Book Review: The Fault in Our Stars

So a confession to begin with; I haven’t read that many books recently. The reason that this is a confession and not so much a simple fact is that people like to think that reading a good old book makes you more intellectual. Following internet blogs and vlogs for your information and entertainment won’t cut it with the higher class of those who don’t need advanced technology to help them feel entertained.

But of course, in years gone by, I have read books through the night, Artemis Fowl and The Eternity Code and Harry Potter and Half Blood Prince caused me to sacrifice several hours of sleep. I remember feeling genuine edge-of-the-seat tension, when protagonist Artemis encountered a man who was capable of out-maneuvering him and genuine confusion when Snape Killed Dumbledore (this is not a spoiler; everyone in the world knows this).

But books of late seem to have lost their appeal. I began reading Game of Thrones, but then put the book somewhere I can’t remember and haven’t felt any desire to go looking for it. This wasn’t because I didn’t like the story or writing style, but mainly because I just couldn’t engage with any of the characters. Every time I read from the perspective of Ned Stark, I was aware that was reading about a fictitious man, I was consistently aware that he wasn’t real and couldn’t suspend my disbelief to the extent I could actually care about him.

I worried for a little while, that maybe my hobby of analytically dismantling various forms of entertainment had ruined my ability to enjoy a story that doesn’t have plethora of special effects and designated broadcasting slot.

 

Luckily for me, John Green has served to restore my interest in this reading for entertainment thing, with “The Fault in Our Stars”.

I understand that I’m relatively late to the party on this one, given how long this book has been out, but better late than never.

The main thing first off, that drew me to the book was the trailer for it’s film adaptation. I can’t say I have any particular connection to the plot, but it was the concept that drew me in.

To summarise, the protagonist of the story is Hazel, a terminally ill cancer sufferer. The story itself is a love story between her and the character Augustus Waters, a cancer survivor whom she meets at a support group.

Now that makes for an interesting starting point in itself; she’s terminally ill; she’s going to die and there’s no possible way of averting that. Most writers would try to be sensitive and follow the pre-established convention that all cancer suffers are bold heroes struggling and constantly fighting. Not only does Green go against this convention, he makes the opposing view part of his protagonist’s personality. In terms of things that writers in any form of entertainment, that’s a pretty ballsy thing to do. I mean, in series 5 of Doctor Who they had an episode with a C plot of how it’s alright and brave to be dyslexic; that’s how sensitive you have to be when writing for entertainment. I feel uncomfortable even now about the way I phrased that point, in case someone misreads it and assumes I’m attacking anyone with dyslexia. Anyone who writes anything for a living or for a hobby is automatically trained that you’re supposed to please everyone as much as possible, so treating terminal cancer as something that the central character has is a very interesting move.

It pays off very well, with Green penning a believable teenage girl, with her cancer coming up more as an everyday inconvenience to her than the defining part of her character.

Of course it’s not all great, some supporting characters lack personality and some are a bit plain and/or wet. Hazel’s father for example has a habit of crying a lot, which (while being noted by Hazel herself as annoying) gets a bit old in terms of how his character is put together.

I was originally going to point of that Augustus Waters (the love interest) is a bit pretentious, condescending and generally Edward Cullen-esque, but then characters in the book started calling him out on it and I realised that that part of his personality was Green’s way of making the point that someone who’s almost dies or been sick isn’t really any more qualified to discuss mortality and such than anyone else.

This book has been made into a film that is scheduled to be released this year. Before it comes out I thoroughly recommend reading this well told love story with an endlessly interesting and brave premise.