point that, by buying cigarettes, Augustus is giving money to the people who cause cancer? Because here's the thing: you can say to a cigarette company, "I'm buying your cigarettes as a metaphor, but I won't light them so I'm taking away their power" and they'll stop listening at "I'm buying your cigarettes" because that's all they care about. And it's a shit metaphor in any case: you can walk around a mall with a shotgun and explain to people that because it's unloaded you've taken away its power, but you're still going to get arrested.
So that was annoying, as was Augustus's general air of overly-charming pretentious skeeziness in the beginning. But I forgive him for it, because lest we forget, he is seventeen. If his character was twenty-two he'd be the most obnoxious jackass on the planet, but because he's just a kid, I was willing to forgive him. Still hate the cigarette thing, though.
Let's take a moment and consider all the implications of that, and why he is making a colossal understatement when he described the experience as "devastating." That was about twelve years ago, and Green has said in interviews that because of this experience, he's spent twelve years trying to write a book about kids with cancer - not poster children of strength and courage and illness-granted wisdom, but real kids and their families and friends who have to cope with the fact that they will die young.
All novels are personal, but Green's novels seem, to me, to be especially so. But this one is personal in a different way. With this novel, Green isn't trying to exorcize the memory of the girl who stomped on his heart in high school. This goes deeper than high school romance and Manic Pixie Dream Girl angst. This is about life, death, illness, love, heroism, and how a sixteen-year-old is supposed to deal with the fact that she will die and leave everyone she loves behind. Maybe it's just because I've been watching vlogbrothers videos for four years and feel like I'm actually acquainted with John Green, but this is the most deeply personal novel I've ever read.
This is not, as Hazel Lancaster might say, a Cancer Book. None of the cancer patients in this story have a wisdom beyond their years, and they do not stoically accept the fact that they will die or fight heroically. Hazel Lancaster, a terminal sixteen-year-old who has to carry an oxygen tank everywhere because "my lungs suck at being lungs" is refreshingly real - not manic, not a pixie, not a dream girl. She reads Great Books and watches America's Next Top Model marathons. Augustus Waters, her amputee friend, wants desperately to leave a lasting impression on the world and philosophizes about heroism, and his favorite book is a novelization of a video game. (can I say how much I love that an author can establish a character's intelligence without telling us that they love reading Austen yes Stephenie Meyer I'm looking at you) Everything here is real, especially the diseases. There isn't any bullshit about dying gracefully here, because cancer is ugly and unpleasant, and Green makes you feel Hazel's lungs struggling to breathe and the pain, and see the vomit and urine. (Remember how in A Walk to Remember, Mandy Moore has been secretly dying of leukemia the whole time but looks great even on her deathbed? Nicholas Sparks can fuck right off for that insult to real cancer patients) Most importantly, Hazel and Augustus are not defined by their cancer. It consumes their lives, but it doesn't define them. On every page, it's clear: this is a story told by someone who hasn't known just one person with cancer, but has seen a multitude of children with terminal diseases, and has tried to find some way to comfort them and their families.
It's for that reason that I don't feel like I can review this like a normal book. John Green didn't write this story for me, and so I don't feel like I have any place saying that it's amazing and beautiful and heartbreaking. And I certainly can't criticize any of its minor faults. All I can say, really, is that you have to read this for yourself, and go from there.
...
Okay, you guys know me better than that. I have one big complaint, which I will describe here, and all I ask is that you remember that I still gave this five stars.
Augustus Waters, in the first few chapters, comes off as a pretentious douche. When Hazel first meets him at a cancer support group, they're talking afterwards and Augustus takes out a cigarette and puts it in his mouth. Hazel, who you'll recall is dying because her lungs cannot function, freaks out: "...even though you HAD FREAKING CANCER you give money to a company in exchange for the chance to acquire YET MORE CANCER." Augustus explains that he doesn't smoke the cigarettes, he just puts them in his mouth (no, really) because "They don't kill you unless you light them...And I've never lit one. It's a metaphor, see: you put the killing thing right between your teeth, but you don't give it the power to do its killing."
Augustus, I love you, but you're full of shit right there. Notice how he didn't address Hazel's perfectly valid point that, by buying cigarettes, Augustus is giving money to the people who cause cancer? Because here's the thing: you can say to a cigarette company, "I'm buying your cigarettes as a metaphor, but I won't light them so I'm taking away their power" and they'll stop listening at "I'm buying your cigarettes" because that's all they care about. And it's a shit metaphor in any case: you can walk around a mall with a shotgun and explain to people that because it's unloaded you've taken away its power, but you're still going to get arrested.
So that was annoying, as was Augustus's general air of overly-charming pretentious skeeziness in the beginning. But I forgive him for it, because lest we forget, he is seventeen. If his character was twenty-two he'd be the most obnoxious jackass on the planet, but because he's just a kid, I was willing to forgive him. Still hate the cigarette thing, though.
November 22, 2014
It seems silly that I have to say this, but I've seen many a negative review of this book met with backlash from John's nerdfighter fans, so I want to make one thing clear: I like John Green. You'll find plenty who worship him as a god amongst men and many who are highly critical of him, I fall into neither of these categories but I do like him and I enjoy watching his videos. I find him funny and I agree with a lot of what he stands for; I also appreciate the amount of charity work he does and the way he helps the "nerds" feel better about themselves and make it out of high school a little less scarred than they might have been. I like John Green.
But I do not particularly like this book.
There are plenty of people raving about this book on goodreads, on Kirkus, in various magazines and newspapers... so I realise I am in a tiny minority. I will also admit that I might not have felt the same if I hadn't already subjected myself to numerous "cancer books" but, as it is, I do not feel anything that unique or interesting has been brought to the table here. For the first half (approx), despite my lack of enthusiasm, I expected to give it three stars because I didn't consider it to be a bad book and it was well-written enough; however, as the book wore on, I began to realise that I was growing more and more bored and found myself struggling to read on. This was something I hadn't anticipated. I'd prepared myself for many different possibilities: heartbreak, a changed perspective on life and death, disdain, annoyance... but not bored indifference. Hence the lower rating.
One of the first problems I encountered was that the kids were wise beyond their years. And I don't mean intelligent, I mean wise. They came out with things that really only suit people who've been alive a few centuries - like Dumbledore or Gandalf - or at the very least people who are sat comfortably in middle age. I like that Green doesn't patronise his readers by oversimplifying things or dumbing down characters in a condescending effort to appeal to teenagers, but these characters behave in a way that is unnatural to the point where sometimes it is verging on ridiculous. It's not completely unbelievable that some kids exist who are actually like this, but they definitely don't all speak and behave in this way.
The characters are all, in one way or another, John Green. They all have his quirkiness, his sense of humour; I was picturing several John Greens sat around having a conversation while I was reading The Fault in Our Stars. In fact, reading this book was a little bit like watching one of Green's vlogs, which might have worked well if JG hadn't dampened the humour with philosophical musings. As it was, I had a book that was trying so very hard to be both funny and sad at the same time and ended up failing to deliver either one as successfully as I would have liked. The dialogue felt false and scripted because of the teens' tendency to showcase their depth and intelligence. Natural conversation between anyone of any age doesn't work like this and I couldn't shake the feeling that there should be a laughter track playing in the background.
The Fault in Our Stars, in my opinion, would have been far better if Green had stuck to humour like Andrews did in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. I believe that the exaggerated characters and their unrealistic conversations would have been fine in a straight-up humour book because that's not supposed to portray something real and deep and moving. But Green loses it by trying to be philosophical and, in the end, I think he has produced a book that is as melodramatic and message-driven as any other on this issue. And his attempt to balance humour and sadness left me somewhat devoid of emotion throughout and provided fewer laughs than I'd hoped.
Ultimately, I feel that JG sacrificed humour in order to be deep and philosophical - perhaps this book tried to be too many things, perhaps JG tried to be too clever. But Me and Earl and the Dying Girl was a much better book, in my opinion, because it did the whole serious illness + humour thing but didn't over-complicate things by being philosophical. Like I said near the beginning, perhaps I am just tired of these books and The Fault in Our Stars needs to be appreciated by someone who has not already exhausted themselves on similar efforts.
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But I do not particularly like this book.
There are plenty of people raving about this book on goodreads, on Kirkus, in various magazines and newspapers... so I realise I am in a tiny minority. I will also admit that I might not have felt the same if I hadn't already subjected myself to numerous "cancer books" but, as it is, I do not feel anything that unique or interesting has been brought to the table here. For the first half (approx), despite my lack of enthusiasm, I expected to give it three stars because I didn't consider it to be a bad book and it was well-written enough; however, as the book wore on, I began to realise that I was growing more and more bored and found myself struggling to read on. This was something I hadn't anticipated. I'd prepared myself for many different possibilities: heartbreak, a changed perspective on life and death, disdain, annoyance... but not bored indifference. Hence the lower rating.
One of the first problems I encountered was that the kids were wise beyond their years. And I don't mean intelligent, I mean wise. They came out with things that really only suit people who've been alive a few centuries - like Dumbledore or Gandalf - or at the very least people who are sat comfortably in middle age. I like that Green doesn't patronise his readers by oversimplifying things or dumbing down characters in a condescending effort to appeal to teenagers, but these characters behave in a way that is unnatural to the point where sometimes it is verging on ridiculous. It's not completely unbelievable that some kids exist who are actually like this, but they definitely don't all speak and behave in this way.
The characters are all, in one way or another, John Green. They all have his quirkiness, his sense of humour; I was picturing several John Greens sat around having a conversation while I was reading The Fault in Our Stars. In fact, reading this book was a little bit like watching one of Green's vlogs, which might have worked well if JG hadn't dampened the humour with philosophical musings. As it was, I had a book that was trying so very hard to be both funny and sad at the same time and ended up failing to deliver either one as successfully as I would have liked. The dialogue felt false and scripted because of the teens' tendency to showcase their depth and intelligence. Natural conversation between anyone of any age doesn't work like this and I couldn't shake the feeling that there should be a laughter track playing in the background.
The Fault in Our Stars, in my opinion, would have been far better if Green had stuck to humour like Andrews did in Me and Earl and the Dying Girl. I believe that the exaggerated characters and their unrealistic conversations would have been fine in a straight-up humour book because that's not supposed to portray something real and deep and moving. But Green loses it by trying to be philosophical and, in the end, I think he has produced a book that is as melodramatic and message-driven as any other on this issue. And his attempt to balance humour and sadness left me somewhat devoid of emotion throughout and provided fewer laughs than I'd hoped.
Ultimately, I feel that JG sacrificed humour in order to be deep and philosophical - perhaps this book tried to be too many things, perhaps JG tried to be too clever. But Me and Earl and the Dying Girl was a much better book, in my opinion, because it did the whole serious illness + humour thing but didn't over-complicate things by being philosophical. Like I said near the beginning, perhaps I am just tired of these books and The Fault in Our Stars needs to be appreciated by someone who has not already exhausted themselves on similar efforts.
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October 9, 2012
I must be clear from the beginning. This is perhaps the most personal review I have written. My choice of stars was difficult for this. I am a self confessed John Green fan, I believe he is amongst the best of, not only YA, but fiction writers out there in general.
This is a beautifully written book. There is very little to complain about in terms of style, plot, character, etc. However I couldn't, in all good conscience, give this any higher because it sits so badly with me. I have let this novel marinate for a couple of days now before writing this, and I just keep coming back to the same issues. Namely:
Was this John Green's story to tell?
It is the human condition to attempt to find hope in hopeless situations. But let me attempt to explain how watching a 17 year old fade away truly feels. Because when the wit and words are stripped away I am not sure John did that.
It is endless. It is an unavoidable and uncontrollable and an all encompassing darkness where no hope or life or explanations exist.
There are absolutely no life lessons to be gained from watching a 17 year old cease to exist. There is no comfort. The lessons that some may claim you can achieve through the darkest night of the soul reveal most of humanity for the selfish, narcissistic beings we are.
I have come to believe there is a special kind of cruelty behind the perfectly cross stitched 'encouragement'. Those things are for the ones left over trying to make sense of the senseless.
Whilst I believe this novel acknowledges that. It tries not to, as the main protagonists claimed theirselves, set the victims of disease up as typical heroic, worldly wise characters, it still reads like a novel attempting to bring equilibrium out of disaster. The victims ultimately still are wise beyond their years. This, it seems, is an assumed side effect of a teenager coming to terms with their mortality. They use metaphors and pretentious poetry and a sharp wit and are wholly unbelievable as real life teenagers. They are constructs of an ideal. They are the literary version of Dawson's Creek, using SAT vocabulary and existential navel gazing, whilst simultaneously slamming the typical genre for using its characters to do the same.
Having lived this first hand; once with a brother who ceases to exist at 17 and a second time with a brother who is currently 2 years NEC. I am all too familiar with the need for light hearted humour at what may feel like the most inappropriate of times. But what differs from that and attempting to write a disease ridden novel that attempts to make you laugh, is apparently personal experience.
I have the right to sit around a Christmas table laughing somewhat hysterically at nothing. My living brother has the right to crack UNO-ball jokes whenever the opportunity arises. But none of the readers of this novel who have not experienced the kind of loss depicted here have a right to laugh at any of it. You can not claim it as your own unless it is yours, and in my mind that is what humour does. It is not appropriate for me to laugh along with eye jokes and blind jokes, because they are not my jokes. I am merely a voyeur in another persons tragedy, I lay no claim to having the understanding of the experience necessary to allow for laughter.
