I had to read Looking for Alaska for a class. I have to say I really do like John Green, even as a person. I went to see him and his brother when they came to Louisville to the Public Library. I really enjoy listening to authors read their works. While he did not read Alaska, he did read a bit of, what at the time was, his new release, Paper Towns. Interested, I bought a copy.
Looking For Alaska
I was partially impressed with this book. I enjoyed the main character, Miles, who in and of himself seemed very adult like in every sense except for his overtly romantic draw to Alaska. (At first glance I thought Alaska was speaking of the state as well...nope, it's a girl!) I like his references to books and authors, and I guess with Alaska he met his match at this. Except she's a little more than just quotes, her character is more acting out. It's like the introvert meets the extraordinary extrovert. It is an interesting play on people's personalities. I was rather impressed with this.
Green's writing is very interesting as well. He takes you into the place where you're supposed to be without being too much...ya' know, like Hawthorne can just be too much. Yeah, bad comparison, but ya' get my point. Green is really good at painting his people, the conversations are interesting yet they are the conversations that high school boys would have. The relationships are complex, but they are the relationships that high school boys would have, etc. I enjoyed that part about this book. I didn't like the plot twist in this book though. I didn't like where the book headed, personally. I'm sure that was the draw for a lot of kids to this book. Maybe I'm just too much of an adult and this subject has hit my life too many times for it to be toyed with here. I don't know. I've read books that cover this sort of topic before and yet this one seemed too staged, not right, I just didn't like the feel.
The event sends Miles into a spiral as well, as it does all of us. But it seems to me like he focuses on the wrong thing, but then again, at that moment what is one to focus on. I don't want to reveal the turning point.
I don't want to give too much away; it wouldn't be fair to the book. It's an interesting read, and I'm sure as a teenager I would have fallen in love with it all: characters, plot, writing style. As an adult I find books easier to pick apart, easier to love one element over another. Just all around easier to finish things up, even if I don't want to. Ironically adulthood as a whole is all around, just a little easier than being a teenager...it's just easier to be happy.
Paper Towns
I have to begin this by saying I LOVE the name Margo Roth Spiegelman. This is the main gal' in this novel. Ya' know, like Alaska in her book. As you can guess, ya' can't have a three-name-name and not be a lil' outta' control. I liked her character. Part people hustler, part lovable, misunderstood teenager; you know, the kind who is just looking to find themselves, not the selves that the public already thinks they know, the true self hidden underneath. She's mysterious, and hilarious, and so much more than her popular persona. There are so many people in the world who are far less than their popular persona's. It's nice that Green has at least written a character to life who is more than she puts out for everyone to see.
I liked the main character, it's his point of view (POV) that we get the story from. And for the most part, Quentin is a lovable, relateable, attainable teenager...I liked him. He was perfectly obsessing, as a teenager in his situation would be and yet somehow, to me, he felt stretched when looking for his clues. I loved his love of Margo. I loved that she let him in on this love...
But the book over all felt too Alaska-y-ish for me. It was a repeat gone awry from the original plot. The whole time I felt like we were on the tip of an Alaskan repeat and we just never got there. It was a fun read, I liked joining Quentin on his adventure but his search drug on for about fifty pages too much. I enjoyed Margo for the one night that she was there (and no, that's not what it sounds like!), but if I were to find her again I'd want to slap her silly. Just sayin'.
In conclusion, did I waste my time on these books? I wouldn't say that time was wasted. Would I read another Green novel? Yes, they have interesting enough plot lines to keep me reading until they are finished, and I really do love some of the characters. Would I re-read them? Gonna' go with a no. Not re-readable material, not that this is a big insult. It takes A LOT for me to want to re-read books.
Great side note: John Green and his brother are Nerdfighters...it's kinda' like their club on YouTube. They have some hilarious videos. If ya' have time you should check em' out. They seem like hilarious folk.
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