“If only we could see the endless string of consequences that result from our smallest actions. But we can’t know better until knowing better is useless.” – Miles Halter, page 218
John Green has become a big sensation among youth. He’s #1 New York Times Bestselling Author at the moment. I have read his other books before but now I finally read his first young adult novel named Looking for Alaska. It’s published in March 2005 by Dutton Juvenille. It broke New York Times Bestseller list at number 10 in Children’s Paperback, more than 7 years after it was released. John Green is also known about the novel The Fault in Our Stars. I believe especially many girls and young women know at least the movie (2014) about that book.
This book tells a story about a boy named Miles Halter and a girl named Alaska Young. They meet in a Culver Creek Boarding School in Alabama. Miles (called as ”Pudge”) is there for his junior year. It feels like everybody there has some talent and Pudge’s is that he remembers famous people’s last words. That’s kinda weird but interesting. The main point in the book is Pudge’s feelings for Alaska. I think this is a book (like John Green’s other books) which you can’t find similar one. This isn’t basic high school love story as others. This was more thought-provoking.
There are three main characters in this novel. Firstly there’s Miles Halter, who’s tall and skinny boy and who’s really attracted to Alaska. He’s a smart and kind boy who during his boarding school time decides to test his limits. The second main character is Alaska who’s really pretty, clever, wild and enigmatic. She acts so confident and independent girl who has many friends and a boyfriend but something clearly bothers her. She doesn’t like to be at home on holidays for example. She also deals cigarettes and alcohol to her friends. The third main character is Alaska’s best friend and Mile’s roommate Chip Martin. He comes from poor family and seems to hate rich kids. He has came to Boarding School with a scholarship. He’s the one who gives the possibility for Pudge to meet Alaska and leads Pudge to start smoking. Other characters are gifted MC/ Hip Hop aficianado Takumi (Alaska and Chip’s good friend), Alaska’s Romanian immigrant friend Lara, Mr. Starnes (also known as ”The Eagle”, the Stern Dean of Students at Culver Creek) and Jake (Alaska’s boyfriend who lives far away from her). I think John Green’s all characters are some way different than many other author’s. They are so special and out of the ordinary style. They are just normal people with their problems and they seem so realistic. Just like they could be existing in real life. They are sometime unexpected and not boring at all. The characters have also some intelligent proverbs and they made me think many things during the book.
The book is all about relationships and relationship’s problems. I knew that something will happen because the book is divided two sides: Before and After. I had feeling what could happen already before I even read the book and when I was reading before- pages there were quite clear signs about a death. The death was again present like it was in the story of The Fault in Our Stars. Alaska dies in a car accident. But her death is unclear: was it a suicide or an accident. Only reading this book can clarify this or not. Maybe you don’t always even need a clear answer. Life goes on.
The story is told from Pudge’s perspective. It’s full of his thoughts. He’s actually quite funny and I think many people can identify with him. He’s just a normal teenage with a willing heart and normal teenage problems. He’s fighting against tempations and his feelings. I laughed during this book because some thoughts fitted perfectly with mine. John Green just has such amazing aforisms.
I loved that book. Some people have criticized it because of it’s dirty language and bad things like drinking alcohol and smoking. But John Green himself has said: “There are some adults who think that the only kind of ethics that matter are sexuel ethics. So they miss everything else that is going on in the book.” He also said: “The book has never been marketed to 12-year-olds. Never. It is packaged like an adult book; it doesn’s even say it’s published by a kid’s book imprint on the cover, and it’s never shelved in the children’s section of bookstores.” It’s true that you must be older than 12-year old that you can understand the book right. You have to be openminded too, not so old-fashioned. John Green seems to be really genius and great person and it shows in his books. He has his own humour in them and it showed in this one too. He can make books about touching and serious things but still at the same time they are really funny and easy to read. I think that’s really great and refreshing. John Green himself, for instance, loves people’s last words so it wasn’t hard for him to find these to this book. He said too that he would have wanted more these words in the book but he couldn’t. Anyway this is a great book with a great message. It has a great mysterious spirit and it was so compelling that I read it really fastly. I can recommend it with my all heart to young who love novels which tell a story about teenagers and which are something more than just a cliché love story. This is also perfect for them who like John Green’s writing style (which is in my opinion really easy to read in English). If you have liked John Green’s other books, this book won’t let you down. The plot is magnificent.
Sources: Wikipedia