Again, let me make clear. I can not approach this book outside of my personal experience. Of course in reality I do not believe you have to have experienced everything to laugh at a joke. But in terms of purposefully trying to create humour in a novel that is fundamentally tragic, for an audience that is mostly YA, I struggle with. I struggle with it because the empty platitudes that are trying so hard to be subverted in this novel, are still being created. It is still suggesting there can be lightness and humour within the terminally dark - and it is suggesting it to people who have never experienced the terminally dark.
This read like a novel where the author has truly witnessed the emptiness of teenage terminal illness, and thankfully appears to have become more considerate and thoughtful for it. As opposed to erring on the side of platitudes.
But it still read as a novel attempting to explain where the hope in hopeless situations are.
Perhaps because it is too raw a subject for me, or perhaps because the novel really is sentimental and gratuitous (granted in a different way from the norm of this genre) but this is not a book I would recommend.
For sufferers, for family members of sufferers, or for well meaning people seeking to understand the hopelessness of some situations. I would recommend it for none.
This is a beautifully written book. There is very little to complain about in terms of style, plot, character, etc. However I couldn't, in all good conscience, give this any higher because it sits so badly with me. I have let this novel marinate for a couple of days now before writing this, and I just keep coming back to the same issues. Namely:
Was this John Green's story to tell?
It is the human condition to attempt to find hope in hopeless situations. But let me attempt to explain how watching a 17 year old fade away truly feels. Because when the wit and words are stripped away I am not sure John did that.
It is endless. It is an unavoidable and uncontrollable and an all encompassing darkness where no hope or life or explanations exist.
There are absolutely no life lessons to be gained from watching a 17 year old cease to exist. There is no comfort. The lessons that some may claim you can achieve through the darkest night of the soul reveal most of humanity for the selfish, narcissistic beings we are.
I have come to believe there is a special kind of cruelty behind the perfectly cross stitched 'encouragement'. Those things are for the ones left over trying to make sense of the senseless.
Whilst I believe this novel acknowledges that. It tries not to, as the main protagonists claimed theirselves, set the victims of disease up as typical heroic, worldly wise characters, it still reads like a novel attempting to bring equilibrium out of disaster. The victims ultimately still are wise beyond their years. This, it seems, is an assumed side effect of a teenager coming to terms with their mortality. They use metaphors and pretentious poetry and a sharp wit and are wholly unbelievable as real life teenagers. They are constructs of an ideal. They are the literary version of Dawson's Creek, using SAT vocabulary and existential navel gazing, whilst simultaneously slamming the typical genre for using its characters to do the same.
Having lived this first hand; once with a brother who ceases to exist at 17 and a second time with a brother who is currently 2 years NEC. I am all too familiar with the need for light hearted humour at what may feel like the most inappropriate of times. But what differs from that and attempting to write a disease ridden novel that attempts to make you laugh, is apparently personal experience.
I have the right to sit around a Christmas table laughing somewhat hysterically at nothing. My living brother has the right to crack UNO-ball jokes whenever the opportunity arises. But none of the readers of this novel who have not experienced the kind of loss depicted here have a right to laugh at any of it. You can not claim it as your own unless it is yours, and in my mind that is what humour does. It is not appropriate for me to laugh along with eye jokes and blind jokes, because they are not my jokes. I am merely a voyeur in another persons tragedy, I lay no claim to having the understanding of the experience necessary to allow for laughter.
Again, let me make clear. I can not approach this book outside of my personal experience. Of course in reality I do not believe you have to have experienced everything to laugh at a joke. But in terms of purposefully trying to create humour in a novel that is fundamentally tragic, for an audience that is mostly YA, I struggle with. I struggle with it because the empty platitudes that are trying so hard to be subverted in this novel, are still being created. It is still suggesting there can be lightness and humour within the terminally dark - and it is suggesting it to people who have never experienced the terminally dark.
This read like a novel where the author has truly witnessed the emptiness of teenage terminal illness, and thankfully appears to have become more considerate and thoughtful for it. As opposed to erring on the side of platitudes.
But it still read as a novel attempting to explain where the hope in hopeless situations are.
Perhaps because it is too raw a subject for me, or perhaps because the novel really is sentimental and gratuitous (granted in a different way from the norm of this genre) but this is not a book I would recommend.
For sufferers, for family members of sufferers, or for well meaning people seeking to understand the hopelessness of some situations. I would recommend it for none.
February 13, 2016
The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars
But in ourselves.
This is the first time I’ve truly been at a loss for words. What am I supposed to say? How can I do this book justice? Maybe tell you all that it was perfect? The best, most heartbreaking, hilarious book that has touched me like none other? Sure. I mean, it's been said countless times, in countless reviews, and you know what? They are absolutely, a hundred and fifty percent true.
Hazel's days are numbered thanks to her crap lungs. She was able to buy a few years more, thanks to a miracle, but she isn't fooling herself. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.
I don't think I've ever cried so much, laughed so much, just over all enjoyed a book as much as I have while reading The Fault in Our Stars. Everything that goes on is serious, heartbreaking and eye opening but John Green does an amazing job at, literally, making you laugh out loud. Even when you're suffering.
Hazel... what a breathe of fresh air her character was. She was real and I loved her no bullshit attitude. She wasn't fooling herself, and John Green didn't make her out to be ecstatic with the world or her situation. She wasn't bitchy or depressing, but it wasn't like she was perfectly fine to sit idly and watch the time tick by.
Augustus Waters is my dream guy. Like, for real. As I wrote on an update: Screw all the Christian Grey’s and the Gideon Cross’, just give be Augustus Waters.
As he read, I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once.
I fell in love with everything that was… him.
I was completely emotionally invested into the story. It’s not just the main characters that stole my heart, Isaac, the parents, even her damn tank, Phillip, did as well. It was beautiful, it was hilarious, and it was perfect.
"Maybe okay will be our always."
Everybody tells you to have your tissues fully loaded because you’re going to need them, and of course my first thought is suuuureee. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve teared up in plenty of books, but actually cried? Nah. Well, I step down and admit defeat. I freakin’ sobbed my heart out. John Green, you’ve done what only few have been able to do... make me cry.
*A thanks to all the ladies that BR this with me (and the ones who crashed it) I wouldn’t have gone near this one with a ten foot pole without you all ;)
December 5, 2013
As seen on The Readventurer
The Fault in Our Stars currently has a rating of 4.74 on Goodreads, almost everyone I know has given it 5 stars, therefore I'm certain no one would want to read my sour musings, except me and maybe a couple of other like-minded and unimpressed.
What I'd love to know is this - what makes a writer undertake the topic of cancer? So much has already been written about it, so many Lifetime movies filmed, so many tears shed. It literally has been done to death. What new did John Green have to bring to the cancer table?
The way I see it, nothing. Having your terminally sick characters be ironic about their illnesses and swap cancer jokes isn't groundbreaking.
The Fault in Our Stars isn't a bad book, but it's a standard cancer book, and, sadly, a standard John Green book, with standard John Green humor and standard John Green characters speaking in the very same John Green voice.
You have a witty and intelligent protagonist (this time 2, Hazel and Augustus - a female and male versions of Miles/Quentin/Colin), a funny, slightly pathetic sidekick (Isaac - another version of Hassan/Chip/Marcus), a mysterious, unhinged girl, Gus's dead ex (Alaska/Margo clone), and, of course, the signature ROAD TRIP. I can't help but recognize these people and this plot, I've read all of Green's novels.
I understand why so many readers would have such an emotional response to the book. Nothing will get the ladies crying quicker than a kid dying of cancer. Add in some long farewells, painkillers, eulogies and funerals - you can collect buckets of tears. But, IMO, here Green aims for the most obvious, the most easily accessible emotions, for the most typical "life lessons." And for all Green's attempts to be subversive and to make fun of "cancer cliches" - inspirational quotes, heroic cancer survivors, etc. he ended up writing about exactly the same things.
Frankly, I think The Fault in Our Stars is Green's weakest work to date, weaker even than half-baked Zombicorns. Because this, unlike his earlier works, feels commercial and intentionally tearjerky and insincere. It will probably sell the most copies.
The Fault in Our Stars currently has a rating of 4.74 on Goodreads, almost everyone I know has given it 5 stars, therefore I'm certain no one would want to read my sour musings, except me and maybe a couple of other like-minded and unimpressed.
What I'd love to know is this - what makes a writer undertake the topic of cancer? So much has already been written about it, so many Lifetime movies filmed, so many tears shed. It literally has been done to death. What new did John Green have to bring to the cancer table?
The way I see it, nothing. Having your terminally sick characters be ironic about their illnesses and swap cancer jokes isn't groundbreaking.
The Fault in Our Stars isn't a bad book, but it's a standard cancer book, and, sadly, a standard John Green book, with standard John Green humor and standard John Green characters speaking in the very same John Green voice.
You have a witty and intelligent protagonist (this time 2, Hazel and Augustus - a female and male versions of Miles/Quentin/Colin), a funny, slightly pathetic sidekick (Isaac - another version of Hassan/Chip/Marcus), a mysterious, unhinged girl, Gus's dead ex (Alaska/Margo clone), and, of course, the signature ROAD TRIP. I can't help but recognize these people and this plot, I've read all of Green's novels.
I understand why so many readers would have such an emotional response to the book. Nothing will get the ladies crying quicker than a kid dying of cancer. Add in some long farewells, painkillers, eulogies and funerals - you can collect buckets of tears. But, IMO, here Green aims for the most obvious, the most easily accessible emotions, for the most typical "life lessons." And for all Green's attempts to be subversive and to make fun of "cancer cliches" - inspirational quotes, heroic cancer survivors, etc. he ended up writing about exactly the same things.
Frankly, I think The Fault in Our Stars is Green's weakest work to date, weaker even than half-baked Zombicorns. Because this, unlike his earlier works, feels commercial and intentionally tearjerky and insincere. It will probably sell the most copies.
April 13, 2014
This is me after I finished the book (and whenever I think about it).
*pointless EDIT* Woooah! 1000+ likes!? I'm surprised how many people are willing to read my little blurb of nothingness!
*EDIT* In a lot of peoples reviews I keep seeing "they don't talk their age!" or "They make these beautiful long speeches which is something that normal teenagers don't do" and I have to point out that Augustus and Hazel AREN'T normal teenagers. They've had to go through so much more in their lifetime than a lot of teenagers will ever have to, and its aged them. And quite honestly, this book wouldn't be as good if they were "normal" (whatever that means)
*sighs* okay I'm done, proceed with reading. If you want to, I'm just tiny words on a screen. Do whatever you want.
As much of an amazing writer as I want to be.... I'm really not. So I'll just point out the things that made this book amazing. ;)
I knew that I would cry so I really didn't bother swearing not to cry. What I didn't expect is bawling my eyes out. I really didn't. John Green has done an amazing job of making these characters feel so real to me. When they cried, I cried (bawled). When they laughed, I laughed. When they melted, I melted. Their romance was so epic and I know, I KNOW, that this is a book I will read over and over again and cry every single time.
The characters were perfection! Especially Augustus Waters. Not only is his name Augustus (which is epic in itself) He had the guts to go up to Hazel and just straight up ask her to come hang out with him. Nice guys finish last? I think not.
You know this book was so awesmazing that I gave it its own tag. Just look up there and you'll see a little tag that says "the-fault-in-our-stars". It was THAT amazing. Seriously. So amazing that I'm pretty sure it was my first heartbreak... from a book. I really haven't felt that much from a book, much less a person, in a very long time. (I'm kind of a loner and a commitment phob... not a good mix) But my heart didn't just do this 3, it did this » *BOOM!* (didn't have a sign for that)
I wish I could write more about this book, but I just can't explain the amazingness of it with my simple, unworthy words, so I am going to tell you what you NEED to do....
READ IT
June 10, 2012
John Green.
John Green.
John Green.
You're not like Peter Van Houten, are you?
What have you done to my brain...
and my heart...
I'm not gonna review how exquisite John Green can write, or how he can create characters as special as Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters, or how amazing he can tell a story. Despite the huge number of ratings and the spectacular average rating, this book is not perfect. You might find it unrealistic, because if there are many of us who see the life and its complexity like Hazel and Gus do, this world will be such a happy place. So like any other book, this one also might be a miss or a hit. If it's a miss, then you can say it's not worth the hype. But if it's a hit, it hits hard.
Everything in this book: the characters, the story, the words, they all have the power to be an inspiration. If you haven't read it, I suggest to take the chance.
January 18, 2024
john green deserves an apology from the not-like-other-girls vibes of the 2010s
he put his whole greenussy into this. and maybe his authorial voice doesn't totally match up to a 16 year old girl's. maybe the big words were big wordin' a lil too hard. but teens are annoying. they care about philosophy and contemplate death. i was one of em!
i love the discussion of legacy. and grief. and normally i don't fuck with quotable books but the quotes here... go hard.
ily john green. thank you for YOUR legacy.
he put his whole greenussy into this. and maybe his authorial voice doesn't totally match up to a 16 year old girl's. maybe the big words were big wordin' a lil too hard. but teens are annoying. they care about philosophy and contemplate death. i was one of em!
i love the discussion of legacy. and grief. and normally i don't fuck with quotable books but the quotes here... go hard.
ily john green. thank you for YOUR legacy.
August 19, 2017
This is the John Green-i-est book of all John Green books, and I hate it and him more than anything.
My sister and I actually have a running joke where we just quote this book back and forth to each other. Although honestly anytime anyone says "It's a metaphor," I immediately say "ya put tha killin' thing between ya teeth but ya don't give it the power to do its killin'!", affecting the mannerisms of a stereotypical paperboy from the 1920s.
It gets a laugh every time. (Or at least a sound of disgust, which is just as satisfying within this context.)
