John Green’s ‘The Fault in Our Stars’ was what won me over. He was different, fresh and knew how to put a spin on books based on the teenage life. ‘Looking For Alaska’, is a showcase of the raw talent John Green has, the kind of talent that can make you close the crisp last page of a novel and come out as a different person.
‘Looking For Alaska’ cannot be merely written off as a typical boy-meets-girl love story, because it isn’t. It’s more about how love isn’t as translucent as it seems.
Miles Halter or “Pudge” as he is referred to throughout the book, is the protagonist and the book starts with Halter leaving Florida to attend a school in Alabama. He’s introduced by his roommates to beautiful, mysterious and emotionally confused Alaska Young, and the story progresses, mostly centered around Halter’s life at Culver Creek and his growing attachment to Young. There are also essential parts of teenage life thrown in casually and skillfully to add to the story, such as pranks, bets and disastrous parties.
The beauty of the book is that it doesn’t hide anything. It showcases what young love and growing up really are in a brutal and honest light. How the characters communicate, their relationships with each other, their pasts and the pleasure that comes with being a bad child shine through the pages. Why I prefer John Green’s debut novel to his other ones is because he’s made no effort to make it an appropriate and proper book. You’ll get attached to Halter and Young, just as they do to each other.
I am addicted to this book because I have experienced the phase of life that Young does in the book. It reminds me of some of my memories, which were good as well as horrible.
