Contemporary fiction
Five stars
This book is about a girl named Hazel who has been diagnosed with a severe form of thyroid cancer. She's been surviving off of miracle pills, but she knows her illness has always been a terminal one. Limited by the oxygen tank she carts around, Hazel spends her time attending college classes and reading. And prompted by her mother, she attends a cancer support group where she meets the sexy, in-remission Augustus Waters. As their relationship develops, they will push and guide each other through pain, discovery, and love as they examine what it means to live and leave a mark on the world.
I usually don't buy books that I haven't read yet (from a friend or library), but I took a chance with this one. It just had such good reviews and the praises on the back are from three of my favourite authors - Markus Zusak, Jodi Picoult, and E. Lockhart. I had high expectations, and even though it was different from how I thought it would be, I fell in love. I fell in love with the writing, with the characters, with the pure rawness of the novel. This is my first John Green book, and he is just ridiculous. He manages to capture the spirit of a teenage girl so well in his writing, and he does it with such amazing depth and insight. His observations are striking in their beauty and realness, in their ability to evoke power in truth. I just read his words over and over. And his writing allows for such a connection with Hazel, for the way she sees the world and the people around her. The relationships are so realistically portrayed and developed, not only between her and Augustus, but with her parents as well. The dialogue between the characters is both hilarious and devastating. Picoult says it perfectly: "Filled with staccato bursts of humour and tragedy." I was literally laughing in the middle of my sobbing. But what really made the book was just the reality of it. The idea is not particularly unique, with the terminal illness and everything, but Green manages to bring such originality to it. You see the characters at their worst, you see the effects cancer has, not only on their life, but their family's. The cover calls it "irreverent," which I think is the perfect description. It is not some cheesy story about acceptance and coming to terms with death. It is about suffering and fear and finding meaning where you can.
I just want to keep reading it forever.
“I believe the universe wants to be noticed. I think the universe is improbably biased toward consciousness, that it rewards intelligence in part because the universe enjoys its elegance being observed. And who am I, living in the middle of history, to tell the universe that it - or my observation of it - is temporary?”
Also recommended: How to Say Goodbye in Robot by Natalie Standiford. This just reminds me of it.
No comments:
Post a Comment