The Fault in Our Stars in Literary Exploration

Jan 17, 2012 Riku Sayuj rated it really liked it

Shelves: genre-fiction, cancer

This review is a metaphor. I just place it here, with the full potential of a rant.

It could have been about the (not-so) 鈥榰nfair鈥� life of these kids, about this cancer story which asks for our emotional involvement (pity? empathy?) with these cancer victims 鈥� who can only be called extremely lucky by any measure among the majority of the cancer patients in the world鈥� the people who does not even have the money to diagnose it, let alone fight it. I could replicate the 鈥渁uthor鈥檚 rant鈥�, and add th This review is a metaphor. I just place it here, with the full potential of a rant.

It could have been about the (not-so) 鈥榰nfair鈥� life of these kids, about this cancer story which asks for our emotional involvement (pity? empathy?) with these cancer victims 鈥� who can only be called extremely lucky by any measure among the majority of the cancer patients in the world鈥� the people who does not even have the money to diagnose it, let alone fight it. I could replicate the 鈥渁uthor鈥檚 rant鈥�, and add the full force of third world woe to it.

But that would take away from the fact that despite its obvious shortcomings, the story has heart, and I enjoyed it. Green keeps it together and doesn鈥檛 allow it to cloy and melt too much. Keeps it bearable. And more than that, takes a story about cancer and makes it about the human condition - of the ability to have love and happiness in the face of the worst odds imaginable. Every love story is an epic story, every love story has to fight odds that cannot be imagined outside of it. And yet we keep doing it. Because there is nothing else that we are really supposed to be doing. Love is all. Cancer is immaterial in the face of such a power, heck death and wars and epidemics and dictators cannot stop it, one disease sure as hell is not going to. So we have this one force that trumps everything, has been the one constant of history. And we have this one story that keeps us going through it all - the star-crossed lovers. Green starts off promising us a story we have to like because we would be insensitive not to, but ends up giving as the story that each of us know is our own, with a different setting, with different struggles even if sometimes of slightly longer duration. But then they all encompass the same infinities. They all give us the same eternities. Green surrenders his story to that larger story in the end. And so should we.

So I place this review here, but I don鈥檛 light it.

As Samadrita says, 鈥渏ust because a book is being read and liked by millions, doesn't mean it has to be another Twilight or Fifty Shades of Grey. And I only appeal to readers to give Green the benefit of the doubt.鈥�

so much depends鈥�
耻辫辞苍鈥ㄢ赌�

a red wheel
鈥╞补谤谤辞飞鈥ㄢ赌�

glazed with rain鈥�
飞补迟别谤鈥ㄢ赌�

beside the white鈥�
chickens.

So much depends on a simple story. ...more

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Nov 24, 2012 Paula Phillips rated it liked it

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. Have you read John Green's The Fault in Our Stars? What was your view as if you thought it was a 5 star read and an OMGher book . Then I suggest that my review might not be to your likening and may offend you in parts . Please remember though , that I am being honest and have made this review not to come across negative about the book as that is not my intentions

So, this is a book that I have had sitting on my Ipad for a while waiting to be read , luckily ebooks don't gather dust otherwise this Have you read John Green's The Fault in Our Stars? What was your view as if you thought it was a 5 star read and an OMGher book . Then I suggest that my review might not be to your likening and may offend you in parts . Please remember though , that I am being honest and have made this review not to come across negative about the book as that is not my intentions

So, this is a book that I have had sitting on my Ipad for a while waiting to be read , luckily ebooks don't gather dust otherwise this one would have. To be honest, I am not too sure why I took so long in reading it , was it because I'm not a huge John Green fan or maybe it was to do that it was a book about Cancer. I'm not too sure exactly what it was that took my time in reading it , but recently in a FB group that I belong to called BA which you have seen referenced in my reviews before. One of the girls there we shall call her S, had been pimping this book hard out and so I thought ok, I've got time to spare, I'm sitting on a bus with nothing to do and a lot of time on my hands so I cracked open my Ipad Bluefire App and started reading it and I did read it until the very last page and to be honest , I felt blah and disappointed at the same time as to me this was an average alright book, nothing great- no sad teary full on crying moments in which I had braced myself for. In fact, it was just another I have Cancer and I might die and I have friends with Cancer and they are sure to pass on as well , but what the hell life is short - so lets set ourselves up for disappointment and date. Another irritating thing was that they chatted about an Author in the book and they get a wish to see him, this perked me up a bit only to find out he's an alcoholic drunk and messed up man who couldn't even take time out of his precious life to be nice to his fans who had come all this way and even on top of that sick just to visit him.
So to me, The Fault in our Stars is a hit or miss read and if you do love John Green and reading about people with Cancer etc then this will be the book for you but if you are like me and have read lots of the same type of book - then I wouldn't personally waste the time.
...more

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May 11, 2012 Nicole rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction-read, young-adult, ya-2015, ya-2018, ya-2021, july, ya-best-of-the-best, favorite-all-time, indiana, read-four-times

Fourth read 2023:
Found even more appreciation and wonder in this amazing story.

Third read 2021:
I don鈥檛 recall crying the first two times I read this book. I cried this time. One of my favorite ya books of all time.

