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
Another in my tour of banned books. This novel brilliantly captures the essence of high school friendships: the people you don't want to be without, but who also can drive you crazy. Also explores how we deal with heartbreaking events that leave us with no easy answers. Yes, there is smoking and drinking and a fumbling sex act in the book, but all of it is honestly done. These are clearly kids finding their way, which Green treats with sympathy and respect.
I grabbed this book out of a Little Free Library we walked past while my kid was trick or treating this year. I didn't know anything about it or John Green or that it's a YA novel, which is not usually my preferred kind of book. But I'm glad I did. I found it to be an honest, funny, and at times heartbreaking book that captures that time of life (high school) very well. I've since come to learn people are trying to ban that book - which of course they are, they always are. I did see one review that said "Holden Caulfield is back" or something like that, which, you know, let's not get carried away here.
But the book resonated with me - I could see echoes of my own high school friendships and drama in every page, though none of us drank or smoke as aggressively …
I grabbed this book out of a Little Free Library we walked past while my kid was trick or treating this year. I didn't know anything about it or John Green or that it's a YA novel, which is not usually my preferred kind of book. But I'm glad I did. I found it to be an honest, funny, and at times heartbreaking book that captures that time of life (high school) very well. I've since come to learn people are trying to ban that book - which of course they are, they always are. I did see one review that said "Holden Caulfield is back" or something like that, which, you know, let's not get carried away here.
But the book resonated with me - I could see echoes of my own high school friendships and drama in every page, though none of us drank or smoke as aggressively as these kids. I found the Buddhist themes particularly meaningful.
The best part of this book is how philosophy is brought into the storyline so primarily and clearly. The whole book is geared towards getting the reader to think about life and what it means. Its a great read.
The least believable parts of the book is how the main character goes along with everything he's told. He's established as a kid with a sheltered upbringing yet does every expulsion-worthy task he's given. There is an emphasis on sexuality and drinking that seems over the top.
The ending is intentionally left partially unresolved and it adds to the theme that getting answers out of life is an exercise left to the reader.
It is hard to talk about why this book is good without spoiling it. It is a story about how we project our expectations and ideals unto other people, how that prevents us from seeing them as they are and how that is not a healthy way to have relationships. And if you don't know why that makes for a good story, you'll just have to read the book - because it really is just that good.
Irgendwie hat es mir echt schwer gefallen, dass Buch wieder aufzuschlagen, nachdem ich es zu gemacht und für den Tag weggelegt habe. Nicht, weil mich die Story irgendwie emotional geschädigt hat oder etwas dergleichen, sondern eher das Gegenteil. Ich fand es anfangs ziemlich langweilig.
Die Zitate waren zwar gut, aber das war's dann auch. Ich wusste nicht wirklich, wohin die Story führen soll, außer, dass der Protagonist wahrscheinlich mit dem Mädchen zusammen kommt, schließlich war er in sie von Anfang an verknallt und das Buch heißt so.
Zur Mitte hin wurde das dann aber viel interessanter, als der Protagonist, Miles, mehr ins Sozialleben gefunden hat, mehr interagiert hat und einfach mehr Abenteuer in seinem eigentlichen langweiligen Schulleben passiert sind.
Außerdem fand ich interessant, wie es keine wirklichen Kapitel gab, sondern nur einen Countdown der von 140+ Tagen runter gezählt hat.
Falls ihr aber glaubt, dass es genauso emotional wird wie …
Irgendwie hat es mir echt schwer gefallen, dass Buch wieder aufzuschlagen, nachdem ich es zu gemacht und für den Tag weggelegt habe. Nicht, weil mich die Story irgendwie emotional geschädigt hat oder etwas dergleichen, sondern eher das Gegenteil. Ich fand es anfangs ziemlich langweilig.
Die Zitate waren zwar gut, aber das war's dann auch. Ich wusste nicht wirklich, wohin die Story führen soll, außer, dass der Protagonist wahrscheinlich mit dem Mädchen zusammen kommt, schließlich war er in sie von Anfang an verknallt und das Buch heißt so.
Zur Mitte hin wurde das dann aber viel interessanter, als der Protagonist, Miles, mehr ins Sozialleben gefunden hat, mehr interagiert hat und einfach mehr Abenteuer in seinem eigentlichen langweiligen Schulleben passiert sind.
Außerdem fand ich interessant, wie es keine wirklichen Kapitel gab, sondern nur einen Countdown der von 140+ Tagen runter gezählt hat.
Falls ihr aber glaubt, dass es genauso emotional wird wie "das Schicksal ist ein mieser Verräter", habt ihr euch geirrt. Mehr oder weniger habe ich das Buch auch nur wegen dem Film gelesen und es war einfach nicht mal annähernd emotional in dieser Richtung.
Geshippt hab ich Miles und Alaska eigentlich gar nicht. Anfangs eher Miles und Takumi, ihre Interaktionen waren oft sehr lustig, aber vielleicht sind sie doch besser als "nur" Freunde.
(~ 2020 gelesen und Review geschrieben, nur vergessen hier zu posten.)
Quite anti-climactic, since I accidentally read the blurb that was printed on the first page of my e-book and which spoiled the whole book. Why would you write such a blurb and the put it there? (I prefer my books without any previous knowledge of the plot, so I generally try to only read genre classification before deciding on a book). Still, luckily that didn't harm the overall feeling of Looking for Alaska much, except maybe for a very strong feeling of "oh no, it's the day before, oh-o, it's the day, I don't want to continue, NO, how dare you". Once I got past that point, I didn't put it down and so I'm overly tired today. But it was worth it.
The blow job scene was hilarious and adorable. Apparently that is the scene that made parents challenge the book, saying something to the effect that it would cause teenagers to try sexual experimentation. Well, the initial attempt at a blow job failed, so I'm not sure how much experimenting that would lead to. Insert eye roll.
Not John Green's finest, but certainly better (more entertaining) than Paper Towns. And I don't remember any of the teenagers in my crowd being this witty and smart. I really don't.
Pretty good read. Would not recommend for the younger, or less mature, of the intended young adult readers.
Deals with light and very heavy material including smoking, drinking, sex and suicide.
I wouldn't want my oldest son to read this but his younger sister could. Why? Because my son is not emotionally ready for this material but my daughter is strong in emotional intelligence.
Just beautiful. I read it in a day (an evening really), because I didn't want to lose that feeling of being in the story. It's not very long, so the characters aren't awfully complex, but their interactions were real, as was their growth.
I'm not going to lie, I didn't fall in love with this book. But it saved itself by the end.
What I did like: Chip, for the most part. His character stayed true throughout. The religion class, and the religion teacher. The ending, and the ending final paper. The character growth.
What I didn't like. Alaska. Trying too hard, she never rang true to me. I almost broke something with the ferocity of my eye-rolling. Miles at the beginning, although he grew on my by the end. The potential to really explore the issues presented, but the book skated where it could have gone deeper. But hey, it was his first book, so I gave it the extra star.
And based on this book, my kids will never attend boarding school. Seriously.
2 1/2 stars I would have liked it more if I was 13, lol.
Good story about how even teens think about the big questions. Also the yearning to try to fit in and unfortunately how to deal with loss. Some of the things that happened to these kids seemed a bit far fetched IMHO.