There are just so many laughable quotes. "I fell in love the way you fall asleep: Slowly, then all at once." "Some infinities are bigger than other infinities." "It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you." "Because you are beautiful. I enjoy looking at beautiful people, and I decided a while ago not to deny myself the simpler pleasures of existence." (That one is a good one if you, like me, love your friends a lot but are bad at compliments. This will ensure that they know you love them, but also prevent them from ever wanting to talk to you ever again.)
Oh, and: "My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations." (That last one is probably my favorite, because it gets the most horrified reaction from the audience.) And how could I almost forget the classics: "Maybe 'okay' could be our 'always.'" (Also, of course I had to look up those quotes. While I love John Green jokes, my brain is so inherently opposed to him that I cannot memorize his sh*t for the life of me. I still mess up the killing thing between your teeth quote, and I say that one at least weekly.)
Anyway. It's comedy gold because this crap is cringe-worth-i-ly affected and pretentious and unrealistic, but also focuses on basic key words and concepts you can latch onto and bring up in pretty much any given conversation.
What? Yes, all of my friends do hate me. Why do you ask?
I am just about full to bursting and sick to death of John Green's quasi-profound books and boring guys and manic girls and token diverse background characters with one quirk and not much else. I don't know how much more pretentious dialogue and profound ponderings and fake teenage angst I can take.
Perhaps unsurprisingly,t his is not so much of a mini review, but I feel like I've had a buildup of John Green-directed anger of late. Don't get me wrong, I'm constantly boiling in it, just due to who I am as a person, but his return to writing and that ugly cover reveal are making me even madder. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, JOHN. IS THIS BECAUSE YOU KNOW I WILL HAVE TO READ YOUR NEW BOOK, SINCE I HAVE LONG JUSTIFIED MY HATRED FOR YOU BY SAYING I'VE READ ALL YOUR SH*T AND DISLIKED IT ALL?
Can you tell that I somewhat irrationally believe he knows that I hate him? I've been so outspoken about it. Granted, over half of that outright opposition took place in my junior year AP World History class, but still. The man could have eyes everywhere.
Why, you may ask, do I continue to scream about him if I'm so scared he and his cringey YouTube videos and rabid fans will come for my life?
Because he is horrible. I enjoy ranting about horrible people, and I decided a while ago not to deny myself the simpler pleasures of existence.
(This is part of a project I am doing wherein I write mini reviews of books I read a long time ago. Yes, I am aware that this doesn't exactly fit anyone's definition of a mini review.)
My sister and I actually have a running joke where we just quote this book back and forth to each other. Although honestly anytime anyone says "It's a metaphor," I immediately say "ya put tha killin' thing between ya teeth but ya don't give it the power to do its killin'!", affecting the mannerisms of a stereotypical paperboy from the 1920s.
It gets a laugh every time. (Or at least a sound of disgust, which is just as satisfying within this context.)
There are just so many laughable quotes. "I fell in love the way you fall asleep: Slowly, then all at once." "Some infinities are bigger than other infinities." "It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you." "Because you are beautiful. I enjoy looking at beautiful people, and I decided a while ago not to deny myself the simpler pleasures of existence." (That one is a good one if you, like me, love your friends a lot but are bad at compliments. This will ensure that they know you love them, but also prevent them from ever wanting to talk to you ever again.)
Oh, and: "My thoughts are stars I cannot fathom into constellations." (That last one is probably my favorite, because it gets the most horrified reaction from the audience.) And how could I almost forget the classics: "Maybe 'okay' could be our 'always.'" (Also, of course I had to look up those quotes. While I love John Green jokes, my brain is so inherently opposed to him that I cannot memorize his sh*t for the life of me. I still mess up the killing thing between your teeth quote, and I say that one at least weekly.)
Anyway. It's comedy gold because this crap is cringe-worth-i-ly affected and pretentious and unrealistic, but also focuses on basic key words and concepts you can latch onto and bring up in pretty much any given conversation.
What? Yes, all of my friends do hate me. Why do you ask?
I am just about full to bursting and sick to death of John Green's quasi-profound books and boring guys and manic girls and token diverse background characters with one quirk and not much else. I don't know how much more pretentious dialogue and profound ponderings and fake teenage angst I can take.
Perhaps unsurprisingly,t his is not so much of a mini review, but I feel like I've had a buildup of John Green-directed anger of late. Don't get me wrong, I'm constantly boiling in it, just due to who I am as a person, but his return to writing and that ugly cover reveal are making me even madder. WHO DO YOU THINK YOU ARE, JOHN. IS THIS BECAUSE YOU KNOW I WILL HAVE TO READ YOUR NEW BOOK, SINCE I HAVE LONG JUSTIFIED MY HATRED FOR YOU BY SAYING I'VE READ ALL YOUR SH*T AND DISLIKED IT ALL?
Can you tell that I somewhat irrationally believe he knows that I hate him? I've been so outspoken about it. Granted, over half of that outright opposition took place in my junior year AP World History class, but still. The man could have eyes everywhere.
Why, you may ask, do I continue to scream about him if I'm so scared he and his cringey YouTube videos and rabid fans will come for my life?
Because he is horrible. I enjoy ranting about horrible people, and I decided a while ago not to deny myself the simpler pleasures of existence.
(This is part of a project I am doing wherein I write mini reviews of books I read a long time ago. Yes, I am aware that this doesn't exactly fit anyone's definition of a mini review.)
September 10, 2023
“Some infinites are bigger than other infinites.”
In this novel we meet the story of "Hazel Lancaster”, a fragile sixteen years old with terminal lung cancer. Life is hard, but that much harder even still with cancer. Each day is fiercely fought against a certain fatal destiny; until one day Hazel crosses paths with "Augustus Waters", another young terminal soul. Even in those days close to death, life can unexpectedly turn and change forever, for good, and for bad.
Reading with your heart is sometimes dangerous, but it is the only way I know to read. I swear with this book made me feel ill and die a little, and maybe a tiny part of me did. These pages contain an indescribable amount of pain, excruciating pain, but the magical moments within, perhaps scarce, but wonderfully unique, made this experience extremely worthwhile. An invariably tragic story, certain to make you tear again and again. Extremely moving, and, occasionally, very inspiring and uplifting; with a fair share of funny moments too. Heartbreakingly beautiful. An abundance of quotes and moments to remember. Highly Recommendable. A young adult masterpiece.
***** The movie (2014) is a nice adaptation, decently faithful to the book. Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort play an excellent lead. Many endearing moments, and a lot of tearing ones too. The book was vastly superior in every single way, of course; still, in a world where movies so often butcher the book, the TFIOS movie is a wonderful experience to complement the reading, and a whole lot less painful; easier to watch, easier to love.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[2015] [313p] [Young Adult] [Highly Recommendable] [Cool Isaac] [Unyielding Hazel] [Sweet Augustus] [Painful Magic] [Anne Frank Scene <3 ] [TBR: An Imperial Affliction]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★★ The Fault in Our Stars
★★★★☆ Looking for Alaska
-----------------------------------------------
“Algunos infinitos son más grande que otros infinitos.”
En esta novela conocemos la historia de “Hazel Lancaster”, una frágil chica de dieciséis años con cáncer terminal de pulmón. La vida es difícil, pero mucho más aún con cáncer. Cada día es ferozmente ganado contra un certero fatal destino; hasta que un día Hazel se cruza con “Augustus Waters”, otra joven alma terminal. Incluso en los días cercanos a la muerte, la vida puede inesperadamente dar giros y cambiar para siempre, para bien, y para mal.
Leer con el corazón es a veces peligroso, pero es la única forma en la que sé leer. Podría jurar que con este libro me sentí enfermar y morir un poco, y quizá una pequeña parte de mí lo hizo. Estas páginas contienen una indescriptible cantidad de dolor, dolor insoportable, pero los momentos mágicos dentro, tal vez escasos, pero maravillosamente únicos, hacen esta experiencia extremadamente valedera. Una historia invariablemente trágica, certera en hacerte lagrimear una y otra vez. Extremadamente conmovedora y, ocasionalmente, igualmente inspiradora y esperanzadora; con una justa dosis de momentos graciosos también. Hermosamente desgarrador. Una abundancia de citas y momentos para el recuerdo. Altamente Recomendable. Una obra maestra del género Joven Adulto.
***** La película (2014) es una linda adaptación, decentemente fiel al libro. Shailene Woodley y Ansel Elgort llevan un excelente protagonismo. Muchos momentos entrañables, y muchos otros desgarradores también. El libro es vastamente superior en cada aspecto, seguro; pero, en un mundo donde las películas tan seguido masacran el libro original, la película TFIOS es una experiencia maravillosa para complementar la lectura. Un montón menos dolorosa; más fácil de ver, más fácil de amar.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[2015] [313p] [Joven Adulto] [Altamente Recomendable] [Capo Isaac] [Inflexible Hazel] [Dulce Augustus] [Dolorosa Magia] [Escena Anne Frank <3 ] [TBR: Una Aflicción Imperial]
-----------------------------------------------
In this novel we meet the story of "Hazel Lancaster”, a fragile sixteen years old with terminal lung cancer. Life is hard, but that much harder even still with cancer. Each day is fiercely fought against a certain fatal destiny; until one day Hazel crosses paths with "Augustus Waters", another young terminal soul. Even in those days close to death, life can unexpectedly turn and change forever, for good, and for bad.
Reading with your heart is sometimes dangerous, but it is the only way I know to read. I swear with this book made me feel ill and die a little, and maybe a tiny part of me did. These pages contain an indescribable amount of pain, excruciating pain, but the magical moments within, perhaps scarce, but wonderfully unique, made this experience extremely worthwhile. An invariably tragic story, certain to make you tear again and again. Extremely moving, and, occasionally, very inspiring and uplifting; with a fair share of funny moments too. Heartbreakingly beautiful. An abundance of quotes and moments to remember. Highly Recommendable. A young adult masterpiece.
***** The movie (2014) is a nice adaptation, decently faithful to the book. Shailene Woodley and Ansel Elgort play an excellent lead. Many endearing moments, and a lot of tearing ones too. The book was vastly superior in every single way, of course; still, in a world where movies so often butcher the book, the TFIOS movie is a wonderful experience to complement the reading, and a whole lot less painful; easier to watch, easier to love.
-----------------------------------------------
PERSONAL NOTE :
[2015] [313p] [Young Adult] [Highly Recommendable] [Cool Isaac] [Unyielding Hazel] [Sweet Augustus] [Painful Magic] [Anne Frank Scene <3 ] [TBR: An Imperial Affliction]
-----------------------------------------------
★★★★★ The Fault in Our Stars
★★★★☆ Looking for Alaska
-----------------------------------------------
“Algunos infinitos son más grande que otros infinitos.”
En esta novela conocemos la historia de “Hazel Lancaster”, una frágil chica de dieciséis años con cáncer terminal de pulmón. La vida es difícil, pero mucho más aún con cáncer. Cada día es ferozmente ganado contra un certero fatal destino; hasta que un día Hazel se cruza con “Augustus Waters”, otra joven alma terminal. Incluso en los días cercanos a la muerte, la vida puede inesperadamente dar giros y cambiar para siempre, para bien, y para mal.
Leer con el corazón es a veces peligroso, pero es la única forma en la que sé leer. Podría jurar que con este libro me sentí enfermar y morir un poco, y quizá una pequeña parte de mí lo hizo. Estas páginas contienen una indescriptible cantidad de dolor, dolor insoportable, pero los momentos mágicos dentro, tal vez escasos, pero maravillosamente únicos, hacen esta experiencia extremadamente valedera. Una historia invariablemente trágica, certera en hacerte lagrimear una y otra vez. Extremadamente conmovedora y, ocasionalmente, igualmente inspiradora y esperanzadora; con una justa dosis de momentos graciosos también. Hermosamente desgarrador. Una abundancia de citas y momentos para el recuerdo. Altamente Recomendable. Una obra maestra del género Joven Adulto.
***** La película (2014) es una linda adaptación, decentemente fiel al libro. Shailene Woodley y Ansel Elgort llevan un excelente protagonismo. Muchos momentos entrañables, y muchos otros desgarradores también. El libro es vastamente superior en cada aspecto, seguro; pero, en un mundo donde las películas tan seguido masacran el libro original, la película TFIOS es una experiencia maravillosa para complementar la lectura. Un montón menos dolorosa; más fácil de ver, más fácil de amar.
-----------------------------------------------
NOTA PERSONAL :
[2015] [313p] [Joven Adulto] [Altamente Recomendable] [Capo Isaac] [Inflexible Hazel] [Dulce Augustus] [Dolorosa Magia] [Escena Anne Frank <3 ] [TBR: Una Aflicción Imperial]
-----------------------------------------------
May 20, 2013
Venn you vish upon a star...
July 14, 2013
I had never read a John Green novel prior to reading this one. I wanted very much to like it and felt certain after reading some of the overwhelmingly positive reviews here that it would be an awesome and heartbreaking experience. I was ready and excited. I guess I could sum the experience up best by stating that it is unlikely I will read another book by this author, and if I do it will be sometime in the future when I forget how utterly disappointing I found this book to be.
I had a lot of problems with this book. Overall, it felt very insincere and I was constantly distracted by how obviously everything was written with the goal of tugging on the reader's heart strings, rather than just letting things happen that were beautiful in spite of being sad. It felt like Mr. Green was screaming at me from the page 'ARE YOU SAD YET? YOU'RE SAD RIGHT? THIS IS SAD. YOU SHOULD FEEL ALL THE THINGS AND CRY ABOUT IT. I'M A GOOD WRITER. I WRITE FEELINGS. ARE YOU CRYING YET?' For a story about Human Beings, it doesn't feel very human at all. Instead everything feels very unnatural and self-conscious in the worst way.