First read 2015:
Another surprise. I put this off for a long time figuring it would be another overrated book. It wasn't. John Green, at least in this one, lives up to the hype. Almost as good as Eleanor and Park but not quite. ...more

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Feb 25, 2012 Liv rated it it was amazing

Shelves: young-adults

What a beautiful, heartfelt, honest book. John Green does a wonderful job writing as a young teenage girl, as well as conveying all of the emotions and difficulties that come with fighting cancer. This book had me tearing up and full out crying multiple times, but also made me laugh - Green can make light of even the darkest of situations. I loved it and recommend it to anyone and everyone.

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Jul 03, 2012 Educating Drew rated it it was amazing

Shelves: ya-love, ah-may-zing, sobs, romance, 2012, audio

Okay, let鈥檚 just get this out right away because it鈥檚 surely not a spoiler but TOTALLY relevant to the ahmazingness of this book.

The kids in The Fault in Our Stars have Cancer. All of them. They all meet in a survivor鈥檚 support group, but it鈥檚 one of those survivor groups where some are surviving with Cancer. Like Hazel. She鈥檚 this cool kid who lugs around an oxygen tank because she was diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer and there were tumors in your lungs but some miracle treatment shrunk Okay, let鈥檚 just get this out right away because it鈥檚 surely not a spoiler but TOTALLY relevant to the ahmazingness of this book.

The kids in The Fault in Our Stars have Cancer. All of them. They all meet in a survivor鈥檚 support group, but it鈥檚 one of those survivor groups where some are surviving with Cancer. Like Hazel. She鈥檚 this cool kid who lugs around an oxygen tank because she was diagnosed with Stage IV thyroid cancer and there were tumors in your lungs but some miracle treatment shrunk them and things look better even though she feels like she鈥檚 a walking grenade because her life expectancy is so short.

Needless to say Hazel does not like to get close to people. Why bother. She鈥檚 got one foot in the door of death. She鈥檚 perfectly content reading her books and watching ANTM (um, America鈥檚 Next Top Model, who are you people who don鈥檛 know that?!?). BUT, her parents, being good parents that they are encourage her to go to the before mentioned support group. And that鈥檚 when her life gets a bit messy.

Hazel meets Augustus. Intelligent, witty, in-remission, Augustus. (He sticks cigarettes in his mouth but doesn鈥檛 light them, you know for the POWER of it; love this kid!). Hazel is in this thing where she can鈥檛 stay away from Augustus but also doesn鈥檛 want him to get uber close because well - she鈥檚 gonna die, and his cancer has an 80% survivor rate. Augustus is fierce and pretty much tells her she鈥檚 crazy, he wants to be around her.

Oh and then, to make this an even MORE beautiful book than what it already is, there鈥檚 a book that Hazel ADORES and gives to Augustus to read and he GETS IT too (readers, how important is this? We all have those books that we wish the world would get). Aaand, Hazel has questions about the end because like life there鈥檚 not really an end and there鈥檚 characters that go on without a story because theirs story was the one being told. So, Hazel and Augustus go on this mission to find out what happens to the other people. Really? How amazing is that? How many times have you wondered what happens to the people in your books, you know? Blows my mind at the adventure and romanticism.

This book reminds me (as always) of the brilliance that is John Green.

The Audio Version

I don't consider myself much of a book cryer you know? I don't know why, and maybe it's more to do with the fact that most books I read probably aren't all that sad, but I don't tear up...MUCH LESS get a full fledged stream of tears.

I owe part of that with this book because of the narrator. Her inflections were right on. Her voice was right on. The separation of the characters - AMAZING. Much like Khrystine Hvam, after I finished listening to THIS audio, I began looking for other audios that Kate Rudd has done. (I'm thinking maybe Holly Black's Tithe trilogy?)

Oh and #winning there's even a Q&A with John Green at the end. ...more

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Mar 15, 2012 Gretchen rated it really liked it

Shelves: read-2012

Wow. So much goodness in here, that I almost don't know where to start.

Ok, let's start with the rating. This is a 5-star book....almost. If you can deal with a book about teens with cancer, who have very adult vocabularies, you will give this a 5. I knocked it to a 4 because of some inconsistencies, but that isn't going to stop me from telling everyone I know to read this book.

This is my first book from this author, and I noted that some readers think it's very similar to his others. If that is ...more

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May 09, 2013 Una rated it it was ok

I must be in the minority in this but for some reason this book was just not sitting right by me. I agree with someone else who mentioned that the characters were just WAY too wise for their respective ages and that made the book very unbelievable. It was such an easy read and the pages did flow quickly together.

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Jul 14, 2014 Keith rated it it was amazing

I happened to see a preview of the movie that is based upon this book..I thought it would be better to read the book first. I thought the book was fantastic! I look forward to seeing the movie and reading other books by this amazing author!!!!

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Jul 20, 2012 Marcia rated it it was amazing

Shelves: audiobook

This is my big ten. So says Hazel Grace.

This book make me feel like I was repeatedly stabbed and had involuntary jags of crying - all while on a plane. Great experience. Aside from the few HOURS of public humiliation of crying uncontrollable, (tip: read in the privacy of your own home, car, office) this is an amazing book.

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