Looking for Alaska
by John Green
Summary: Miles Halter is fascinated by famous last words and tired of his safe life at home. He leaves for boarding school to seek what the dying poet Francois Rabelais called the "Great Perhaps." Much awaits Miles at Culver Creek, including Alaska Young. Clever, funny, screwed-up, and dead sexy, Alaska will pull Miles into her labyrinth and catapult him into the Great Perhaps.
Looking for Alaska brilliantly chronicles the indelible impact one life can have on another. A stunning debut, it marks John Green's arrival as an important new voice in contemporary fiction.
Review:
Wow. I literally JUST put the book down and I’m filled with all these thoughts and I realized I had to write a review. I have to write down how amazing this book was. I don’t know how John Green captures the teenage spirit so perfectly. All the irresponsibility and naivety, but all the wonder and hope and quest for truth, too. Fitting in, understanding connections with other people, making memories, and making sense of giant messes.
When I first started, it kind of reminded me of The Perks of Being a Wallflower. A shy guy meets a group of awesome people, falls in love with the girl of the group, ends up dating another girl in the group he doesn’t like as much, etc. But it was so much more than Perks. And then, of course, it wasn’t like Perks at all. It was totally different. If you’ve read this book, then you know exactly what I’m referring to.
This book is amazing. It’s not just well written, it’s written so well that it mirrors reality so perfectly. The characters are all real and believable. No one is flat, even the minor characters. This book deals with so many issues without being the kind of book that TRIES to deal with issues and makes it obvious. It’s not a teen angst coming of age story like others. But it is. It’s so hard to explain. This is my second Green novel and I think he’s just talented in that sense. He can just do books like this and make it work without being some sappy junk you can see through.
This is one of those books I can’t really summarize because it would ruin it. There would be spoilers. You just have to read it.
Labels: Review