paperback, 221 pages
English language
Published July 15, 2005 by Dutton Children's Books.
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. . . . After. Nothing is ever the same
I like John Green's writing but I didn't connect with this story enough to even really remember it after all this time. Even though I've remembered the rest of the books I've read from the same time period. I don't think I connected with the characters very much.
I grabbed this off my virtual to read pile feeling like the mild annoyance of a John Green story was pretty much what I wanted. I didn't check what the hell this one was about again, briefly confused it with Paper Towns, and was thus completely unprepared for a main character dying tragically!
What I dislike about this is all the guys..... I just hate reading John Green's characters being sexist all the time. Yeah I would agree that this is..... worked through..... in this story. But it's just draining. And I do dislike some fundamental principles of this story, too.
Still this is the John Green book I liked the most so far. (Although to be fair I read that one really really sad one before I found my appreciation for stories like that.) It's sad and painful, still the ~whimsical~ vibe that I think John Green goes for …
I grabbed this off my virtual to read pile feeling like the mild annoyance of a John Green story was pretty much what I wanted. I didn't check what the hell this one was about again, briefly confused it with Paper Towns, and was thus completely unprepared for a main character dying tragically!
What I dislike about this is all the guys..... I just hate reading John Green's characters being sexist all the time. Yeah I would agree that this is..... worked through..... in this story. But it's just draining. And I do dislike some fundamental principles of this story, too.
Still this is the John Green book I liked the most so far. (Although to be fair I read that one really really sad one before I found my appreciation for stories like that.) It's sad and painful, still the ~whimsical~ vibe that I think John Green goes for felt the most believable in this one. For once I wasn't annoyed by pretentious quotes, I think they fit in pretty well. And sure Alaska is pixie-dreamgirled by her friends, but I think this is actually subverted pretty well.
I did occasionally feel like I was too old or too exhausted for such a tragic "sometimes people die and it's not even just that" story, like, I don't have the energy to be devastated with all those characters. But I also stayed up late almost finishing a 1000 pieces puzzle while listening to this so I think I liked it. (Although I did start working on the puzzle to calm down, initially.)
This book was beautiful. Sad. But just beautiful. At first I was unsure of this book but the more I read the more I grew to love it. I liked this more than I did the fault in our stars because instead of fully depressing me I feel 'enlightened', it wasn't what I expected but it was beautiful nonetheless. Thank you John Green. <3