The biggest and most impossible thing for me to get around was I simply didn't believe the character of Augustus or his relationship with main character Hazel. As these concepts are basically what the entire story hinges upon, I didn't believe in or care about anything else that happened either. Augustus came off completely pretentious and obnoxious, particularly in the way he insisted on speaking in a Diablo Cody nerd hipster sort of dialect that no one would ever use in the real world. (Some commenters here have said it's the way Mr. Green himself talks which, a.) way to be self-congratulatory, and b.) how does he not get punched in the face, like, ALL THE TIME?) His entire character felt contrived and I never once felt a connection with him. Too often it seemed like he was walking around like I AM SO CLEVER LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME, constantly putting on a show so that nothing from him felt genuine or real. His whole fascination with ultimately meaningless metaphors felt condescending, like Mr. Green constantly squealing HEY GUYS, SEE WHAT I DID THERE? TAKE A SECOND, WRITE IT DOWN IF YOU NEED TO. YEAH, I'M DEEP. Augustus' one fault was sickness, but it was nothing that he could control. And that's just so... boring.
But it wasn't just Augustus. The character of Hazel was somewhat likable, (despite Mr. Green's insistance on making her 'sound like a teenager' by formating every other statement she makes like it's a question? and tacking distracting 'or whatever's onto the end of random bits of dialogue BECAUSE THIS IS HOW TEENAGERS TALK RIGHT? I CAN TALK LIKE A TEENAGER, SEE? BECAUSE THEY SAY 'WHATEVER'. I'M A GOOD WRITER. ARE YOU FEELING THINGS YET?) but her relationship with Augustus felt completely and totally forced. There was never any real reason for them to fall in love with one another, and that is crossing dangerously close into Twilight territory. He was so convienient, so effortless for Hazel. I had to wonder, was it him or was it because he was there and ready and willing? It all fell flat and left so many places to take the stories and facets of their characters completely unexplored. Any opportunities to delve into hard questions and real answers were left untaken and exchanged for large passages (mainly in the **SPOLIER ALERT**: Amsterdam trip scenes) that had very little purpose outside of screaming LOOK AT THIS HANDSOME CHARMING BOY ISN'T HE SWEET LADIES? HE WILL PULL YOUR CHAIR OUT FOR YOU AND HE TALKS LIKE I DO. IT'S CHARMING, RIGHT? YOU ARE FEELING CHARMED. I'M A GOOD WRITER.
Ultimately, it felt completely fake. I couldn't get lost in it, always fully aware of the fact that I was reading fiction and how irritating EVERYTHING about it was. I finished it, which is the only reason I gave it 2 stars, but it was a true task. Truthfully, it pissed me off. I would have loved to love this book as much as everyone else and have a new favorite to hold dear to my heart. Now I'm just confused. Was my copy broken?
I had a lot of problems with this book. Overall, it felt very insincere and I was constantly distracted by how obviously everything was written with the goal of tugging on the reader's heart strings, rather than just letting things happen that were beautiful in spite of being sad. It felt like Mr. Green was screaming at me from the page 'ARE YOU SAD YET? YOU'RE SAD RIGHT? THIS IS SAD. YOU SHOULD FEEL ALL THE THINGS AND CRY ABOUT IT. I'M A GOOD WRITER. I WRITE FEELINGS. ARE YOU CRYING YET?' For a story about Human Beings, it doesn't feel very human at all. Instead everything feels very unnatural and self-conscious in the worst way.
The biggest and most impossible thing for me to get around was I simply didn't believe the character of Augustus or his relationship with main character Hazel. As these concepts are basically what the entire story hinges upon, I didn't believe in or care about anything else that happened either. Augustus came off completely pretentious and obnoxious, particularly in the way he insisted on speaking in a Diablo Cody nerd hipster sort of dialect that no one would ever use in the real world. (Some commenters here have said it's the way Mr. Green himself talks which, a.) way to be self-congratulatory, and b.) how does he not get punched in the face, like, ALL THE TIME?) His entire character felt contrived and I never once felt a connection with him. Too often it seemed like he was walking around like I AM SO CLEVER LOOK AT ME LOOK AT ME, constantly putting on a show so that nothing from him felt genuine or real. His whole fascination with ultimately meaningless metaphors felt condescending, like Mr. Green constantly squealing HEY GUYS, SEE WHAT I DID THERE? TAKE A SECOND, WRITE IT DOWN IF YOU NEED TO. YEAH, I'M DEEP. Augustus' one fault was sickness, but it was nothing that he could control. And that's just so... boring.
But it wasn't just Augustus. The character of Hazel was somewhat likable, (despite Mr. Green's insistance on making her 'sound like a teenager' by formating every other statement she makes like it's a question? and tacking distracting 'or whatever's onto the end of random bits of dialogue BECAUSE THIS IS HOW TEENAGERS TALK RIGHT? I CAN TALK LIKE A TEENAGER, SEE? BECAUSE THEY SAY 'WHATEVER'. I'M A GOOD WRITER. ARE YOU FEELING THINGS YET?) but her relationship with Augustus felt completely and totally forced. There was never any real reason for them to fall in love with one another, and that is crossing dangerously close into Twilight territory. He was so convienient, so effortless for Hazel. I had to wonder, was it him or was it because he was there and ready and willing? It all fell flat and left so many places to take the stories and facets of their characters completely unexplored. Any opportunities to delve into hard questions and real answers were left untaken and exchanged for large passages (mainly in the **SPOLIER ALERT**: Amsterdam trip scenes) that had very little purpose outside of screaming LOOK AT THIS HANDSOME CHARMING BOY ISN'T HE SWEET LADIES? HE WILL PULL YOUR CHAIR OUT FOR YOU AND HE TALKS LIKE I DO. IT'S CHARMING, RIGHT? YOU ARE FEELING CHARMED. I'M A GOOD WRITER.
Ultimately, it felt completely fake. I couldn't get lost in it, always fully aware of the fact that I was reading fiction and how irritating EVERYTHING about it was. I finished it, which is the only reason I gave it 2 stars, but it was a true task. Truthfully, it pissed me off. I would have loved to love this book as much as everyone else and have a new favorite to hold dear to my heart. Now I'm just confused. Was my copy broken?
April 25, 2023
So, book, you decided not to play fair, huh? You used Tearjerking 101, huh? You armed yourself with adorably precocious teenage characters delivering insanely quotable lines while dying from cancer, huh?
Well, guess what - "I'm not cryyyyying! It's just been raining on my face..."
Like with any literature, what you get out of this book varies based on how you choose to interpret it.
You can see it as a shameless use of a serious medical condition in children in order to make money and get recognition (because it's kids dying from cancer, c'mon!)
And you know what? All these are to some extent true.
But what I got out of it, what made me tear up a bit was the motif of fragility of life as seen by the children who have a limited supply of that life, basically a limited 'infinity'. Reading it, I got a few flashbacks to Pediatric Oncology - the time in medical school when I realized that I'm not strong enough to be a pediatrician and see kids suffer and die.
Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters are the two children with cancer. She has terminal thyroid cancer and is tethered to an oxygen tank; he falls victim to metastatic osteosarcoma (before you scream 'Spoiler!' in outrage, I sincerely ask you - how could you not have seen it coming?) They introduce themselves in their cancer support group by stating their diagnoses - and my heart breaks a little at the thought of children learning to define themselves by their disease. Even their favorite book is the cancer book.
But no, "I'm not cryyyying...."
I think this book would have a huge appeal to teenagers, its intended audience. The characters are relatable, they are intelligent, and the male lead manages to transform from 'oh, rly, jerk?' to a considerate and lovely young man. The parents are present in the lives of both teens and are portrayed in a very sympathetic light; definitely no 'absent parent syndrome' here! Plus, it has a healthy portrayal of teenage sexuality, unlike what we frequently see in young adult literature.
So great book? No. But I easily give it 3.75 stars and therefore rounding up to 4 stars (Is the fault in them? Go figure.)
Well, guess what - "I'm not cryyyyying! It's just been raining on my face..."
And so my hard-won cool image of a cold-hearted cynic has been saved by this line, courtesy of New Zealand's 4th most popular guitar-based digi-bongo acapella-rap-funk-comedy folk duo:Seriously, book, you know that most heartstrings cannot resist being tugged on in this fashion, especially when you are using kids who are off the charts on the precocious cuteness scale with all their precocious irony, precocious sarcasm, precocious world-weariness and precocious vocabulary.
Are you tired of reading the word 'precocious' yet? Too bad, since adorable and fragile precociousness is at the 'literal heart' of this book. That's what alienated some readers - but I'm a sucker for precociousness in literature; guilty, your Honor!------
Like with any literature, what you get out of this book varies based on how you choose to interpret it.
You can see it as a shameless use of a serious medical condition in children in order to make money and get recognition (because it's kids dying from cancer, c'mon!)
Cancer in kids has been used as a tearjerker before. Google 'TV tropes Littlest Cancer Patient', please. Here, I will save you the trouble.You can see it as a cutesy young adult love story. You can see it as a collection of quotable lines clearly put into the speech of teens by the middle-aged author. You can see it as yet another coming-of-age novel (there's even a requisite trip/adventure in there, really). You can even see it as a book trying really hard to NOT be a stereotypical 'cancer book' - to the point where characters are stating so at length.
And you know what? All these are to some extent true.
But what I got out of it, what made me tear up a bit was the motif of fragility of life as seen by the children who have a limited supply of that life, basically a limited 'infinity'. Reading it, I got a few flashbacks to Pediatric Oncology - the time in medical school when I realized that I'm not strong enough to be a pediatrician and see kids suffer and die.
Hazel Lancaster and Augustus Waters are the two children with cancer. She has terminal thyroid cancer and is tethered to an oxygen tank; he falls victim to metastatic osteosarcoma (before you scream 'Spoiler!' in outrage, I sincerely ask you - how could you not have seen it coming?) They introduce themselves in their cancer support group by stating their diagnoses - and my heart breaks a little at the thought of children learning to define themselves by their disease. Even their favorite book is the cancer book.
But no, "I'm not cryyyying...."
This is not a perfect book. It relies a little too heavily on tearjerking. Frequently, it gets to be a bit too full of itself, occasionally cringeworthy - sometimes to eye-rolling extent. But with the quotability factor and the smart precociousness still comes the real sadness and cuteness and feeling that clawed its way into my heart and made me love it despite the imperfections. Maybe I liked it because of associations and memories it brought with it rather than for its own merits - but hey, the emotions will stay with me for a while, whatever the reason for them may be.
I think this book would have a huge appeal to teenagers, its intended audience. The characters are relatable, they are intelligent, and the male lead manages to transform from 'oh, rly, jerk?' to a considerate and lovely young man. The parents are present in the lives of both teens and are portrayed in a very sympathetic light; definitely no 'absent parent syndrome' here! Plus, it has a healthy portrayal of teenage sexuality, unlike what we frequently see in young adult literature.
So great book? No. But I easily give it 3.75 stars and therefore rounding up to 4 stars (Is the fault in them? Go figure.)
“The pleasure of remembering had been taken from me, because there was no longer anyone to remember with. It felt like losing your co-rememberer meant losing the memory itself, as if the things we'd done were less real and important than they had been hours before.”
Read
March 8, 2015Hang on a sec.
I'm gonna leave the rating blank now, cause I feel like I wouldn't have given this book five stars had I read it today. Yeah, it definitely impacted me once upon a time, but now... I've read so many unbelievably emotional books that this one just seems to, quite frankly, fade into the background. I've read a handful of eye-opening reviews and analyses that have made me see this book in a new light. A dimmer light, sadly.
Sorry to disappoint the people who liked my former review, where I claimed that this book was so "heart-destroying" and whatnot. That was my younger self being overly dramatic, I think.
I'm gonna leave the rating blank now, cause I feel like I wouldn't have given this book five stars had I read it today. Yeah, it definitely impacted me once upon a time, but now... I've read so many unbelievably emotional books that this one just seems to, quite frankly, fade into the background. I've read a handful of eye-opening reviews and analyses that have made me see this book in a new light. A dimmer light, sadly.
Sorry to disappoint the people who liked my former review, where I claimed that this book was so "heart-destroying" and whatnot. That was my younger self being overly dramatic, I think.
April 29, 2013
FIVE OKAY & INFINITE STARS
OKAY?
OKAY
There are almost 33000 reviews of this book. Why do I try to write one? I just don’t know but I do know that I have to let you know my thoughts about this AWESOME book.
I love YA. Even if I take YA holidays sometimes and stop reading it I can’t deny it’s one of my fave genres. This book and Forbidden are probably my favourite YA books and right now I cannot decide which one is my absolute favourite.
I knew about this book, I knew how it ended and I thought I couldn’t read it because the story was kind of personal for me but I will talk about that after my review.
This is the story of Hazel Grace & Augustus Water. Hazel has cancer and she meets Augustus at Support Group. They are ADORABLE. Hazel is the teen I always wanted to be: intelligent, funny, a great daughter and a very strong kid.
There is only one thing in this world shittier than biting it from cancer when you’re sixteen, and that’s having a kid who bites it from cancer
And Augustus… well, he’s just then teen boyfriend I always wanted to meet: charismatic, positive, funny, happy and a GREAT best friend.
