The Fault in Our Stars

I started reading John Green’s The Fault in Our Stars on Sunday, a cloudy rainy day in London, one of those lazy Sundays characterized by a typical pub roast lunch and the inevitable afternoon roast induced coma :) But somehow, I managed to stay awake and I started reading The Fault in Our Stars that I had just picked up from the book store on the way home from the pub.

Written as a young-adult novel, (for which I am probably not the target group anymore, but then again the term young adult is a stretchable concept I suppose) it is written in a style that reads very fluently and is very accessible. I suppose you’re wondering now why I would choose to read a young-adult novel. Well, I was curious to read this novel because it deals with the universality of falling in love and the ‘abnormality’ of cancer – more specifically it tells the story of a sixteen-year old girl – Hazel – and how she experiences falling in love knowing that she is a terminal cancer patient.  Also, the novel is a #1 New York Times Bestseller, so chances were it was going to be an interesting read.

I really enjoyed the story and finished the novel’s 316 pages in a day, partly because of the never ending downpour and a 4 hour train journey. Nevertheless, the main character, Hazel, and her object of affection, Augustus, are very charming and draw you in with their flirtatious behaviour as well as their brutal honesty and doubts concerning the looming presence of death. 
For example, Hazel is scared to fall in love, well not necessarily scared to fall in love but scared to be loved – she compares herself with a grenade, one that can blow up at any time and hurt the ones loving her. Her going away would not only harm her boyfriend, but also her parents for who she is the centre of their universe. They would be her casualties, and she knows that her parents are inevitably going to be victims, but she wants to minimize pain by not allowing herself to be loved by someone else. But then again, love often doesn’t wait for permission….

I will not reveal more, but I would recommend this novel for its ability to be both realistic and hopeful at the same time. It balances statements such as the dry uber-realistic

'The world is not a wish-granting factory' 

or 

'I (Hazel) guess I had been looking at the encouragement above the tv, a drawing of an angel with the caption Without Pain How Could We Know Joy? (This is an old argument in the field of Thinking About Suffering, and its stupidity and lack of sophistication could be plumbed for centuries, but suffice to say that the existence of broccoli does not in any way affect the taste of chocolate.)'

with lines such as

Dad: ... 'Also it was a bit hopeless,' he said. 'A bit defeatist'

Hazel: 'If by defeatist you mean honest, then I agree.'

Dad: 'I don't think defeatism is honest. I refuse to accept that.'

I do have to admit that sometimes I missed a bit of depth in the characters – I felt they could have been developed a tad more. The book sometimes read as a novel version of a script – a script where you as an actor would really have to work on completing other facets of the character. In my research I have read that the film rights to this book have been sold, so a Hollywood version is on its way. Does not surprise me one bit, and I even suspect this book is almost written to be made in a film. I imagine the film will be of the sorts of The Perks of Being a Wallflower… youth, introspection on the meaning of life and huge portion of drama (and hopefully also a good soundtrack). Curious to see who they will cast as Hazel and Augustus…

I suppose you could wait for the film, but if you’re curious and brave enough, read the book!