Looking For Alaska - John Green
Published (This Edition): 28/02/13
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 263
Writing a review of a John Green book is one of the hardest things you will ever have to do! I never feel as though I can do his books justice and write a sufficient review however, I am going to try!
Looking For Alaska was the second John Green book I read. After the hype of The Fault In Our Stars I was eager to see what his debut was like so read it very quickly after TFIOS. Recently, I was having a chat with some friends about TFIOS and I commented about how much I LOVED Looking For Alaska so decided to re-read. Oh boy!
Looking For Alaska tells the story of Miles and his transition from living at home to moving away to boarding school. Ever fascinated by people’s last words, Miles isn’t exactly the coolest kid around but when he meets ‘The Colonel’ who he shares a room with and the ever enigmatic Alaska, he is soon swept up into a whole new world. Cigarettes, alcohol, kissing and sex become Mile’s (or ‘Pudge’s’ as he gets nicknamed) new life and with short interludes for classwork, Miles learns that searching for a ‘great perhaps’ is not as easy as he first thought.
I adore John Green. Every single word seems to merge into the next and form such coherent and logical sentences that you wonder why no one has ever thought of putting words in that order before. He tells stories with love, passion and intelligence and the story seeps off of the pages and spills over into a whole bubble around you as you read. Green has numerous skills that make him the experienced writer that he is and one of these skills is engaging the reader.
Now, it might seem a silly thing to say: whenever you read and enjoy a book, you are engaged. But what Green does it take it to a whole new level. He draws you into the story and makes you think as you read, he introduces new ideas about the world around you and he immerses you into the reading experience. You don’t just sit there and let the words wash over you: you feel and understand every word.
One criticism of John Green is his lack of realistic characters. I’ve heard people suggest that ‘teenagers don’t talk like that’ but do you know what: it doesn’t matter. Firstly, I am sure there are teenagers that are intelligent enough to hold intellectual conversations but I think what’s more important is not taking everything at face value. Think about what is being said; think about the underlying meaning and what else Green might be trying to get across with the words he is using: see Green’s characters as an amalgamation of every single teenager going through a tough time. Personally, I feel John Green’s characters are the best you will ever come across in the YA genre. They are so perfectly formed and so well observed that no other characters can come close.
Looking For Alaska has everything you could want in a YA fiction novel. It holds every conceivable emotion and I found myself laughing in some moments and quietly crying in others. I cannot fault this book at all and I think the fact it is already being taught in schools is testament to its perfection.
A dazzling debut that will stay with you for life. Perfect.
Publisher: Harper Collins
Pages: 263
Writing a review of a John Green book is one of the hardest things you will ever have to do! I never feel as though I can do his books justice and write a sufficient review however, I am going to try!
Looking For Alaska was the second John Green book I read. After the hype of The Fault In Our Stars I was eager to see what his debut was like so read it very quickly after TFIOS. Recently, I was having a chat with some friends about TFIOS and I commented about how much I LOVED Looking For Alaska so decided to re-read. Oh boy!
Looking For Alaska tells the story of Miles and his transition from living at home to moving away to boarding school. Ever fascinated by people’s last words, Miles isn’t exactly the coolest kid around but when he meets ‘The Colonel’ who he shares a room with and the ever enigmatic Alaska, he is soon swept up into a whole new world. Cigarettes, alcohol, kissing and sex become Mile’s (or ‘Pudge’s’ as he gets nicknamed) new life and with short interludes for classwork, Miles learns that searching for a ‘great perhaps’ is not as easy as he first thought.
I adore John Green. Every single word seems to merge into the next and form such coherent and logical sentences that you wonder why no one has ever thought of putting words in that order before. He tells stories with love, passion and intelligence and the story seeps off of the pages and spills over into a whole bubble around you as you read. Green has numerous skills that make him the experienced writer that he is and one of these skills is engaging the reader.
Now, it might seem a silly thing to say: whenever you read and enjoy a book, you are engaged. But what Green does it take it to a whole new level. He draws you into the story and makes you think as you read, he introduces new ideas about the world around you and he immerses you into the reading experience. You don’t just sit there and let the words wash over you: you feel and understand every word.
One criticism of John Green is his lack of realistic characters. I’ve heard people suggest that ‘teenagers don’t talk like that’ but do you know what: it doesn’t matter. Firstly, I am sure there are teenagers that are intelligent enough to hold intellectual conversations but I think what’s more important is not taking everything at face value. Think about what is being said; think about the underlying meaning and what else Green might be trying to get across with the words he is using: see Green’s characters as an amalgamation of every single teenager going through a tough time. Personally, I feel John Green’s characters are the best you will ever come across in the YA genre. They are so perfectly formed and so well observed that no other characters can come close.
Looking For Alaska has everything you could want in a YA fiction novel. It holds every conceivable emotion and I found myself laughing in some moments and quietly crying in others. I cannot fault this book at all and I think the fact it is already being taught in schools is testament to its perfection.
A dazzling debut that will stay with you for life. Perfect.
Laura