“Looking for Alaska” by John Green, is probably one of the best books I have read. Like most John Green books, it includes its fair share of romance, some comedy here and there, and of course; a tragic ending. However, of all the novels I’ve read so far by this extremely talented author (which is quite a lot), “Looking for Alaska” was a very well thought out piece of literature. It amazed me how even the titles of each chapter had meaning. The novel was surprisingly philosophical from what I had expected. There was so much meaning behind every line coming from a character’s theoretical mouth. Every beautifully unique character had their own background that all tied into the story at one point. The story is told from the point of view of Miles Halter, a teenage boy from Florida, keen on remembering significant people’s last words. He decides to attend the boarding school in the middle of Alabama that his dad had gone to in his younger years. All this in attempt to discover a Great Perhaps, Miles needed to find adventure. Upon arrival, Miles meets his roommate Chip Martin, but goes by “the Colonel”, a name awarded by the one and only Alaska Young. Miles is also adorned with the nickname of “Pudge”, completely out of irony. He is the absolute opposite as his nickname implies. In the reality of it all Miles is a lanky, skinny, slightly awkward, seventeen year old teenage boy. As the chapter names indicate, all of the events are counting down to a most likely tragic event, starting at having 136 days. Over the course of these one hundred thirty-six days and decreasing, Pudge, the Colonel, and Alaska become inseparable. Although the breathtaking and insightful Alaska does not make the best of decisions, she helps Pudge step in the right direction to finding his Great Perhaps. Does he find the oh-so desired Great Perhaps? The answer is unclear. Personally, I believe Miles (Pudge), finds just what he is looking for the nanosecond he laid eyes on Alaska Young. Over a very bumpy road of Alaska’s terrible driving, pranks, almost expulsions, love, and the unknown, Miles and his newly acquired group of friends learn the true meaning of living in the moment. “Looking for Alaska” is a poetic and absolute genius novel. John Green wrote an emotional and deep story, definitely one that really gets you to think. I would read it and thousand times over.
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For my independent reading this term, I read Looking for Alaska. The author was John Green. I am very passionate about this book and was quick to read because it was so hard to stop reading. From the beginning of this book, I knew it would be interesting. It starts off with a boy named Miles, a junior in high school, wants to find his Great Perhaps (a turning point in his life) which includes him going to a boarding school. When he gets there he meets Chip, nicknamed “the colonel”, who he becomes good friends with. Then he meets Alaska Young who he instantly likes and then everything leads up to one day before. Once the after days go by, he finds his Great Perhaps. The most interesting part of the book is the setup of it and how it is unlike any other books. Instead of chapters, it has days before and then when it reaches up to that day, it starts saying days after. I also like how each character in the book is unique in their own way. Some other books John Green has written are The Fault in Our Stars, Paper Towns, and many others. This book is composed very well. While I was reading this book, I didn’t feel like I had to because I would have read even if I didn’t have to. This is by far one of the best books I have ever read and I like how different it is from other books. I recommend this book to girls. “Paper Towns,” by John Green was a different book, but also so astonishing and compelling. Everything was like trying to put together a puzzle piece which made it such a phenomenal book. As you probably know, John Green writes a whole lot of romance, but this definitely includes a little more comedy than most. Also like most of his books, it has a very bittersweet ending. It’s about a boy named Quentin Jacobsen who’s in love with his neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman. Margo never really noticed him because of the fact that she was surrounded by all her “friends” and her boyfriend who she later finds out doesn’t really care for her. Margo finds out that her boyfriend, Jason, has been sleeping with her one of her best friends, Becca. Margo later thinks that Lacey, her other best friend, knew and didn’t tell her. This obviously made Margo feel extremely betrayed. Have you ever felt this way? I think we’ve all had someone or even multiple people in our life that haven’t been true friends to us or even betrayed us. Unlike most people, Margo later makes a whole scheme of revenge for those who haven’t been real friends. One night, the night of her retaliation, she climbs into Quentin’s window asking for his help. That’s where their story begins. He helps her, she then disappears only leaving behinds clues, and he goes to look for her. Along with Quentin, his two best friends Radar and Ben and Margo’s best friend Lacey help him search for her. What makes the book so much better though is how opposite Margo and Quentin are. Quentin is the son every parent wants. He never rebels against his parent’s wishes, does good in school, and is a bit boring, but is overall a great kid. Margo is such a mystery, which adds to the intensity of the book. Do you have any friends that you can relate to Margo or even Quentin? She’s always surprising in anything she says or does, she lives on the wild side, and is anything but boring. She likes to feel the rush and excitement in everything while Quentin has a heart attack going against the rules. The book really has you wondering what’s going to happen next and the outcome always surprises you. Once you start reading it, it’s hard to put it down. If you like romantic comedy with a little mystery, this is a great choice. |
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