The Fault in Our Stars

I went into this knowing it would be a sad book. I went into it already accepting what I knew the ending would probably be, and yet it still made me cry. Well done, John Green.

Also, while I'm handing out kudos... well done, general public, for restoring the faith in you that I lost after My Horizontal Life. Right now - and actually for an impressively long time - The Fault in Our Stars and The Book Thief have been big, popular books. Yes, the fact that they were/are being made into movies probably contributes to that, but still... that just means Hollywood is recognizing them too. And these are good books! Well, The Book Thief has been one of my all-time favorites for years, but we'll get back to that.

The Fault in Our Stars is not really what Hazel would call a "cancer story" - though in some ways it is. But it's not about the cancer, it's about the people. It's about Hazel and Augustus and the life they build together, however brief that may be. And that's what makes it beautiful.

Interestingly, there are some common themes in both The Fault in Our Stars and The Book Thief, threads people apparently want as they both exploded into popularity at roughly the same time. I know the dangers of generalizing, but let's just run with this for a while to see what happens.

The Fault in Our Stars is narrated by a terminal cancer patient, in a community of cancer patients. The Book Thief is narrated by Death, in the midst of WWII. And yet, neither of these books are about death. They're about life, and the human spirit, and how beautiful these things can be no matter how or when they end. They are, perhaps, even more beautiful because they are so fleeting.

Also, both have a girl as the main character. What happened to "boys only read about boys"? Or are we saying boys don't read anymore. I don't know whether to be encouraged that finally it's being recognized that a mainstream book doesn't have to have a male main character, or discouraged that maybe people still believe only girls read about girls, but have given up on boys reading. I think for now I'll settle on the positive: whatever the reasoning, here are two popular books with female main characters, and there must be boys out there reading them.

A third point: these are well-written books, with serious subjects. I love fluff as much as the next person, but these are the books that should be remembered. These are the books that should get attention - and they are. Because we, as a whole, are smarter than we tend to give ourselves credit for. I'd like to hold up both of these books for anyone convinced that America's schools are going downhill and America's younger generations are being consumed by television and the internet. We still appreciate some wonderful books, and judging by how fast they're selling, quite a few of us are even still appreciating them on paper. But even reading electronically does not detract from the art of the writing... although... the designer in me has now wandered off on a tangent of the best way to digitally format some parts of The Book Thief...

... and on that note, I'm going to end this review and go chase after the rest of my brain. Hmm, brains. Perhaps my next review will be on the completely different Pride and Prejudice and Zombies, my current driving entertainment.