”I enjoy looking at beautiful people, and I decided a while ago not to deny myself the simpler pleasures of existence”
Hazel Grace is just like us, she loves books and she specially loves her favourite book “An Imperial Affliction” by Peter Van Houten who happens to be her best friend, but let’s say this is a one-sided friendship. I also want a lot of authors to be my friends!
She tells Augustus about the book and he obviously reads it because he would do ANYTHING for Hazel Grace.
”Love is keeping the promise anyway”
Enter Isaac, Augustus’ best friend. He’s the best friend I always wanted to have. A romantic, a fool romantic who has cancer in his eyes…
This book is about love, friendship, fight, hope and life. And about infinites
As I mentioned, Hazel is obsessed with Peter Van Houten. Apparently he never finished his book An Imperial Affliction so she decides to mail him asking for answers. Because as she said, authors shouldn’t end their books if they’re not finished, right? I am gonna do the same with some authors…
And of course, if you ever do decide to write anything else, even if you don’t want to publish it, I’d love to read it. Frankly, I’d read your grocery list.
I might have mentioned that to one of my favourite M/M authors. I am pathetic!
The days go by and Hazel and Augustus cannot stay away from each other and their relationship is soooooo freaking sweet. OMG, I am in love with Augustus Waters, he’s probably the BEST book boyfriend EVER.
”Oh my God, stop flirting with me!. We both know that okay is a very flirty word. Okay is BURSTING with sensuality”.
I just loved how the author made me laugh so much. I mean, I was reading a book about kids with cancer, I wasn’t supposed to be laughing but I did. I did because those damn characters camped in my heart and they are planning to stay there forever.
”It would be a privilege to have my heart broken by you”.
And you feel you’re discovering love for the first time with them all over again. Like true love, that kind of love that comes from a friendship. A love that is not based on how hot you are but how interesting you are. A love that is based in understanding each other, in accepting that we are grenades that can explode, in being there for each other no matter what.
This is probably one of the best and most real love stories I’ve ever read in my entire life. I will never EVER forget this book, I actually ordered the paperback as I need to smell the book, I need to hug Hazel and tell her she’s my new best friend even if this is also a one-sided friendship. I need to tell Isaac that his special person is going to come to his life one day and he’s gonna know what real love is.
I need to hug Hazel’s father and tell him I freaking LOVE him because he reminded me of my father. A lot of families should take Hazel’s family as an example. You need to give love if you want to receive love and that’s what this family did.
”The world is not a wish-granting factory”.
And even if the world is not a wish granting factory you cannot stop believing that good things will come because they will. You just need to be positive and enjoy what you have, enjoy every single second with the people you love just like Hazel & Augustus did.
”You don’t get to choose if you get hurt in this world, old man, but you do have some say in who hurts you. I like my choices. I hope she likes hers.”.
***The below is not about the book, is about my life, you might not want to read it but I have to say this***
That man on the picture was my best friend for almost 19 years, the man of my life, my half, the person who will be my example until the last day of my life. The person who taught me that reading was one of the best experiences in life. The BEST father ever!. His lungs didn’t keep their shit together, as Hazel would say and he left us three months after being diagnosed with cancer (almost 12 years ago).
While we were with chemo, and I say we because I used to go with him every Monday, I met a kid who was way too young to have cancer. I couldn’t understand why kids had cancer, it wasn’t fair.
Once my father was gone I wanted to get something positive about that horrible experience so I started volunteering with an association that helped kids with cancer: AVOI.
The guy who started this association had a kid with cancer who died and he decided to create this association to help families in that situation. He is an example for me. It wasn’t my moment anyway because everything was very fresh and I couldn’t help but think about my father every time I was with those kids and it’s hard when you go back week after week and there are some kids that are not there anymore…
This book reminded me of that association. Life sucks sometimes but while you can, get the best of it. Tell your friends and family you love them, don’t assume they know you love them. Enjoy every single second with them because one day, death will take them or will take us.
I will give years of my life for one more evening with my dad, to hear his voice one more time so PLEASE show your love and enjoy your family and friends while you can.
I don’t want you guys to feel sad about my story because I was lucky, I got to have the BEST father ever and that’s something that makes me happy…
January 15, 2023
[Edited 1/15/23]
I didn’t intend to like this book. Not having read this author before, I thought, who is this guy who writes YA stuff and has a video blog? But I read it because so many of my GR friends have read it and rated it highly.
Indeed, it’s a great book and not just YA. It gives a brilliant picture of three bright young people (barely college-age) struggling to deal with cancer. How do they deal with it? With loving parents, friendship, sarcasm, cynicism, irony, tears and anger.
The main character, a young woman, not only has to “fight” terminal cancer but has to deal with knowing she, a single child, is the “alpha and omega of her parents’ suffering.” Her father is constantly in tears. She is devastated when she overhears her mother say, “I won’t be a mom anymore.”
She falls in love with a young man who lost a leg to cancer, but is in remission, and who has just lost a girlfriend to cancer. Initially she won’t return his affection because she thinks “I’m a grenade” and doesn’t want him to lose a second love. She corrects her parents when they say “Even if you die…” with “When I die…”
There are so many reviews that I will just focus on the good writing, much of which is dialog.
“But, in fact, depression is not a side effect of cancer. Depression is side effect of dying.”
“Osteosarcoma sometimes takes a limb to check you out. Then, if it likes you, it takes the rest.”
“…my dad just kept telling me he loved me in this voice that was not breaking so much as already broken.”
“And yet I still worried. I liked being a person. I wanted to keep at it. Worry is yet another side effect of dying.”
On phone calls with her boyfriend: “…we were together in some invisible and tenuous third space that could only be visited on the phone.”
“Sometimes it seems the universe wants to be noticed.” This statement could be the thesis for a philosophical treatise on consciousness.
She calls one of the more sterile hospitals a “prematorium.”
One young man accidentally puts his hand on the leg of another young man who is terminal. “I’m taken” he says.
And a real tear-jerker.
With the sale of 50 million books, John Green (b. 1977) is one of the best-selling authors of all time. Many of his books on Goodreads have ratings numbering in the millions – right up there with the Harry Potters. After Fault, his most popular books are Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns and Turtles All the Way Down.
Top photo from nhsctcancerservices.hscni.net
The author from nytimes.com
I didn’t intend to like this book. Not having read this author before, I thought, who is this guy who writes YA stuff and has a video blog? But I read it because so many of my GR friends have read it and rated it highly.
Indeed, it’s a great book and not just YA. It gives a brilliant picture of three bright young people (barely college-age) struggling to deal with cancer. How do they deal with it? With loving parents, friendship, sarcasm, cynicism, irony, tears and anger.
The main character, a young woman, not only has to “fight” terminal cancer but has to deal with knowing she, a single child, is the “alpha and omega of her parents’ suffering.” Her father is constantly in tears. She is devastated when she overhears her mother say, “I won’t be a mom anymore.”
She falls in love with a young man who lost a leg to cancer, but is in remission, and who has just lost a girlfriend to cancer. Initially she won’t return his affection because she thinks “I’m a grenade” and doesn’t want him to lose a second love. She corrects her parents when they say “Even if you die…” with “When I die…”
There are so many reviews that I will just focus on the good writing, much of which is dialog.
“But, in fact, depression is not a side effect of cancer. Depression is side effect of dying.”
“Osteosarcoma sometimes takes a limb to check you out. Then, if it likes you, it takes the rest.”
“…my dad just kept telling me he loved me in this voice that was not breaking so much as already broken.”
“And yet I still worried. I liked being a person. I wanted to keep at it. Worry is yet another side effect of dying.”
On phone calls with her boyfriend: “…we were together in some invisible and tenuous third space that could only be visited on the phone.”
“Sometimes it seems the universe wants to be noticed.” This statement could be the thesis for a philosophical treatise on consciousness.
She calls one of the more sterile hospitals a “prematorium.”
One young man accidentally puts his hand on the leg of another young man who is terminal. “I’m taken” he says.
And a real tear-jerker.
With the sale of 50 million books, John Green (b. 1977) is one of the best-selling authors of all time. Many of his books on Goodreads have ratings numbering in the millions – right up there with the Harry Potters. After Fault, his most popular books are Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns and Turtles All the Way Down.
Top photo from nhsctcancerservices.hscni.net
The author from nytimes.com
August 9, 2021
The Fault in Our Stars, John Green
The Fault in Our Stars is the sixth novel by author John Green, published in January 2012.
The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, in which the nobleman Cassius says to Brutus: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
The story is narrated by Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old girl with cancer.
Hazel is forced by her parents to attend a support group where she subsequently meets and falls in love with 17-year-old Augustus Waters, an ex-basketball player and amputee.
A feature film adaptation of the novel directed by Josh Boone and starring Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort and Nat Wolff was released on June 6, 2014.
Both the book and its film adaptation were met with strong critical and commercial success.
عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «بخت پریشان»؛ «خطای ستارگان بخت ما»؛ «اشتباه در ستارگان بخت ما»؛ «ستارگان بخت ما مقصرند»؛ «من، او و نحسی ستارگان»؛ «نحسی ستارگان بخت ما»؛ «نقص ستارگان ما»؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و یکم ماه جولای سال 2012میلادی
عنوان: بخت پریشان؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: مریم فرادی؛ تهران، هیرمند، 1391، در 288ص، شابک 9789644083099؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 21م
عنوان: خطای ستارگان بخت ما؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: میلاد بابانژاد؛ الهه مرادی؛ تهران، پیدایش، 1393، در 412ص، شابک 9786002961150؛
عنوان: اشتباه در ستارگان بخت ما؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: مهرداد بازیاری؛ تهران، چشمه، 1394، در 233ص، شابک 9786002295743؛
عنوان: ستارگان بخت ما مقصرند؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: غزاله جعفرزاد؛ تهران، انتشارات او، 1394، در 250ص، شابک 9786005810486؛
عنوان: من، او و نحسی ستارگان؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: مینا مانی قلم؛ تهران، محراب قلم، 1395، در 300ص، شابک 9786004131803؛
عنوان: نحسی ستارگان بخت ما؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: آرمان آیت اللهی؛ تهران، آموت، 1394، در 302ص، شابک 9786003840072؛
عنوان: نقص ستارگان ما؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: نسترن پزشکی؛ تهران، آزادمهر، 1395، در 410ص، شابک 9789648477030؛
خواندم و گاه اشکی هم ریختم، عاشقانه، غمناک، ولی روحیه بخش درباره ی دختر نوجوانی ست که به بیماری سختی مبتلا است، اما میآموزد که زندگی زیباست و تا زنده ایم باید از آن لذت ببریم؛
و چه زیباست به گاهِ سحر، آن غنچه ی سرخ، که تو از خانه برون آمدی، آن را چیدی، و چه زیباست نسیم سحری، پشت پرچین گلی، که، به دیدار دلی میگشتی، و چه غمگین، که صبا از تو گذشت، کوچه رنجید ز باد، ماه در برکه ی آبش، چه شنائی میکرد؛ نور از اوج فرود آمده بود، باغ را دیده، که اطراف سحر ریخته بود؛ آسمان سرخی شرمی که، ز خلوتگه شب ساخته بود؛ چرخش آب به دامان سبوی دل کوه، چشمه انداخته بود؛ شوق، خود بود، همان قطره ی اشکی، که به گل باخته بود؛ من در آئینه تماشا کردم، نور برقی به دل صاف تو آویخته بود؛ کوچه از راه گذشت، تو به دنبال دلت میرفتی؛ هر قدم، عط�� نفسهای همان غنچه ی سرخ؛ شوقِ پندار، سبوی دلِ کوه؛ راهِ دیدار، همان برکه ی ماه؛ حسرت، از آینه رنجید که لبخند زدی؛ روز، از بستر ظلمت به در آمد، کفنش رنگین بود؛ سایه ها، گسترشِ آه شب، آهنگین بود؛ غنچه در دست تو، به جای دل من غمگین بود؛ شعرگونه ای از ا. شربیانی
ناریخ بهنگام رسانی 09/06/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 17/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
The Fault in Our Stars is the sixth novel by author John Green, published in January 2012.
The title is inspired by Act 1, Scene 2 of Shakespeare's play Julius Caesar, in which the nobleman Cassius says to Brutus: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings."
The story is narrated by Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old girl with cancer.
Hazel is forced by her parents to attend a support group where she subsequently meets and falls in love with 17-year-old Augustus Waters, an ex-basketball player and amputee.
A feature film adaptation of the novel directed by Josh Boone and starring Shailene Woodley, Ansel Elgort and Nat Wolff was released on June 6, 2014.
Both the book and its film adaptation were met with strong critical and commercial success.
