TFIOS Review

“The Fault in Our Stars” transcends the divide between life and death

Young adult writer John Green launches witty novel

Tiffany Chan '15

Contributing Writer

To write his bestselling books, author John Green usually draws inspiration from his unique community of Internet followers. As one half of the VlogBrothers, a YouTube sensation that debuted in 2007, Green’s novels appeal to a legion of people who affectionately call themselves “Nerdfighters.” Though Green’s newest book “The Fault of Our Stars” explores weighty material such as cancer and death, he still maintains his characteristic style of warmth and wit.  

“The Fault in Our Stars” tells the story of Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen year old terminal thyroid cancer patient. While an experimental treatment has temporarily extended her survival, Hazel’s hold on life remains incredibly tenuous. Hazel has withdrawn from school, only leaving the house to attend classes at a community college and group sessions for cancer patients at a local church. Enter Augustus Waters, an attractive cancer patient in remission. Green describes him as “a tenured professor in the Department of Slightly Crooked Smiles, with a dual appointment in the Department of Having a Voice that Made My Skin Feel More Like Skin.”

As their friendship develops, Hazel shares her favorite novel “An Imperial Affliction,” which is told from the point of view of a girl who, like Hazel herself, is also diagnosed with cancer. Though “An Imperial Affliction” was purposely written by its author to end mid-sentence, Hazel and Augustus are still incredibly curious as to the fate of other characters. The novel focuses on the duo’s 'star-crossed' romance and follows all their obstacles to reach Amsterdam, where they meet the author of “An Imperial Affliction” in order to learn the fates of the characters in what has become Augustus’ favorite novel as well.

His first solo book in four years, Green writes in his characteristically witty and sharp tone and the plot unfolds in a very elegant, thoughtful manner. The novel is inspired by many different aspects in Green’s own life, including his previous experience as a chaplain in a children’s hospital and his friendship with a cancer patient and ardent Nerdfighter named Esther Earl. The realistic and compelling circumstances of the two characters facing the physical and emotional challenges of early mortality creates a depth that other young adult novel books such as those of “The Twilight Saga” could never emulate.

Unlike other books of the target demographic, the burden of cancer isn’t romanticized in this novel. Such aspects of the book may discourage some younger readers but draw in older audiences for its down-to-earth portrayal of difficult subject matter. Hazel’s struggles are true to reality and Green does not attempt to cast her as a character above the limitations of humanity. Rather, she is aware that she is actively engaged in the struggle for her life and what that means for the people that she loves the most.

Neither are Hazel and Augustus are not portrayed as brave saints, they are simply teenagers who are trying to wrestle with the inevitable desire to be remembered after they are gone. Throughout “Stars,” the characters are concerned that they will be like other cancer patients who, as Augustus puts it, have “become their own disease.” They feel like outsiders because of their illness and are somewhat cynical because of it.

While you would be hard pressed to find a teenage boy that talks about “existentially fraught free throws” as Augustus does, he and Hazel are relatable characters who you can find in real life. Both have the same hobbies and interests like anyone in their age group; Hazel watches “America's Next Top Model” almost religiously and Augustus plays violent video games just like many devote Nerdfighters.

In the months before its release, Green promised Nerdfighters that he would sign all 150,000 copies in the first printing of “Stars.” Green also completed a promotional tour with his brother, the other half of VlogBrothers, that spanned 16 cities in three weeks that started at the nearby Wellesley Middle School. The book immediately debuted on The New York Times bestseller list and was already at the top of pre-orders for Barnes & Noble and Amazon.

“The Fault in Our Stars” is a departure not only from Green's previous work but from other titles that address cancer in the genre of young adult fiction. It would have been easy for “Stars” to have simply become another “cancer book” to be forgotten. Green, instead, endows his characters with real voices, albeit incredibly erudite and quick-witted ones. “The Fault in Our Stars” serves to be a book that demands to be remembered and speaks to the universal human condition rather than just to young adults. I think that many a Wellesley woman has felt like an outsider and grappled with if and how she will make a difference in the world. Because of this, I think that this may be the best work from John Green yet.

What I've learned at Wellesley(so far)

French the Llama, it's been over a year since I've updated this blog!

As you may or may not know, since the last post I made here I have graduated high school and started my first year at Wellesley College(which is what I want to be the focus of this post).

