You know how we all have this one crazy talent that's not as much a talent as more of a curse? Mine is becoming friends with either complete train wrecks or condescending dominating dictators. You know, you befriend someone at the start of the school year and you're halfway through and it's like, "What have I done?" So yeah, I could, in a sick and unhealthy way, relate to some aspects of this book.
Looking for Alaska by John Green
Okay. This book is probably my favorite John Green novel thus far. (1.) Looking for Alaska, (2.) The Fault in Our Stars, and (3.) Paper Towns. Since this is a banned book, I originally planned to read it during my banned book read-along review discussions months this September and October. (More about the banning of Looking for Alaska here.) But I really needed a contemporary and I thought it might be a good idea to give myself a chance to look through this banned book so I'll know what to pay attention to once I get to the others. I won't be talking about banning today, but I'll definitely get back to this book once we get there. You can really see why this book is banned (numerous reasons) and maybe even that John Green has become a lot less edgy throughout his other works.
I don't know if any of you have that one friend that smokes and has the emotional stability of one of those teddy bears with two faces and drinks even though she's under eighteen. Because come on, who doesn't have that friend? And you honestly doubt why they befriended you in the first place because they're bold and wild and you always do your homework and wouldn't touch alcohol or cigarettes in a million years... I'm a rather boring person, okay? I spend my Saturday nights in my bed, reading a book until one in the morning and then I have breakfast with my family and go to church (on good weeks). I'm not a wild child. That doesn't mean I disliked this book, though.
Synopsis:
Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .- Amazon.com
After. Nothing is ever the same.
Rating:
4,5 stars. Not an all-time favorite, but a very enjoyable and memorable read.
This is John Green at his best. There's so much humor and funny parts and then there's such serious thinking that we all go through. I loved Miles' Religion classes. They were one of the highlights of the story to me. But what I probably liked most was just the overall frankness of the book. Smoking, cursing, sex, alcohol, and porn. It's all in there, but not disrespectful. This book is about poverty and literature and it's just so lovely because it mirrors the mindset of so many teenagers.
Now let's touch on the controversial language first, because there was some. From mother fucking to damn, it's in there and since swearing is a repetitive issue in the YA genre, I want to give my personal view. I do not swear further than shit (out loud, I swear rather colorfully in my mind), so I would never say "God" or "fuck", but oh dear parents all over the world, do I love books, even if they contain swear words. I really respect authors who choose to leave their stories as 'clean' as possible (Suzanne Collins, you take the cake here). However, I think you can use foul language in young adult books. Teenagers use 'naughty words' all the time and it adds to the realism to acknowledge that. It's also another tool to create a character. Does a character not swear on principal or throw everything out? And to all sweating parents on the internet, children don't learn curses from books, they learn them from you and one another.
I liked the beautiful metaphorical shit in this book so much. From the last words and the Great Perhaps to the Labyrinth of Suffering, I adored it. Miles' thoughts about where so cute and so realistic. And his quotes were so awesome. "SPOILER"
And all the characters were so cool too. Alaska is like, the perfect messed-up friend. The Colonel and (lost the name of the Asian guy sorry) and Lara are just this wonderful dream team of mother F-ing foxes.
Ah, what can I talk about without spoiling you? Oh, I remember something now. Let me dump another description of where and how I cried reading this. It was a wonderful Sunday and I was reading on from "After" where I'd landed the night before. I started reading, wanted my beautiful soundtrack to occupy the background noise, so I went upstairs, read and listened to music (this song) and cried. But then my mom told me to get downstairs because I was being antisocial (in her ever subtle way). So I sat there, reading one of the saddest endings I had ever laid my eyes on and tears were pooling in my eyes. And my brother came up to me, blabbering about some video game thing and I was like
I don't know if any of you have that one friend that smokes and has the emotional stability of one of those teddy bears with two faces and drinks even though she's under eighteen. Because come on, who doesn't have that friend? And you honestly doubt why they befriended you in the first place because they're bold and wild and you always do your homework and wouldn't touch alcohol or cigarettes in a million years... I'm a rather boring person, okay? I spend my Saturday nights in my bed, reading a book until one in the morning and then I have breakfast with my family and go to church (on good weeks). I'm not a wild child. That doesn't mean I disliked this book, though.
Synopsis:
Before. Miles “Pudge” Halter is done with his safe life at home. His whole life has been one big non-event, and his obsession with famous last words has only made him crave “the Great Perhaps” even more (Francois Rabelais, poet). He heads off to the sometimes crazy and anything-but-boring world of Culver Creek Boarding School, and his life becomes the opposite of safe. Because down the hall is Alaska Young. The gorgeous, clever, funny, sexy, self-destructive, screwed-up, and utterly fascinating Alaska Young. She is an event unto herself. She pulls Pudge into her world, launches him into the Great Perhaps, and steals his heart. Then. . . .- Amazon.com
After. Nothing is ever the same.
Rating:
4,5 stars. Not an all-time favorite, but a very enjoyable and memorable read.
The upcoming information only includes the mildest of mild spoilers. (Like, whether there was a plot twist or there wasn't.)
Now let's touch on the controversial language first, because there was some. From mother fucking to damn, it's in there and since swearing is a repetitive issue in the YA genre, I want to give my personal view. I do not swear further than shit (out loud, I swear rather colorfully in my mind), so I would never say "God" or "fuck", but oh dear parents all over the world, do I love books, even if they contain swear words. I really respect authors who choose to leave their stories as 'clean' as possible (Suzanne Collins, you take the cake here). However, I think you can use foul language in young adult books. Teenagers use 'naughty words' all the time and it adds to the realism to acknowledge that. It's also another tool to create a character. Does a character not swear on principal or throw everything out? And to all sweating parents on the internet, children don't learn curses from books, they learn them from you and one another.
And all the characters were so cool too. Alaska is like, the perfect messed-up friend. The Colonel and (lost the name of the Asian guy sorry) and Lara are just this wonderful dream team of mother F-ing foxes.
Ah, what can I talk about without spoiling you? Oh, I remember something now. Let me dump another description of where and how I cried reading this. It was a wonderful Sunday and I was reading on from "After" where I'd landed the night before. I started reading, wanted my beautiful soundtrack to occupy the background noise, so I went upstairs, read and listened to music (this song) and cried. But then my mom told me to get downstairs because I was being antisocial (in her ever subtle way). So I sat there, reading one of the saddest endings I had ever laid my eyes on and tears were pooling in my eyes. And my brother came up to me, blabbering about some video game thing and I was like
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