The Fault in our Stars; Bests and Worsts

As I finished the book The Fault in our Stars by John Green, I wanted to make one more post about this book; the bests and the worsts. (Warning: if you haven't read the book but are planning to don't read this)

The 'bests' of this book for one is the setting. It is a modern setting, meaning it is not set into the future or 20 years in the past. I like this about this book because it gives reader's more to relate to, so they are not left wondering if something mentioned in the book is the same now as it was then, for example phones or cars. This then gives readers clear imagery. Another one of the best things about this book are the characters. They aren't perfect people who you read about and you wish you could be them; they themselves are normal people in everyday life and they even might be the people you never talk to either. This is because the two main characters have suffered both with cancer; the girl Hazel has thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs and Augustus, the boy, had  osteosarcoma in which he had to amputate his leg.  Both of these reasons, having setting be present time and the characters both having struggles in their lives, make The Fault in our Stars one of the best books for people to read because it has an open audience, so anyone can enjoy this book.

I loved this book, but I can think of some 'worsts'. One thing that I didn't like about this book is that one of the main characters, Augustus Waters, dies because cancer spreads throughout his body. This leaves Hazel feeling depressed all of the time. But that wasn't the ending. When Augustus dies, there are still a few chapters left in the book. So I thought," Hmm, something good must have to happened if there are that many pages left," but I was not satisfied. Another bad thing about this book is it didn't tell much of a background story about the characters, like when they were first diagnosed with cancer or childhood stories about them. Honestly, I think it would have been really cool for them to have been diagnosed with cancer at the same time because then they would have a really close connection to each other.

Overall I enjoyed reading this book and I highly suggest it for anyone who needs something to read next. And if you read it soon enough, you can catch the movie on June 6th this summer! And also, please leave recommendations of books I should read next.

Krista Ramsey Column

In this column written by Krista Ramsey, newlyweds have decided to take care of the groom's twin sisters, and putting their big life plans on hold. Since the twin's unfortunate death of their mother and their dad being held in jail, the only option for them was to go into foster care, until Ryan Craig and Megan Annis decided to take them under their wings.

Newlyweds raise groom's twin sisters

The line in Krista Ramsey's column that I think is the best written is,"On April 22, 2012, life looked like nothing more than a long, smooth path to happiness for Ryan Craig and Megan Annis." The reason I think this line is the best written is because it has an impact on all people who have been married for at least a couple years because they know, that marriage will almost never be a smooth, long path to happiness. It can also relate to people who are planning to get married because, like everyone else, they too expect nothing but peace and happiness. Obviously for Ryan and Megan, their expectations were a little too high at first, but now since they have helped others, they have gotten their reward back. They are now happy to be apart of the twin's life. The low/informal diction that really stuck out for me in this sentence is when Krista writes," life looked nothing more than...". This really emphasizes the fact that they really expected a perfect life once they were married. Instead of saying ,"life looked," Krista could've written ,"they had high expectations for their life...," but instead, Krista uses the simple term of ,"life looked...," to show that they simply thought that a perfect life was easy to achieve. This also shows irony, because even the people who haven't had a chance at a relationship that no matter what happens, nothing ever turns out perfectly. Like they always say," You can't have a sense of joy without experiencing pain.".

After reading a couple of Krista Ramsey's columns, I would like to ask her a couple questions about her writing. The first question I would ask her would be simple; how did she know she had a passion for writing columns? The next question I would ask her if I could would be in her pieces, does she prefer to look on the better side of things, more like glass half full, or to emphasize the bad things that she is writing about so people become more aware of the situation? The last question I would ask her is out of all the stories she probably gets about certain things, which ones would she more prefer to write about; people doing goods things and making the right choices, or a story that is more of a shocker to people?

The Fault in our Stars; Character Symbols

Since I am about a few chapters away from the end of The Fault in our Stars, I think an acceptable prompt for one of my blogs is to talk about the two main characters in this book and what symbols would correspond along with them.

