This book... oh goodness this book. It has taken me quite a while to sit down and write anything about this book, and not because I wasn't impressed.
Looking for Alaska hit me like a ton of bricks. But not in a bad way... is that possible?
The characters I loved from page one, especially Alaska. That young woman is everything to hate and love at the same time. But even when the other characters were mad, frustrated or sad at her, I still loved her. I also adored Miles (Pudge) and his innocence, his exploration of life and his willingness to try new things in order to "seek the Great Perhaps."
This book is so beautiful and everything about it haunts me weeks later. I think about this book often and I am waiting for a paycheck so I can buy a copy for my shelf to re-read, underline and love completely.
If I went into how much this book affected me I would inevitably hit on some spoilers and that cannot happen.
While writing this post I went to John Green's website and read some of the FAQ's about the book. There I found more quotes from Green that I love.
Frankly, I kind of want you to be haunted by the unansweredness of the question, because I think being haunted by such things is a valuable part of being a person.
...and...
The truth is that in our lives we are all going to encounter questions that should be answered, that deserve to be answered, and yet prove unanswerable. Can we find meaning to life without those answers? Can we find a way to acknowledge the reality (and injustice) of suffering without giving in to hopelessness?
These are the ideas this book explores... the injustice of wanting, need and deserving answers but having them not exist. How we then move forward from this place of wanting, needing and deserving empty handed.
While there are many, oh so many favorite excerpts from the book I'll just leave you with one:
It means 'that which the sea breaks against' and I love that. But at the time I just saw Alaska up there. And it was big just like I wanted to be.
xoxo
No comments:
Post a Comment