However, I just want to take a moment and say that if you're a senior or junior in high school who has not received that first college letter: breathe, and relax. Lots of people get into college each year, and you will too. Once you do, the anxiety you have will melt away and life will be beautiful. That's not to say you should stop paying attention altogether, but the feeling like every quiz and test will affect you getting into college or not will subside, leaving you able to concentrate on you know...learning stuff.

I think that now would be an excellent time to state that Wellesley College has not paid me to write this and I haven't quite planned out everything I'm going to say so if I say something that is critical...I mean it in a loving way(because sometimes it does make me go crazy yet I still love my school)?

So talking with people that I met in high school about the first semester has made me think about my own school and how it's different than the "typical" college experience. My first semester isn't as exciting as it might have been if our school was in the heart of the city nor is it as chill as it might have been with guys to diffuse the tension. I haven't even been at Wellesley for very long but I can say with complete sincerity that I am eternally grateful for the opportunity that I've been given by attending this school. The best professors in the nation grace our classrooms while I am surrounded by so many talented, strong, independent women.

But now to debunk some cliches. A few weeks ago, I was talking to a friend of mine who has on several occasions made it clear that single-sex education is not for her(which is completely fine, everyone is entitled to their own opinions). When asking about my experience though, she said "What, does everyone steal eachother's Longchamp bags?" implying that everyone has Longchamps bags to steal because we are all from affluent families. While I know that Wellesley girls have a reputation for being "princesses" it irks me to hear this because you only need to walk on campus for about 5 minutes to realize that we are a college comprised of women from all over the world, of varying ethnicities and social backgrounds. So I thought it was a pretty egregious error to assume that Wellesley girls would all have, or want to have, designer bags and be petty and try and steal from eachother(even though we all seem to have enough disposable income for those designer bags?).

It wasn't until I got to school that I realized that the Ladies of the College have quite the reputations, which(highly simplified) falls into the patterns of: harlot, recluse or simply...lesbian. I admit I was taken aback but then I realized: who cares? These arbitrary labels say NOTHING about the types of people we are and even if they are true, our sexual preferences and how we spend free time say nothing about if we are good or bad students and more importantly if we are good or bad people.

Though I will note here: these students are people. My classmates are not saints or sinners. I don't happen to like every person I encounter and even those I do like still make me frustrated sometimes. But I cannot deny that they are still amazing people; they participate in microfinance, fly on the trapeze and share ridiculously bad 80's music videos with me(LH and AA, here's looking at you). They are interested in everything and anything under the sun. From my observations though, they are incredibly passionate about whatever it is they have chosen, which is worth celebrating. And the community is endlessly supportive of us; which I think is our school's greatest strength. There is no aspect of your personality worth being embarassed about nor any interest of yours worth being belittled; Wellesley is trying to isolate men and banish them from the premises, they are trying to remove people who would disrespect others, which in the past has predominantly been men. While women are not paragons by any means, the truth of the matter is that women face a fair bit of discrimination by virtue of simply being female.

I've also heard the argument that single-sex education is a detriment to us, making it so that it's harder to function in the "real world", I would argue to the contrary. After spending a few months at Wellesley, it seems that Wellesley is trying to make us stronger so that our ideas and causes can have longevity and legitimacy in the world beyond college. Our motto is Non ministrari, sed ministrare, which loosely translates to "Not to be served, but to serve[others]". The college seems to be encouraging us to use our education to create change in the world and to use a cliche quote from Gandhi "We must be the change we wish to see in the world", that is we need to care a lot about our cause to have any hope of convincing others to care about it too. For me currently, that means social advocacy: trying to stop derogatory names from being used, for anyone, for any reason. It can make you a little crazy, because I will admit that I notice things that many people would think are harmless and I make a stink about it but if I didn't, then hateful words would just be perpetuated...which is bad.

I'm going to stop here because this post is becoming incredibly long. So in short, it's been a really wacky ride for my first semester at college but I am returning in a few days time so it would appear that I am quite ok with it. Wellesley is a diverse place filled with people who are passionate about a lot of different things: reading books, protesting Wall Street, pick your poison. Wellesley, you make me crazy a lot of the time, but I still love you and can't wait to be back in a few days.

Goodnight