عنوانهای چاپ شده در ایران: «بخت پریشان»؛ «خطای ستارگان بخت ما»؛ «اشتباه در ستارگان بخت ما»؛ «ستارگان بخت ما مقصرند»؛ «من، او و نحسی ستارگان»؛ «نحسی ستارگان بخت ما»؛ «نقص ستارگان ما»؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ تاریخ نخستین خوانش: روز بیست و یکم ماه جولای سال 2012میلادی
عنوان: بخت پریشان؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: مریم فرادی؛ تهران، هیرمند، 1391، در 288ص، شابک 9789644083099؛ موضوع داستانهای نویسندگان ایالات متحده آمریکا - سده 21م
عنوان: خطای ستارگان بخت ما؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: میلاد بابانژاد؛ الهه مرادی؛ تهران، پیدایش، 1393، در 412ص، شابک 9786002961150؛
عنوان: اشتباه در ستارگان بخت ما؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: مهرداد بازیاری؛ تهران، چشمه، 1394، در 233ص، شابک 9786002295743؛
عنوان: ستارگان بخت ما مقصرند؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: غزاله جعفرزاد؛ تهران، انتشارات او، 1394، در 250ص، شابک 9786005810486؛
عنوان: من، او و نحسی ستارگان؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: مینا مانی قلم؛ تهران، محراب قلم، 1395، در 300ص، شابک 9786004131803؛
عنوان: نحسی ستارگان بخت ما؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: آرمان آیت اللهی؛ تهران، آموت، 1394، در 302ص، شابک 9786003840072؛
عنوان: نقص ستارگان ما؛ نویسنده: جان گرین؛ مترجم: نسترن پزشکی؛ تهران، آزادمهر، 1395، در 410ص، شابک 9789648477030؛
خواندم و گاه اشکی هم ریختم، عاشقانه، غمناک، ولی روحیه بخش درباره ی دختر نوجوانی ست که به بیماری سختی مبتلا است، اما میآموزد که زندگی زیباست و تا زنده ایم باید از آن لذت ببریم؛
و چه زیباست به گاهِ سحر، آن غنچه ی سرخ، که تو از خانه برون آمدی، آن را چیدی، و چه زیباست نسیم سحری، پشت پرچین گلی، که، به دیدار دلی میگشتی، و چه غمگین، که صبا از تو گذشت، کوچه رنجید ز باد، ماه در برکه ی آبش، چه شنائی میکرد؛ نور از اوج فرود آمده بود، باغ را دیده، که اطراف سحر ریخته بود؛ آسمان سرخی شرمی که، ز خلوتگه شب ساخته بود؛ چرخش آب به دامان سبوی دل کوه، چشمه انداخته بود؛ شوق، خود بود، همان قطره ی اشکی، که به گل باخته بود؛ من در آئینه تماشا کردم، نور برقی به دل صاف تو آویخته بود؛ کوچه از راه گذشت، تو به دنبال دلت میرفتی؛ هر قدم، عط�� نفسهای همان غنچه ی سرخ؛ شوقِ پندار، سبوی دلِ کوه؛ راهِ دیدار، همان برکه ی ماه؛ حسرت، از آینه رنجید که لبخند زدی؛ روز، از بستر ظلمت به در آمد، کفنش رنگین بود؛ سایه ها، گسترشِ آه شب، آهنگین بود؛ غنچه در دست تو، به جای دل من غمگین بود؛ شعرگونه ای از ا. شربیانی
ناریخ بهنگام رسانی 09/06/1399هجری خورشیدی؛ 17/05/1400هجری خورشیدی؛ ا. شربیانی
April 15, 2012
Holy holy holy I waited so long for this novel, so long. I wish so bad I could give it more than 5 stars. John Green is absolutely amazing, amazing, amazing. The Fault in Our Stars had me laughing and crying, then laughing more and crying more. I will reread this over and over again, just like the rest of his novels. Oh wow, was it ever worth the wait. Thank you, John Green, for being so damn spectacular.
October 24, 2017
روايتين في كتاب واحد.. واحدة تنهي الأخري، مشاعر واقعية،عارية وجميلة !! ومبالغ في تقييمها
لا اعرف كيف ارتب افكاري حول الرواية، أو ما أكتبه عنها، فماذا أقول بعد كل ماقيل..ربما العيب مني، ربما هي رواية تحتاج شيئا من التفكير
"Okay, maybe I’m not such a shitty writer. But I can’t pull my ideas together,ولنبدأ بإنطباعي الأول
My Thoughts are stars,I can't fathom into Constellations"
دعوت الله الصبر والتحمل وتخفيف المعاناة والالم لكل المرضي، وسرعة شفائهم، وحمدت الله علي نعمة الصحة
لا أود الخوض في حكمة المرض والأبتلاء بالاخص في عمر ابطال الرواية او اصغر ، ربما لا أكون أفضل من يتحدث عن الامور الدينية ، لكن بالرغم من شعوري وتعاطفي بحال البطلة في الاحداث.. وأن هذا المرض قد يخرج أسوأ ما بك، الا اني استأت كثيرا من اسلوبها في بعض الاحيان عند التحدث علي ظلم الحياة ...او ظلم القدر
ما حكمة المرض...الغريب أن الملاحظة جاءت بشكل ملائم نوعا ما عندما جاء علي لسان هازل تلك الجملة
قد تكون قالتها عن الكون، لكنها عن خالق الكون نفسه من وجهة نظري
I was thinking about the universe wanting to be noticed, and how I had to notice it as best I could. I felt that I owed a debt to the universe that only my attention could repay....
كنت أفكر في أن الكون يريد ان نلاحظه ونشعر به ، وانه يجب عليّ أن اتأمله بكل جهدي واستطاعتي، شعرت انني مُدينه للكون وفقط بانتباهي له وتأمله استطيع رد هذا الدين.."
I wished the author would add "The Creator of the Universe" wants to be noticed, with pray,or even just proper notice , not in a lame way or anything,I know many may think it'd be "direct speech" BUT I believe John Green isn't shitty writer to do that, So,He could do it better..If he wanted to.
هذا هو ماتوقفت فيه واعجبني بل ورفع تقييمي ان هازل في النهاية شعرت بهذا الجزء.. انها مدينه للعالم ولرد هذا الدين يجب ان تتامله وتنتبه له
وأعتقد ان جون جرين لكان موفقا اكثر اذا ما ذكر شيئا عن خالق هذا الكون والدعاء له.. أعلم انه قد يري في هذا "خطاب مباشر" ولكني اعلم ان المؤلف ليس بكاتب سئ كي يقع في هذا الخطأ وكان يمكنه ان يعمق الفكرة بدون الوقوع في خطأ الخطاب المباشر
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ولكن لنرجع للأحـــداث
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هازل جريس فتاة في السادسة عشر من عمرها، مصابة بسرطان الرئة.. فتاة من الجيل الجديد، واقعية ، ذكية ، وأيضا صلبة شيئا ما...انه المرض كما تعرفون
تعشق رواية ما، وهي الرواية الثانية -كما قلت روايتان في كتاب- وتشعر بانها قريبة منها جدا
:هذه الرواية هي
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ِ"An Imperial Affliction"
وتدور احداثها حول آنـّا ، فتاة في السادسه عشر من عمرها ، مصابة بسرطان ايضا ، ولكن ميزة تلك الرواية انها ليست كالروايات التقليدية ، ولكنها مختلفة فالبطلة تحكي الالم بواقعية ، ولانها لا تحب الكلاشيهات.. ولديها حس ساخر فانها تنشئ جمعية ليس للسرطان وانما للكوليرا !!! ، المهم والدتها ، والتي هي عائلتها الوحيدة ، تتعرف علي رجل هولندي ثري يبدو محترما ، يعرض علي والدتها الزواج والتكفل بعلاج افضل لآنـّا ، ولكن آنـّا تشك في انه رجل عصابات ..وتدور الايام وتبدأ الاستعدادات لزواج والدتها و
وينتهي الكتاب بهذه الطريقة المفاجأة لهازل.. بدون نهاية ، ومع ذلك تعشق هذه الرواية جدا
تتعرف علي اوجستس وترز ، الشاب الذي يخشي النسيان البشري ، والذي تراه هازل ،النسيان، انه من مسلمات الحياة
أوجستس فقد احدي ساقيه في صراعه مع سرطان العظام لتتحسن حالته ويهزمه نوعا ما ، وبينما يهيم هو بهازل حبا ، تخشي هي ان تقترب منه اكثر وتقع في حبه لظروف مرضها حيث انها في حالة صعبة من السرطان بعكسه ، ولولا دواء معجزة معين لانتقلت لحالة حرجة.. وهي لا تريد ان تكون سببا في جرحه عندما ينتهي كل شئ
قد يكون هذا كلاشيه أخر بالنسبة لي ولكن الاحداث لم تتصف بالملل الا قليلا ، فالحدث الاهم هو كيفيه تعارفهم وتعايشهم .. تعاملهم مع الأصدقاء بالأخص المرضي بنفس المرض الخبيث
أما ما جعل قصة الحب قوية بالنسبة لي ، هي حبهم المشترك لرواية واحدة... بالطب
"An Imperial Affliction"
فأوجستس يريد ، مثل هازل ، معرفة نهايتها ويساعدها في مراسلاتها للمؤلف الذي اعتزل العمل بعد كتابه الاول والاخير منذ 10 سنوات ، اصيب بالتوحد وغادر البلاد الي هولندا وفشلت محاولات هازل السابقة في مراسلته لمعرفة ماذا سيحدث لبقية الابطال في روايتها المفضلة
وتتوالي المفاجأت ، وينجحا في السفر بأعجوبة ومقابله المؤلف.. ويالها من مفاجأة صادمة لهما ، ولأي قارئ يتعلق بالروايات التي يقرأها
وتتوالي بشكل اكبر بعد الرحلة مفاجأت القدر وماتخبئه النجوم للابطال
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لا أنكر ان الاحداث في بعض الاحيان اصابتني بشئ من الملل...ولكن تتابعها في اكثر الاوقات اعجبني وكانت واقعية جدا ، وبعضها صدمني بالاخص مقابلة شخصية مؤلف الرواية الخيالية التي تحبها هازل "بيتر فان هاوتن".. تلك المقابلة الكارثية والملائمه لشخصيته هي في رأيي من أقوي المشاهد بالرواية
والاغرب ان نفس الشخصية "الجافة" تلك هي كانت السبب الرئيسي في "التأثر لدرجة عدم التحكم في الدموع" بالنسبة لي لمرة وحيدة منذ بداية الرواية لأخرها ، وذلك في ظهوره بمشهد أخر قبيل نهايتها
فحتي قبل النهايه بحوالي 4 فصول ظننت اني عرفت كل شئ ، وتعجبت اني لم اتأثر للدرجة التي كتب عنها الكثير من انحاء العالم ولكن قبل النهاية شعرت بكل ماشعر به الكثيرين من تأثر بسبب ذلك المشهد
ولكن يجب ان اقول ان بالنهاية رغم كل الألام شعرت بكثير جدا من الراحة ... راحة ممتزجة بشجن غريب ولكنها كافيه لان تتحول الرواية بالنسبه لي من رواية ظننتها عادية الي رواية جيدة فعلا
الا اني مازلت اري ان في منتصف الاحداث في هولندا الجزء الخاص بالجنس بين فتاة بلغت عامها السادس عشر ، وفتي اكبر منها بقليل
هو امر مقحم وكان يمكن الاستغناء عنه باي مشهد رومانسي عاطفي اخر
ولكن يحسب للمؤلف فعلا استخدامه لاسلوب "مهذب" وليس فجا... ولكن كما قلت الامر لم يكن يستحق هذا .. لقد اعجبني جدا مشهد القبلة في هولندا...ولكن لم يعجبني مابعدها
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تقييمي للرواية كاد ان يكون 3 نجوم ، بعد كل هذا نعم ، لكنه زاد بسبب استمتاعي بالاحداث من بدايتها بسبب تخيلي لاثنان في نفس العمر في دور الابطال ، ولكن في عصر مختلف ....الحقبة الزمنية التي عشتها ، نهاية التسعينات
***Felicity and Ben ..Keri Russell and Scot Speedman***
وبالرغم من ان هازل اكثر صلابة ولها طابع السخرية اللاذعة أكثر من كيري راسيل ولكن نجح الامر وتفاعلت مع الشخصيات جدا بسببهما
وخاصه انها بها من ناتالي بورتمان في حقبه "فانديتا" كما تم تشبيه هازل في الرواية
ولكن هازل الصلبة فعلا هي من اهم اسباب نجاح الرواية الشديد بين الشباب
اعجبني جدا سؤال قراءته في صفحة احد الاصدقاء في الفيس بوك ، من الجيل الجديد-هرمنا احنا بقي مواليد الثمانينات- واعجبني جدا رده الساخر علي كمية الكلاشيهات التافهة المنتشرة بين جيلهم...او التي يتمسك بها الجيل السابق لهم
السؤال هو
What's cool nowadays?
الإلحاد، اللاأدرية، تكوين الباندات، تصوير الأفلام، الرسم، كلمة (---)، الكتابة الوعظية المباشرة، القصص الرديئة، الندوات الثقافية الممله، معارض الكتاب وحفلات التوقيع المصاحبة، ماجدة الرومي، السياسة، الشتيمة في السياسة، الفيزياء المسلوقة، الساركازم الرديء، التظاهر بانعدام القدرة على الحب، التمسك بالمفاهيم الرجعية الأصيلة، الانشغال، التظاهر بالانشغال، , رثاء النفس.. والاهم , العمق
ستجد هنا سبب نجاح الرواية انها اخذت الكثير من "الكوول ناوادايز"....لاأدريه ، لا يوجد وجود حقيقي في حكي بطله الروايه لله ، بل وربما بعض السخرية من التدين أو القدر ورفض ان
The Fault is not in Our Stars..
قد يحسب له أنه هنا انه ليس فجا ، ولكنه للاسف موجود..كما هو موجود في كثير من جيل العصر الحالي
الرواية بعيدة تماما عن "الكتابة الوعظية المباشرة" بل وتنقدها وهذا امر أتفق معه عاما ، فهذا النوع من الوعظ المباشر دائما ما تؤدي الي نتائج عكسية ونفور من الكتاب نفسه.. ولذلك اعجبني ان النهاية منطقية الي حد كبير ، واستحسنتها وان كنت اتمني ان لا تظل علي ال"لاأدرية" او تخففها شيئا ما
الساركازم او السخرية هنا لم تكن رديئة.. بالعكس اعجبني جدا في كثير جدا من الاحيان الحوار الساخر الذي برع في كتابته جون جرين والذي منح��ي إبتسامة حقيقية مصحوبة بشئ من الشجن
“Kids!” Julie shouted vaguely.
