Anyway, on to the subject at hand, I got a Wednesday afternoon from my boyfriend's mother saying I had a package. Cue me jumping up & down by my desk and "Sqweeing" at decimal levels heard only by dogs, for I knew exactly what that package contained. The John Green Box Set!
Yup, that's right this ridiculous reaction was in response to BOOKS. Actual, hard cover, non electronic book. I am, perhaps more than a little late to the Nerdfighter party. I stumbled across the vlogbrothers' YouTube account a few weeks ago when my curiosity, which had been steadily rising due to some amazing gifs and quotes circling the tumblr, and the auditions for The Fault In Our Stars movie, became peaked when I saw the John Green vs. the Squirrel gif in my tumblr feed. See below:
Seriously how could your interest not be peeked after that? So I started watching the Vlogbrother videos, I already knew of Hank Green, thanks to the glory that is The Lizzie Bennet Diaries, and after a handful of episodes found myself to have fallen in love with Nerdfighteria and it's intrepid leaders.
So Thursday morning on my commute in I eagarly jumped in to the world of Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters. By the time I was halfway through my commute home on Friday I had already finished the book, and I sat there, I admit slightly misty eyed, trying to gather my thoughts on the book. My thoughts drifted back to a line in the book, where Hazel is trying to explain the different types of ways to love a book.
"Sometimes, you read a book and it fills you with this weird evangelical zeal, and you become convinced that the shattered world will never be put back together unless and until all living humans read this book." pg 33.
Now, while this isn't my exact feelings toward the book, it's not that far off. My head was swimming with who I wanted to tell to read this book immediately.
The book is told through the eyes of sixteen year old Hazel Grace Lanchester. Hazel is not your typical teenager, Hazel is dying of cancer. She has no hope or remission, only that the medication she is on will keep her alive for a little bit longer. How much longer is anyone's guess. Her mother suspects her of being depressed and begins, at her doctor's suggestion forces her to attend a support group for kids with cancer. At first going to support group seems like torture, unntil one day Hazel meets Augustus Waters and suddenly everything changes.
Let it first be said that I am not a fan of sad things. I generally feel that there is enough sadness in the world that I would rather spend my free time, watching/reading something silly and fun. I am willing however to make The Fault In Our Stars an exception to this general rule. Despite being about teenagers dealing with cancer, it is not a story about dying, it's, as cliche as sounds, as story about life. A reminder that life is not "a wish granting factory", but just because things aren't anywhere near perfect, doesn't mean we should give up. Even the smallest of infinities are worth experiencing.
Do yourself a favor and read the book. You can find it on Amazon here.
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