Looking For Alaska - by John Green

I am going on a ceaseless rampage through every library within driving distance (or in my case, busing distance) to find all of John Green's books and read them immediately. As an aspiring (and interning) editorial publisher, I tend to read things critically and have a lot of snobby remarks going through my head, all of which I promise to refrain from writing on this blog. The honest truth is, I love John Green's writing and can't think of a single negative thing to say about it. It's beautiful, honest and truthful, and refuses to withhold anything from you. Green's characters are so vibrantly real that they feel like your friends. Their lives and your life become intertwined in this shockingly unbreakable way, that I have never experienced before with any kind of novel. Please click "read more" for the full review.


I have always disliked stock characters. It's what's averted me from so many Nicholas Sparks love stories. (Ok, I know, this is the second time I've ragged on Sparks. I'm sorry).  I just don't have the patience to read some two hundred odd pages about an awkward teenage romance. Every character in Looking for Alaska is starkly different, poignant, and sincere. By the way, Alaska is a girl, not a state. We're first introduced to the ironically nicknamed Pudge (aka Miles) who begins a preparatory boarding school in his junior year of high school. Pudge soon meets the Colonel (aka Chip), and Alaska, a free spirited, fun-loving, broken soul with a lifetime of pain trailing behind her. Pudge soon falls for Alaska, and spends a majority of the book embarking in feats of hilarity with her and his friends. It makes you wish you were that cool in high school. (Or maybe that's just how I felt!). 


Anyway, I feel like as your bookworm ally, I should give you a fair warning about Alaska. It is not a happy book. Do not read it looking for a pick-me-up. You will not find it. But read it because it is a phenomenal taste of literary genius so perfected, that you actually feel the way the characters do in reacting to events. John Green tangles you up so deeply inside Pudge's life, that his pain becomes your pain. (Don't be scared, it's ok!). I have never read an example of more effective writing, and I've read a lot of books. I felt so utterly entrenched in the story that I couldn't shake the emotion I got from reading it off me for about a day and a half. 


Ok, I'm throwing a lot of Grand Canyon sized statements at you. Don't be afraid to read it. You will marvel at the human spirit, laugh out loud, and cry out loud, and have a renewed understanding in the world around you after reading Looking for Alaska.