The Fault in Our Stars: Not Your Average “Teen Book”

First Impressions: Well, now you all know my secret. I don’t only read Classic Literature. I went through a phase where I read “chick books.” It was all love and romance and, frankly, boring. I am familiar with John Green as a youtuber, but I also knew he was a novelist. When he read the first chapter of The Fault in Our Stars (TFiOS), I was blown away. After pre-ordering the book, I anxiously waited for my package to arrive. When it did, I promptly read the book in two days. It does not even compare to the “chick books” I read in middle school. Hazel is no Emma Bovary.

Quick Synopsis: Hazel is a sixteen-year-old with “lungs that suck at being lungs.” She has cancer. She meets Augustus (or Gus), a teenager who fears oblivion and has a prosthetic leg from a previous meeting with cancer. They end up...well...to quote Avril Lavigne: “Can I make it any more obvious?” It is somewhat of a love story...but not the love stories that Justin Bieber and Edward Cullen portray.

Deeper Meanings: There was one thing that many of the young adult novels I read was missing. That thing was substance. The entire novel was composed of words that a hopeless romantic thirteen-year-old would find deep and meaningful. TFiOS is completely different. For me, it is the type of book you could enjoy if you simply read it or analyzed it. This type is rare: a young adult novel that can be analyzed. Perhaps I am making generalizations, but the books that are discussed at my school the most often are the types of books that have pretend deeper meaning. In other words, the romantic relationships are not realistic, therefore, any “symbols” and “poetry” is all for naught, because the relationship itself is nothing more than Cuddle Time. TFiOS puts young love in a whole new perspective for me. For one thing, Hazel and Augustus have a friend Issac, who is dating a girl. He and his girlfriend whisper “always” to each other all the time. It’s their word. Frankly, if Hazel’s and Augustus’s word was “always” then I would have stopped reading. But that is not the case. Their word is “okay.” This makes so much more sense to me. Love can’t currently last forever. There, I said it. Unless there’s a scientific breakthrough or some other miracle, forever is not possible. So I’m slightly annoyed when I see my peers tell their significant other that they’ll always be together. Especially because they said the same thing to another person a month ago. Hazel and Gus have “okay.” I love it because it isn’t used to remind the reader Hazel could die soon because she has cancer, but instead to portray their love as being real. Realistically, the relationship may not work out. After reading this, I want my word with my future boyfriend to be “okay.” But since that’s taken, we’ll probably use something stupid, like “chicken.” But we’ll think it’s funny or something even though none of our friends get the joke. Kids these days...

Allusions: Another important thing to note is that there are allusions to other books that teens commonly read in school, which I loved. The title itself is a Shakespeare reference.There’s a Great Gatsby reference, which I didn’t even get until I read a forum about the book. Augustus also likes to hang an unlit cigarette out of his mouth. It’s a metaphor. He’s refusing to let the cancer kill him. However, he puts the cigarette in his mouth when he’s feeling somewhat insecure. Insecure? Catcher in the Rye? Anyone? So this is another reason why I think teens that enjoy analyzing books (and English class) should read TFiOS. There’s probably more references I’m missing. I’ve only read the book once, so I wasn’t really looking for any. Now...if John Green decides to reference Crime and Punishment in his new book, I will love him forever. I mean...until I die. Yeah, that’s sounds more realistic.

Bottom Line: Okay, to those of you who know me personally, or have read my first blog post, you know that I will never date in high school. But keep in mind that that is my personal preference. The majority of high school relationships I see end very quickly. That’s not always the case. Another thing I love about TFiOS is that, although it’s about a relationship, it doesn’t promote nor demote dating. There’s nothing about how amazing dating is, and there’s no “big fight” scene where they almost break up and a tearful reunion. It did not try and change my views on dating. Overall, it is an amazing book and John Green is an extremely talented author, and I am very happy that I got a signed copy.

To all nerdfighters: It was Hanklerfished too! DFTBA!

1984: A New Type of Bro Code

First Impressions: I’ve heard about this book a lot, so I thought it was finally time to settle down and read it. It did not disappoint. Now when someone mentions Bro Code, I think, "Big Bro is watching you. Dude."

Short Synopsis: The Party is the government. Big Brother is how it watches everything. If you try and rebel, you are vaporized. If you even think about rebelling, you are vaporized. Winston hates The Party. He starts a love affair with Julia, who also hates The Party. They eventually are tortured to the point where they both are forced to believe the government is always right.

Realism: The main thing that struck me the most about this novel is the realistic aspect. Now that I think about it, a lot of the books I enjoy have a realistic aspect. I think I like Realism. Anyway, 1984 is known for how realistic it is. It is completely possible that the government could become like this sometime in future. Although the book didn’t turn me into a conspiracy theorist, it did make me think. The children are complete savages, which is totally plausible if they are taught from an early age that going against the government is bad. There’s one part in the book where a guy is brought to prison because he said “down with Big Brother” in his sleep and his daughter caught him. The guy commended his daughter for catching him before it was too late! Winston comments that most parents are terrified of their children.

Another realistic concept is the people’s stupidity. Winston’s job is to make The Party always right. This means deleting or altering articles that would ever hint they are wrong. If anyone questions it, they are killed or tortured to the point of obedience. This makes sense because if there are only people left who wouldn’t rebel against The Party, why wouldn’t everyone believe the altered past. No one is allowed to have friendships or any sort of relationships. The only people left are the emotionless, dreary ones. Sex is only used for procreation, not pleasure. When O’Brien was speaking to Winston, he said that The Party wanted to make sex an annual event that would not be enjoyable, but necessary in order to create more humans.

Despite the extremeness of The Party, I can see this happening if the government took enough control and promised enough reward. This book is written realistically enough to be downright scary.

Julia: She played a big part in the story, but honestly, I didn’t notice her all that much. She was interesting, but she was essentially a second Winston (minus the rat phobia). I, personally, was much more interested in the acts of The Party, not the interaction of Winston and Julia, although it is an important aspect to the story and should not be overlooked.

Final Thoughts: I believe that 1984 is a novel that everyone should try reading. It was written in the fifties so the language is simple, and the plot itself is very digestible. But it gives a very interesting perspective on life and how controlling the government could hypothetically become. Even if you’re not necessarily interested in classic literature, I highly recommend it.

This is similar to Brave New World. Read that review here: Brave New World: Soma vs. Shakespeare