It’s book club day! YA Book Club is sponsored by the lovely Tracey Neithercott at Words on Paper. This month we are discussing:
The Fault in Our Stars by John Green
I’m not writing a book review today. The Fault in Our Stars is a beautifully crafted story. Green’s characters are full and real and heartbreaking, his long passages of dialogue flow seamlessly, and he examines the meaning of life with a feather-light touch. I love how he can move the story through time and space in a single paragraph.
But I never would have read this book on my own. I am grateful that TFIOS exists; I respect and understand how necessary it is. But I kept my distance from Hazel and Gus. I’m guilty to say I treated them like “emotional grenades,” because I’d rather not lose another loved-one, fictional or not.
I am intimately acquainted with the evil that is Cancer. Cancer took my mother from me. It also took my grandmother, my uncle, and one of my young cousins. I have a close family member who is currently battling this nasty disease, and another who fights in the trenches every day as his caregiver. Reading this book stirred up epic windstorms of emotion for me, and I’ve only had to witness the cancer war from the outside.
I actually think it speaks to the amazingness of TFIOS that I’m writing more about my personal connection than the book itself; as teachers we strive to foster higher-order thinking by having students connect literature to their real lives. The Fault in Our Stars provides the perfect vehicle for that goal, and if any book can be an “instant classic,” TFIOS is one. I’m interested to see how many other book club members discuss how this book relates to their personal lives; I expect it will be many.
On a final note, I try to pick companion songs for each of the books I discuss here on the blog. I knew which song I would choose today before I finished reading the first chapter. The first time I heard a Jack’s Mannequin song, I felt it. Andrew pours his soul into every song he writes. I found out later that the album The Glass Passenger was written after Andrew’s own battle with cancer. Today’s song is Caves, by Jack’s Mannequin.
My father battled cancer for three years during my junior high years and immediately following this, the little girl I used to babysit died from a brain tumor. I read the first couple of pages of TFIOS wanting to maybe give it a chance despite my total aversion to 'cancer books'. Two or three pages in I decided I couldn't do it. My father survived, but those feelings of fear, helplessness, and sadness will never go away whenever we think about that time in our lives. Revisiting it is not something I wish to do.
I'm so sorry to hear that you're so familiar with cancer. I can imagine the book was especially difficult for you since Hazel and Augustus were so honest with their feelings. It wasn't easy to read, especially at the end. But I loved the fact that this wasn't a cancer book. The characters were so real and lovable and goofy even in the face of this terrible disease that it's hard to read it without being touched personally. I think that's why I wrote about how it relates to my personal life, too.
Great review, and I'm glad you read it with us this month.
Yes, the helplessness is the worst. I decided to read TFIOS because I've never seen such an explosion of buzz for a book. I didn't see one review below 5 stars. And it is excellent, but I'm still not sure if I'm glad that I read it. (I haven't picked up another book since I put it down, which is rare for me.)
TFIOS was a unique blend of wonderful storytelling/writing and difficult-to-read. I couldn't help but think about the friends and family I know who have been affected by the disease while reading, and it was hard. You're so right that it's a testament to John Green's writing and the book itself that it inspires people to make deeply personal connections.
Thanks, Tracey, and thanks for giving us the platform to discuss it. I've read some blogs recently about how many female characters in YA take on masculine characteristics to achieve strength. I think Hazel is strong and feminine and real throughout the story.
Yes, John Green forces his readers to feel deeply, which I suppose is the goal for most writers. But I think I need to read something light and funny now; I'm open to suggestions until my ARC of Black Heart gets here!
Instant classic is definitely right. I'm sorry for your losses, and I can imagine that it might not be so easy for you to hold another grenade–fictional or not–so close to your chest.
And Andrew McMahon's voice never fails to make me feel things. I watched his documentary, and it was so sad, but uplifting at the same time. You can tell how completely the experiece changed him, just listening to his music before and after.
Yes, my story with Jack's kind of deserves its own post. Something in the The Resolution just struck me, and I bought the album immediately. I just listened to it over and over, and I just felt what a warrior Andrew was. When I started learning more about him, suddenly everything made sense to me. He is unbelievable live. (I cried when I went to see him.)
I'm sorry to hear that you've lost so many loved ones to cancer. My mom is a cancer survivor, and even though she's still with us, I still read the book with little bit of distance because I didn't want to be too devastated when something bad happened to a character. I mentally prepared myself for the worst before it happened.
In the end, I thought the book was fantastic and it really opened my eyes to what those with cancer go through. I'll never see cancer the same way again because of this story.
Thanks for sharing your personal connection to cancer and how it related to your reactions to this book. My father-in-law has been battling leukemia for more than a decade and it was often difficult to keep my emotions regarding his illness from clouding my experience with TFIOS. Still, I found myself enjoying Hazel and Gus's story despite its tragic-ness. I think John Green was the perfect author to write this book because of the way he balances intense emotion with humor.
Cancer is a quick-trigger topic with me because so many loved ones have been touched by it. TFIOS is an eye-opening, excellent book, but I won't be quick to pick up another "cancer" story any time soon.
Yes, I am thankful for the humor. The Venn diagram may have been my favorite moment. 🙂
I´m really sorry that you already had so much experience with cancer.
I lost somebody close to me to cancer and while reading this book, it brought me a back to a place I never really addressed before. It was powerful but at times a difficult read.
It shows really from the inside and it does it with such beauty and humor and honesty…
Hi Laurie! I love how you say that this book "is the perfect vehicle for [fostering real-life connections], and if any book can be an 'instant classic,' TFIOS is one." Very "instant classic" worthy. I found myself wondering how this book was sort of changing my life as I read. And, how it was making me cry so much. Very raw truths are written into this novel.
I'll have to check this one out.
Yes, it is a really inside perspective. I wonder if TFIOS has already become like AIA for teens battling cancer now.
Hi Kari! Yes, maybe Green should have called it An Abundance of Tears. 😉
I do recommend it, as long as you go into it with a box of tissues!
Excellent post! I'm giving away a copy of The Fault In Our Stars book in my GIVEAWAY! Small world, huh?
I'd suggest The Sky Is Everywhere by Jandy Nelson. It deals with death (past tense), but at it's heart it's a story of hope and love. And it's funny. And sweet. And the characters are ah-mazing!
Also, Anna And The French Kiss, by Stephanie Perkins, is a great story, and not at all depressing. Who could be depressed reading about a girl in Paris?
Thanks Daisy! I'm already a fan of Stephanie Perkins. I was thinking of getting Why We Broke Up; I read the first chapter and it really made me laugh.