"The Fault In Our Stars" by John Green

Getting my heart torn out of my chest because of a piece of literature isn’t anything new for me. It happened with books like “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” and “Love Letters to the Dead”. The legacy of foo-foo heartache continues with “The Fault In Our Stars” by John Green. Any romance story has the potential to be heart-wrenching. We all want love, we all want justice. But what happens when the two lovebirds are teenaged cancer patients? As a reader, you know tragedy is on the horizon. But is there any romantic justice near the end? It’s easy to believe with all the witty humor the book is laced with, but if you want a definitive answer, you’ll have to read the book yourself, which I highly recommend you do.

Within all 314 pages of this young adult novel, there are many themes John Green touches on: positivity, negativity, the afterlife, sympathy, empathy, and as many Christian bloggers will have you believe, religion. The latter of which is debatable to me. While is true the characters of the book openly mention God and heaven as ways to comfort the cancer patients, I think of it not as jamming religion down the reader’s throat, but rather as keeping an open mind to the possibilities of what lies beyond this life. Truth is, Hazel Grace Lancaster and Augustus Waters (the cancer-stricken lovebirds in question) don’t know what awaits them when the cancer eventually kills them. There is, however, an extreme fear of oblivion and not leaving anything behind when he’s gone on Gus’ part.

Which brings me to yet another theme John Green touches on: immortalization. In other words, being remembered after we’re long gone. It’s a theme I have an obsession with myself. Hazel has a negative view of immortalization since she believes despite all of our efforts to remember each other, the sun will eventually explode and wipe everything away. Augustus wants to be remembered despite everything and he agonizes over it near the end of the novel.

Which then brings me to another point the book makes: living a full life and being immortalized doesn’t necessarily mean you have to create and produce things for society on a relentless basis. Sometimes all you have to do is take it all in. It’s nice to give to the world, but we must remember to take as well. Go see those museum artifacts. Go to that rock concert. Watch that movie at the theater. Read that book. Without people who take things in, what’s the point in producing anything? There’s a reason artists like to put their work on the internet: they want appreciation and appreciation can only come from the people who view their work. This is a very poignant argument made by John Green and his novel.

By the book’s end, yes, I was heartbroken. I even said on Good Reads I needed superglue for my heart. There’s somebody on Urban Dictionary who says being hit in the face with the hardcover version of the book doesn’t hurt nearly as badly as reading it. While it is true reading “The Fault In Our Stars” is a beautifully painful experience, it’s also something everybody can learn from. The philosophical arguments and the love between Hazel and Augustus are great teachers when it comes to the education of life. If you take nothing else away from this book, then take this way: love with all your might before it’s too late.

　

***MOVIE QUOTE OF THE DAY***

“Excuse me, sir, I’m afraid I’m going to have to ask you to leave. You’re having way too much fun and it’s making everybody uncomfortable.”

-Owen from “The Way Way Back”-