“I can only hope,” Julie said, turning back to Gus, “they grow into the kind of thoughtful, intelligent young men you’ve become.”
I resisted the urge to audibly gag. “He’s not that smart,” I said to Julie.
“She’s right. It’s just that most really good-looking people are stupid, so I exceed expectations.”
“Right, it’s primarily his hotness,” I said.
“It can be sort of blinding,” he said.
“It actually did blind our friend Isaac,” I said.
“Terrible tragedy, that. But can I help my own deadly beauty?”
“You cannot.”
“It is my burden, this beautiful face.”
“Not to mention your body.”
“Seriously, don’t even get me started on my hot bod. You don’t want to see me naked, Dave. Seeing me naked actually took Hazel Grace’s breath away,” he said, nodding toward the oxygen tank.
وفي النهاية...العمق
الرواية لا تحاول أدعاء عمق ليس بها كما يفعل للاسف اغلب الشباب في روايتهم سواء بمصر او بالعالم.. بالعكس ، الروايه بها عمق حقيقي نوعا ما
عمق الالم ، دون رسم للكلمات او الاهتمام بزخرفه الجمل لتصبح
Quotes
ولكني لا انكر ان هناك كثير من الكلمات الانجليزية كانت لغويا صعبه بالنسبه لي ، بالرغم من انها تأتي فتاه في السادسة عشر وعادة لا اجد تلك الصعوبة في تلك الفئة من الروايات
وقد اشار جاس صديق هازل علي استخدامها لبعض الكلمات الصعبة ، هنا شعرت انه ليس خطئي كليا أن وجدت صعوبة في ترجمة بعض الكلمات
I was glad that Gus mentioned Hazel's "Super sophisticated" use of adjectives at a point.. God I hate when I read a novel that Google translate dot com won't translate some of the words I can't get :(
ومع ذلك هناك الكثير من الجمل صارت تتداول كجمل لا تنسي
لا انكر اني عانيت للبحث عن صورة للريفيو بها جمل لم يتم وضعها في ريفيو من قبل ، وكنت علي وشك كتابه جملتي المفضلة التي ذكرتها في البدايه حول الافكار والنجوم لاكتشف انها ايضا من اهم الجمل التي ذكرت في جميع الريفيوهات تقريبا
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***The Fault in Our Stars***
for me it's not a great story, But It's very lovable ,emotional somehow that I can't never say it isn't a great story...
I was afraid after 80% of the story,and not feeling emotional enough or teary eyes like EVERYONE's experience with the book , that I've grew a "Hairy Heart" like this story in J.K.Rowling's Harry Potter's Spin off:
But I have to say I liked the story more cause of Peter and his Novel "An Imperial Affliction" plot, and that's the main reason of Hazel and Augustus get together.
"and the fact I used "Felicity"'s stars in the main roles "I was just finished that book, you can know about the show at my review for that book"
But by the end -and again cause of Peter Van Houten's reappearance- I got "teary eyes" and uncontrollable one .. the wrapping of this plot hit me hard in heart..
Then the smooth ending "Being in 14th July -MY BIRTHDAY :)" with the lovely mother -who I really felt more emotions for her than expected too, I pictured her like Desperate Housewives' Bree Van De Kamp-
That's what make it goes from 3 stars to 4
So, yes I must read again for John Green.. And I'll never forget the days with Hazel and Gus..they'll be in my memory..
Always...
okay?
Mohammed Arabey
from 29th March 2014
to 3rd April 2014
PS: What Novels,stories that get me Uncontrollable teary eyes :
1- A Short story by "Issa'ad Younes" in EL Shabab magazine "will write it soon in a review" - mid 90s
2-The Death of Scrooge Mcduck's parents.. "Will review that too soon" - mid 90s
3-Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire , by the end ,unexpected scene "will review soon too" - 2012
4-Harry Potter and the Deathly Hallows "Snape of course , always"
5-Peter Van Houten telling an apology...The Fault in Our Stars 2014 :)
I may add more when I'd remember ,but those always stick in my mind
May 4, 2014
I can be honest, right? After all, it was I who spent time reading this book.
I guess it has something to do with the fact that so many friends and relatives raved about this book being sad and great prior to my reading. For example, an 8-year old niece of my wife said that she cried while reading the book because it is about teenagers with cancer. Then of course most of my GR friends, foreigners and locals alike, rated this book with either 4 or 5 stars.
So, when I started reading this book, I thought I already clammed up. Maybe I was just trying to be different or I would like to show my wife's 8-y/o niece that the book is YA and I am too old (mature) compared to her and have outgrown books like this and definitely would not cry over some silly stories about lovers with cancer.
My Dad died of brain cancer in 1997 so definitely I have a big compassion for people suffering from any kind of cancer. However, what is John Green's purpose of using cancer has a major element in this book's romance? Obviously, it is to manipulate people's emotion. It is to gain sympathy because his female readers would like to cry buckets of tears especially if the guy is as good-looking as Augustus the apple of the eyes of our heroine who is also cancer-stricken, Hazel. I mean cancer, like death, is something that we normally don't want to talk about and if we need to talk about it, we usually have a purpose. Sadly, in my opinion, John Green has no particular purpose but for commercial reason: to generate sympathy that means more readers, more sales, more money to bring to the bank.
There is nothing new in this book. Hazel's I want to leave a mark prior to dying is everybody's wish really. Augustus' I am not my cancer is too heroic. We all know that it is not true, we all got our big frustrations or lost in lives. We all have been sick at some point in our lives and we go through a period of denial and even if we say we accepted everything, we always keep on hoping that the sickness or the problem would disappear that's why we continuously pray to God. I mean the acceptance is there and we are at peace with ourselves but still call God to interfere and take the sickness away.
I just did not feel anything reading this book except the feeling of being manipulated. It's too pretentious and gimmicky. I know John Green is laughing his way to the bank especially because some movie people took advantage of this book's popularity so this even has a big screen adaptation. My goodness.
I guess it has something to do with the fact that so many friends and relatives raved about this book being sad and great prior to my reading. For example, an 8-year old niece of my wife said that she cried while reading the book because it is about teenagers with cancer. Then of course most of my GR friends, foreigners and locals alike, rated this book with either 4 or 5 stars.
So, when I started reading this book, I thought I already clammed up. Maybe I was just trying to be different or I would like to show my wife's 8-y/o niece that the book is YA and I am too old (mature) compared to her and have outgrown books like this and definitely would not cry over some silly stories about lovers with cancer.
My Dad died of brain cancer in 1997 so definitely I have a big compassion for people suffering from any kind of cancer. However, what is John Green's purpose of using cancer has a major element in this book's romance? Obviously, it is to manipulate people's emotion. It is to gain sympathy because his female readers would like to cry buckets of tears especially if the guy is as good-looking as Augustus the apple of the eyes of our heroine who is also cancer-stricken, Hazel. I mean cancer, like death, is something that we normally don't want to talk about and if we need to talk about it, we usually have a purpose. Sadly, in my opinion, John Green has no particular purpose but for commercial reason: to generate sympathy that means more readers, more sales, more money to bring to the bank.
There is nothing new in this book. Hazel's I want to leave a mark prior to dying is everybody's wish really. Augustus' I am not my cancer is too heroic. We all know that it is not true, we all got our big frustrations or lost in lives. We all have been sick at some point in our lives and we go through a period of denial and even if we say we accepted everything, we always keep on hoping that the sickness or the problem would disappear that's why we continuously pray to God. I mean the acceptance is there and we are at peace with ourselves but still call God to interfere and take the sickness away.
I just did not feel anything reading this book except the feeling of being manipulated. It's too pretentious and gimmicky. I know John Green is laughing his way to the bank especially because some movie people took advantage of this book's popularity so this even has a big screen adaptation. My goodness.
September 15, 2023
My emotions and thoughts with this one are all over the place so let’s see what we can do….
The Fault in Our Stars is about Hazel Grace, a 16-year-old girl who has had some close brushes with death. She has thyroid cancer which has spread to her lungs. For now, the cancer is at bay with an experimental treatment. One day, she meets Augustus Waters in a support group, and the two strike up a friendship.
Along the way, Augustus and Hazel will try to find some answers from their favorite author. How will these two sort through their feelings for each other and to life’s deeper questions?
Personally, I really enjoyed the first half of the book, especially the witty banter between Hazel and Augustus.
However, the second half of the book is where things started to unravel.
This last year, I have had some very close brushes with death myself. In fact, I have died twice in the last year. My heart stopped.
At one point in the book, Hazel is lamenting, “….there is no glory in illness. There is no meaning to it. That is no honor in dying of.”
This really, really bothered me, because, in my experience, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
I am alive today because of an incredibly brave young woman named Amy Lee Fisher.
Amy Lee Fisher was a YouTube creator who suffered from various illnesses. She was the only other person that I knew who had all of the same illnesses that I had. In her last YouTube video, she talked about having a blood clot which went to her lungs.
She died shortly thereafter.
Six months later, I was at The Mayo Clinic. My heart was in such bad shape that I could not even ride a stationary bike for 60 seconds. The doctors tried to send me home to start to some heart rhythm medications. Because of Amy’s recent passing flashing through my mind, I said that I would rather not.
I was admitted to the hospital. After reiterating Amy's experience with blood clots, the doctors stabbed me in the stomach every couple of hours with blood thinners. The next day, my heart medication failed. A couple of days later, I had heart surgery.
Without Amy, I would have gone home and died.
When I was wheeled into my heart surgery, was I worried? No. Sometimes when you are sick, you die, and there is nothing that you can do about it. However, if I was going to die, I wanted my death to mean something. I wanted to help other people. I wanted the doctors to know that the next time around to go right instead of left.
Amy Lee Fisher shared her story, and it saved my life. There is great honor in that.
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The Fault in Our Stars is about Hazel Grace, a 16-year-old girl who has had some close brushes with death. She has thyroid cancer which has spread to her lungs. For now, the cancer is at bay with an experimental treatment. One day, she meets Augustus Waters in a support group, and the two strike up a friendship.
Along the way, Augustus and Hazel will try to find some answers from their favorite author. How will these two sort through their feelings for each other and to life’s deeper questions?
Personally, I really enjoyed the first half of the book, especially the witty banter between Hazel and Augustus.
However, the second half of the book is where things started to unravel.
This last year, I have had some very close brushes with death myself. In fact, I have died twice in the last year. My heart stopped.
At one point in the book, Hazel is lamenting, “….there is no glory in illness. There is no meaning to it. That is no honor in dying of.”
This really, really bothered me, because, in my experience, this couldn’t be further from the truth.
I am alive today because of an incredibly brave young woman named Amy Lee Fisher.
Amy Lee Fisher was a YouTube creator who suffered from various illnesses. She was the only other person that I knew who had all of the same illnesses that I had. In her last YouTube video, she talked about having a blood clot which went to her lungs.
She died shortly thereafter.
Six months later, I was at The Mayo Clinic. My heart was in such bad shape that I could not even ride a stationary bike for 60 seconds. The doctors tried to send me home to start to some heart rhythm medications. Because of Amy’s recent passing flashing through my mind, I said that I would rather not.
I was admitted to the hospital. After reiterating Amy's experience with blood clots, the doctors stabbed me in the stomach every couple of hours with blood thinners. The next day, my heart medication failed. A couple of days later, I had heart surgery.
Without Amy, I would have gone home and died.
When I was wheeled into my heart surgery, was I worried? No. Sometimes when you are sick, you die, and there is nothing that you can do about it. However, if I was going to die, I wanted my death to mean something. I wanted to help other people. I wanted the doctors to know that the next time around to go right instead of left.
Amy Lee Fisher shared her story, and it saved my life. There is great honor in that.
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October 3, 2013
Let me start with how I feel
My heart hurts. It bleeds, it cries. This book made me feel. How to articulate and not post a bunch of nonsensical babble.
Did I enjoy reading this book?
No.
Did this book make an everlasting impression on me, in a good way?
Yes.
Would I read it again?
Well, yes. I'm a masochist.
Who should read this book?
Everyone.
What did this book teach me?
That life isn't fair, but that doesn't mean you shouldn't live it to the best of you ability. And a whole lot more, but I think you get my meaning.
Refer to the above quote
Augustus, I love you.
Yes, they are teenagers and yes this is fiction. But dear God, if I could find just a third of their kind of love, well, I think I'd be made for life.
What's this book about, you ask?
It's about The Fault In Our Stars
Okay.
You should like read it, it will change your life!
There's this really hot guy, with a really big heart.
Metaphorically speaking off course.
And then there's this really sick girl, Hazel Grace. She lives by a book called, An Imperial Affliction by Peter Van Houten.
By the way I think she is one of the best heroines ever written.
This quote is the most eloquently descriptive I have ever come across. It made me cry.
I'm crying right now.
Okay?
December 29, 2014
But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful.”
------------------
Some books will make you laugh so hard your stomach will hurt.
Some books will make you so mad that you’d want to throw the book out the window or burn it in fury.
Some books will leave you asking for more because it ended with a cliffhanger.
Some books will leave you questioning why it ended the way it did.
Some books will leave a mark on you not only because it made you cried buckets of tears or made you laugh until you couldn’t breathe but because you felt something as you were reading it and that feeling would never leave you forever.
The Fault in Our Stars left that kind of mark in me.
It made me cry.
It made me laugh occasionally.
It made my heart ache.
It made me giggly all over when Gus made his moves on Hazel.
It made me feel all sort of things and for a book to have that effect on someone it must be really special.