The two main characters in my book, Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus (Gus) Waters, have a exceptional relationship with each other throughout the book. Now prior to meeting  one another, both of them were robust, individualistic,impassioned people who have either dealt with or are dealing with cancer. Hazel especially cherished independence because she felt like she was always being held behind when her lungs wouldn't perform accurately. A quote that I like that shows the reason why she is very independent is, "I'm a grenade and at some point I'm going to blow up and I would like to minimize the casualties, okay?"(Page 63). The reason this quote shows why Hazel is usually quiet and independent is because she thinks she is like a grenade; any relationship she has with anyone will be destroyed when she 'blows up'. I conclude an extravagant object to symbolize Hazel would be a pineapple, or a kiwi. Now I know this is a little cheesy but take this into consideration. The reason for me delegating Hazel the symbol of these two fruits is because they both do not look attractive on the outside; a pineapple is very spiky and has hard edges and a kiwi--well no one would choose a kiwi if they didn't know how it tastes because it is covered in fur on the outside. But on the inside, both are delicious fruits that are sweet and people have discovered them to be quite tasteful too. This is like Hazel. On the outside, Hazel feels insecure. Since she has to wear tubes that go into her nose, around her ear, and attach to a cart of oxygen that she is always wheeling around, she feels like the word ,"CANCER," is written right on her forehead that makes people keep their distance from her because they think that she could be 'weird' or 'contagious', even though you can't 'catch' cancer like you can a cold. But on the inside, Hazel Grace Lancaster is a very caring, kind, and elaborate person. She can't keep anything simple; she always has to ponder on things and unnecessarily complicate things, and frankly that is what I love about her character in this book. She likes knowing people for who they are on the inside and not for what they look like on the outside. Which brings me to Augustus Waters.

Above; Hazel on the right and Gus on the left. They sense that they are left out from the world because of their disabilities.

Augustus Waters is not as independent as Hazel, the only reason for me saying so is he is so easily loved that he always is surrounded by his friends and his family, so he enjoys having the company. This I think this has taught him to be a caring and compassionate person, so the perfect symbol for Augustus is a house. A house that has the perfect landscaping and a perfect family living in it and the whole house is painted a bright, cheery color. But you never really know what is going on on the inside. The parent's might be having an argument or the kids are now being bullied by someone at school. The point is, Augustus seems like he is always putting on a happy face for everyone, because without Augustus, people wouldn't have something to cheer them up everyday. But when the doctors find more cancer in his body, it affects Augustus majorly. He can't walk or get up, and most of the time he has to stay in bed or on the couch all day having his parents do everything for him because he is too weak to get up. This is a really depressing time in his life for Augustus, but whenever Hazel comes over to visit, he pretends to be fine, or rather happy.

Overall, both Hazel and Augustus are both two way different people on the inside than on the inside, but I love them both as character's in The Fault in our Stars and I will keep you updated on what happens to them both when I finish the book.

The Fault in our Stars; Most Important Quote

The most important quote from the book The Fault in our Stars would have to be in chapter 10 on page 153 where Augustus admits to Hazel that he is in love with her. " 'I'm in love with you,' he said quietly. 'Augustus,' I said. 'I am,' he said...'I'm in love with you, and I'm not in the business of denying the simple pleasure of saying true things. I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will shallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I'm in love with you.' "

For me, this quote is important because Hazel feels insecure all of the time, wearing tubes that help her lungs to get needed oxygen while also having to roll around an oxygen tank. So by Augustus admitting to her that he loves her, exactly 4 times, means that despite her struggles and issues that she feels insecure with, he will take her for who she is, because he simply loves her that way.And then at the very end of the quote, after his whole speech, he says, " and I'm in love with you." This is very important because he doesn't say," but I'm in love with you." When he says ,"and" , for me it shows that he will love her with all of their struggles, not despite their struggles. As I read further into this book, this is very important to the plot because Augustus's doctor's just detected more cancer in his body and Hazel still has remaining cancer that cannot be removed, so if Augustus truly loves her, hopefully he will still support and love her through his own struggles now.