The Bibliophiles discussion

The winner of out January BOTM poll is Looking for Alaska by John Green. I read this book over my Christmas break and I really did enjoy it. It was a well written story about the trouble of being young and aching for an adventure. I loved some of the quotes in this books and the way that certain things were described. I hope everyone else who wants to read it enjoys it as well and please let us know what you think here!! Happy reading!

I think I might pick this one up. :D

I've read it and also audio-ed it, but will be happy to read again. I really, really enjoyed it. I think more because my children were at that age when I read it than because of the story, but we'll see this time around.

I'm glad you like it Kandice!! And I hope you like it too Jenny! It's good!

Is it? I've never been a huge fan of "teenagers go rogue" much. But I read the fault in our stars and that one was pretty okay. :)

I still haven't read The Fault in Our Stars but yeah this book is about teenagers. I'm usually not a big fan of most YA stuff because so much of it is just sappy predictable troubles that, as an adult, you don't really want to relive. This book however isn't like that. It has a good storyline and isn't as predictable as most YA stuff. Personally, I really enjoyed some of the personal thoughts of the main character. For example this quote “It always shocked me when I realized that I wasn’t the only person in the world who thought and felt such strange and awful things.” I just loved that because I sometimes find myself caught in my own little world and then look at another person and even though I already KNOW it, I FEEL the fact that they have deep thoughts and feelings like I do. Anyways, it's a good read haha.

I'm halfway though now and just past the "big event" and am (how horrible as it may seem) amused by what happened. When I was 16 I knew a couple of girls like Alaska. The cockiness, the I-Like-Sex-And-Refuse-To-Be-Ashamed-About-It, the occasional boyfriend that they were loyal too, until they weren't. The drinking, the smoking (hell I'm absolutely sure I heard Sam say a line very much like Alaskas "I smoke to die", but in Swedish) the drugs, the "parties" that were more gettogethers in the woods to get shitfaced. The provocative clothing, the cuteness applied on top of everything in an effort to make themselves likable and the huge mood swings when things did not revolve around them. The huge bouts of utter depression that everyone HAD to know about but refused to tell what exactly was going on. Even the pranks were represented. The thing non of them did was reading. Not because they were particularly stupid, but because reading was one of those things that responsible people did and a lot of time was spend on looking carefree and irresponsible. All had some very nasty home-situations too. Needless to say, neither of them has managed to get their lives even remotely straight yet. Ida, last I heard of her, spend a good couple of years cleaning streets as punishment for hitting pedestrians while driving drunk. The kids she hit as her boyfriend who was riding shotgun did not survive. I knew one of the two girl who got hit. Very much not cool.

I never experienced it as even remotely romantic or cool, I always felt it came over as desperate and the sleeping about created a lot of social tensions that finally resulted in one of Sams ex-boyfriends tossing another through and out of a 3 story high window. (did not see the fight myself but stuff gets filmed you know).

So Alaskas "Big Event" seems to match up with my expectations but everything leading up to it seems to be romanticized to an umpteenth level. So enjoying it up to now but not THAT much.

I think that's the thing about this book that rubbed me the wrong way too. It made Alaska seem cool and desirable and made you feel like she was just this beautiful mess that just needed to be pampered and obeyed. The girls I always knew like this may have been 'popular' and always looked pretty and all the boys wanted them but I always just thought they were kind of pitiful and I almost felt sorry for them. I don't know if it's different because its from a horny teenage boy's point of view or what but it's definitely not something that's romantic or good.

The thing that bothers you guys is why I enjoyed it! I thought it was so, so realistic! Pudge's image of Alaska is spot on what she wants it to be and I think most youth today are the same. It's only when you step back that you see how pitiful those girls really are. Of course there are exceptions, like you two (and my daughter, thank God) but for the most part teens feel the way Pudge was shown to feel.

I think that made Pudge an unreliable narrator.

Yeah, that or he really did not see that "you're cute, too bad I have a boyfriend" is red-flag worthy phrase for being emotionally manipulated. Hell, even I have used that one to get cheap second hand school lit. >,<