The Fault in Our Stars is one of the best books I’ve ever read.
EVER!
Hazel has cancer.
She already anticipated Death would soon be knocking on her door.
She doesn’t have a lot of friends because she keeps to herself.
Why?
She didn’t want anyone else to be burdened by her death in case it comes.
One day at support group he met Augustus (Gus) Waters.
They just sort of clicked.
Gus liked her but she didn’t want to take their relationship to a higher level because she was afraid that she’d cause him pain if she dies.
Hazel think Gus was healthier than she is and that he’ll have more time on earth than she does and that it would be unfair if she lets him in.
But no matter how hard she tries to keep her distance from Gus, she just couldn’t.
Everything felt right.
Fate however has different plans for them.
There are so many things I want to say about this book but I’m so afraid I might not get them all right.
John Green, you have broken my heart into tiny little pieces.
This book made my heart ache and my eyes burn with tears.
There was just so much emotion in the pages of this book that it was so hard not to feel them.
Hazel was an inspiration.
I have never been that sick but I think if I was I wouldn’t be as composed and as strong as she was.
Despite her constant need to have an oxygen tank near her she still goes about and does things normally.
She doesn’t go out that much with friends though because she wanted to spare them the pain if ever she dies.
And while Hazel was sometimes (most of the time) pessimistic, Gus was the exact opposite.
He was Hazel’s ray of sunshine.
He has this sort of halo of positivity that makes the people feel good including Hazel.
While Hazel was my inspiration, Gus was my favorite.
I guess this book would not have been that much of a success without Gus.
He was smart (though he often doesn’t think so) and funny and sweet and kind and loving.
(Damn! Where are all the Gus’s hiding? I’d like to get myself one! LOL.)
I finished this book last night after coming home from work.
On the last 3 or 4 chapters my eyes were flooded with tears that I can’t stop.
My mom actually got worried and asked me if I was okay and told her the reason I was crying was because of this book.
The Fault in Our Stars was amazing.
I would like to applaud Mr. Green for making such a wonderful and emotionally gripping novel that mirrors the lives of kids who has cancer.
Hazel, Gus, Isaac and all of the other kids in the memorial maybe fictional characters but what they were experiencing maybe happening to someone else right now.
The characters in this book seemed so real like you and me.
Hazel and Gus seemed too mature for their age.
Was it the cancer? Possibly but it’s actually something so minor that I don’t care if they think too maturely. I can deal with that.
One thing I noticed though was how it reminded me a little (really just a little) of one of my favorite books by Nicholas Sparks, A Walk to Remember.
Gus reminded me of Jaime.
Gus changed something in Hazel just like Jaime did to Langdon.
Jaime and Gus left their mark.
They may have passed but they will never be forgotten.
Anyhow, I totally love this book.
I highly recommend it.
No graphic scenes here so in my opinion it’s totally safe for the teenage kids to read. :)
I am so in love with you Mr. Green.
Too bad you’re married and with kids. (Just kidding!)
But my friends and I will be reading Looking for Alaska next hopefully they would be as great as this one.
I give this perfect 5 stars!
------------------
Some books will make you laugh so hard your stomach will hurt.
Some books will make you so mad that you’d want to throw the book out the window or burn it in fury.
Some books will leave you asking for more because it ended with a cliffhanger.
Some books will leave you questioning why it ended the way it did.
Some books will leave a mark on you not only because it made you cried buckets of tears or made you laugh until you couldn’t breathe but because you felt something as you were reading it and that feeling would never leave you forever.
The Fault in Our Stars left that kind of mark in me.
It made me cry.
It made me laugh occasionally.
It made my heart ache.
It made me giggly all over when Gus made his moves on Hazel.
It made me feel all sort of things and for a book to have that effect on someone it must be really special.
The Fault in Our Stars is one of the best books I’ve ever read.
EVER!
Hazel has cancer.
She already anticipated Death would soon be knocking on her door.
She doesn’t have a lot of friends because she keeps to herself.
Why?
She didn’t want anyone else to be burdened by her death in case it comes.
One day at support group he met Augustus (Gus) Waters.
They just sort of clicked.
Gus liked her but she didn’t want to take their relationship to a higher level because she was afraid that she’d cause him pain if she dies.
Hazel think Gus was healthier than she is and that he’ll have more time on earth than she does and that it would be unfair if she lets him in.
But no matter how hard she tries to keep her distance from Gus, she just couldn’t.
Everything felt right.
Fate however has different plans for them.
There are so many things I want to say about this book but I’m so afraid I might not get them all right.
John Green, you have broken my heart into tiny little pieces.
This book made my heart ache and my eyes burn with tears.
There was just so much emotion in the pages of this book that it was so hard not to feel them.
Hazel was an inspiration.
I have never been that sick but I think if I was I wouldn’t be as composed and as strong as she was.
Despite her constant need to have an oxygen tank near her she still goes about and does things normally.
She doesn’t go out that much with friends though because she wanted to spare them the pain if ever she dies.
And while Hazel was sometimes (most of the time) pessimistic, Gus was the exact opposite.
He was Hazel’s ray of sunshine.
He has this sort of halo of positivity that makes the people feel good including Hazel.
While Hazel was my inspiration, Gus was my favorite.
I guess this book would not have been that much of a success without Gus.
He was smart (though he often doesn’t think so) and funny and sweet and kind and loving.
(Damn! Where are all the Gus’s hiding? I’d like to get myself one! LOL.)
I finished this book last night after coming home from work.
On the last 3 or 4 chapters my eyes were flooded with tears that I can’t stop.
My mom actually got worried and asked me if I was okay and told her the reason I was crying was because of this book.
The Fault in Our Stars was amazing.
I would like to applaud Mr. Green for making such a wonderful and emotionally gripping novel that mirrors the lives of kids who has cancer.
Hazel, Gus, Isaac and all of the other kids in the memorial maybe fictional characters but what they were experiencing maybe happening to someone else right now.
The characters in this book seemed so real like you and me.
Hazel and Gus seemed too mature for their age.
Was it the cancer? Possibly but it’s actually something so minor that I don’t care if they think too maturely. I can deal with that.
One thing I noticed though was how it reminded me a little (really just a little) of one of my favorite books by Nicholas Sparks, A Walk to Remember.
Gus reminded me of Jaime.
Gus changed something in Hazel just like Jaime did to Langdon.
Jaime and Gus left their mark.
They may have passed but they will never be forgotten.
Anyhow, I totally love this book.
I highly recommend it.
No graphic scenes here so in my opinion it’s totally safe for the teenage kids to read. :)
I am so in love with you Mr. Green.
Too bad you’re married and with kids. (Just kidding!)
But my friends and I will be reading Looking for Alaska next hopefully they would be as great as this one.
I give this perfect 5 stars!
September 10, 2018
i think most people will remember the first book that made them cry.
TFIOS was mine.
this was a story of love, and loss, of grief, and hope, and all the infinities in between. words are incapable of expressing how tender and open my heart felt after reading this. it taught me what it meant to truly empathise with others. it taught me what it means to live. it taught me how to find the positive in the most hopeless of situations. and because of that, i know am a better person after closing this book than i was when i first opened it.
and to john green, i cannot tell you how thankful i am for this little infinity. you gave me forever within the numbered pages, and im grateful.
↠ 5 stars
TFIOS was mine.
this was a story of love, and loss, of grief, and hope, and all the infinities in between. words are incapable of expressing how tender and open my heart felt after reading this. it taught me what it meant to truly empathise with others. it taught me what it means to live. it taught me how to find the positive in the most hopeless of situations. and because of that, i know am a better person after closing this book than i was when i first opened it.
and to john green, i cannot tell you how thankful i am for this little infinity. you gave me forever within the numbered pages, and im grateful.
↠ 5 stars
July 2, 2018
you have a choice in this world, i believe, about how to tell sad stories, and we made the funny choice.
john green, like his characters, always makes the funny choice. and readers, like "women" are really just looking for a sense of humor. and the sense of humor goes a long way towards pardoning other sins. because come on, john green - your characters are so unlikely. ordinarily, i would squirm at such clever,verbose,insightful, literary-reference-dropping teenagers. but they are so funny and charming, always. your humor is what saves you from my criticism.
not really a spoiler, but best be on the safe side. (and i can't believe i had to use capital letters there. felt...unnatural) but the point of that is - ah, to have been able, at seventeen, to take the emotional out of the equation and view the situation so critically. for me, anyway - it wouldn't have happened. i would have been overwhelmed with gratitude and any more intellectual approach to the situation would have been inconceivable.
but who cares - i don't even know why i went on that boring tangent. because john green (when i say his name, you should see little hearts coming out from my ears - ♥john green♥) has enough skills to make these potentially unbelievable characters consistently entertaining and to do the unthinkable of making a YA cancer book very very funny.
when i was an emotion-blinded teen, reading all those lurlene mcdaniels books, who knew that someday, there would be funny Ya-tragedy books?
this is not funny:
but john green is. and i'm sure if i read Six Months to Live now, it would feel manipulative and cloying. (but i would probably still love it with all my nostalgia) this book is not at all manipulative and never cloying. it's all wisecracking in the valley of the shadow of death, in a genuinely funny, not snarky, way. okay, occasionally snarky. they are teens, after all.
(jesus, i may have forgotten to mention that this book is funny. did i? mention it?)
but it is also about the dangers of hero-worship and the desire to leave something in the world that is yours after you go, and anne frank (yes. anne freaking frank)
♥john green♥ is just a skillful and sophisticated YA author, who has really raised the bar for realistic YA everywhere. (baffling an 85-year-old co-worker of mine who wanted to write to our company to have this reclassified as adult fiction because he read it, not knowing anything about it, and figured it was a mistake. "no, he's a teen novelist." "but the new york times reviewed it as an adult novel." "incorrect. it says "teen" on the dust jacket. printz award. you just read a YA book, dude! hhahaahahahaa! and you liked it!! score for YA!!" (this last sentence did not actually happen, but the rest of it did))
great isaac and augustus relationship - he does boy-friends so well. great parents for hazel. great job as a female narrator. (and a definite departure from the margo/alaska girl this time.) great great great. (also, funny)
so - four stars. because after serious reflection, i still think paper towns is better, and needs to bask in its five-stars-from-karen-dom all alone. also - this book did not make me cry, goddamn it. i thought it would be an easy cry. but no. damn these eyes.
come to my blog!
john green, like his characters, always makes the funny choice. and readers, like "women" are really just looking for a sense of humor. and the sense of humor goes a long way towards pardoning other sins. because come on, john green - your characters are so unlikely. ordinarily, i would squirm at such clever,verbose,insightful, literary-reference-dropping teenagers. but they are so funny and charming, always. your humor is what saves you from my criticism.
not really a spoiler, but best be on the safe side. (and i can't believe i had to use capital letters there. felt...unnatural) but the point of that is - ah, to have been able, at seventeen, to take the emotional out of the equation and view the situation so critically. for me, anyway - it wouldn't have happened. i would have been overwhelmed with gratitude and any more intellectual approach to the situation would have been inconceivable.
but who cares - i don't even know why i went on that boring tangent. because john green (when i say his name, you should see little hearts coming out from my ears - ♥john green♥) has enough skills to make these potentially unbelievable characters consistently entertaining and to do the unthinkable of making a YA cancer book very very funny.
when i was an emotion-blinded teen, reading all those lurlene mcdaniels books, who knew that someday, there would be funny Ya-tragedy books?
this is not funny:
but john green is. and i'm sure if i read Six Months to Live now, it would feel manipulative and cloying. (but i would probably still love it with all my nostalgia) this book is not at all manipulative and never cloying. it's all wisecracking in the valley of the shadow of death, in a genuinely funny, not snarky, way. okay, occasionally snarky. they are teens, after all.
(jesus, i may have forgotten to mention that this book is funny. did i? mention it?)
but it is also about the dangers of hero-worship and the desire to leave something in the world that is yours after you go, and anne frank (yes. anne freaking frank)
♥john green♥ is just a skillful and sophisticated YA author, who has really raised the bar for realistic YA everywhere. (baffling an 85-year-old co-worker of mine who wanted to write to our company to have this reclassified as adult fiction because he read it, not knowing anything about it, and figured it was a mistake. "no, he's a teen novelist." "but the new york times reviewed it as an adult novel." "incorrect. it says "teen" on the dust jacket. printz award. you just read a YA book, dude! hhahaahahahaa! and you liked it!! score for YA!!" (this last sentence did not actually happen, but the rest of it did))
great isaac and augustus relationship - he does boy-friends so well. great parents for hazel. great job as a female narrator. (and a definite departure from the margo/alaska girl this time.) great great great. (also, funny)
so - four stars. because after serious reflection, i still think paper towns is better, and needs to bask in its five-stars-from-karen-dom all alone. also - this book did not make me cry, goddamn it. i thought it would be an easy cry. but no. damn these eyes.
come to my blog!
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May 21, 2014What can I say about this amazing book that has not already been said a million times? It's real, heart-wrenching and so, so well written. I'm a fan of alll of John's books but this one is a masterpiece. I'm not even exaggerating.
August 10, 2018
The Fault in Our Stars is a clever little book because it normalises a tragic piece of life that is surprisingly underrepresented in fiction. It’s also funny, wise and heart-warming in a sad sort of way.
I’m not going to say too much about this one, only that it really is worth reading regardless of your age. It captures a piece of humanity that we all need to hear.
Word of warning though, it might make you cry.
I’m not going to say too much about this one, only that it really is worth reading regardless of your age. It captures a piece of humanity that we all need to hear.
Word of warning though, it might make you cry.
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