Blame the Fault in our Stars

The Fault in our Stars
by John Green

Diane's Pick

Summary:

The story is told by Hazel Grace Lancaster, a sixteen-year-old with terminal thyroid cancer that has spread to her lungs. At her parent-imposed support group, located in the "literal heart of Jesus" in a church, Hazel meets Augustus Waters, an attractive, one-legged seventeen-year-old survivor of osteosarcoma. Together, they decide to take a light-hearted, deep-minded approach to romance and a comedic approach to tragedy.

*SPOILER ALERT*: Stop reading this if you don't want to know the ending.


Hazel initially resists a romance with Gus because she doesn't want to be a "grenade"--wounding loved ones when she dies. Nevertheless, they bond over Hazel's favorite novel and use their "cancer perks" to journey to Amsterdam and meet the author. The author turns out to be a monstrous disappointment, but they solidify their relationship to each other (& consummate it) in time to learn that Augustus' cancer has returned with a raging force and that he will die shortly. From this point on, we watch Hazel watch Augustus die. As he deteriorates, he fights and fails to hold on to his dignity and independence.

Hazel wrestles with her beliefs and processes Augustus' death with the help of his and her family as she prepares for her own nearing death. She also surprisingly receives an apology from the author Peter Van Houten with a last note from Gus.

Diane's Response

This is probably my favorite book read this year. I was a tad skeptical of some vocabulary choices, but by chapter 2 the characters and their crisp banter won me over. This is the first John Green book I've read, and I'm looking forward to reading more. His style and layering of the story show he is an accomplished writer, and I'm impressed by how well he was able to cultivate the voice of an erudite 16-year-old girl. I could say much about this book, and I have a couple (very few) picky criticisms about word choice, but I'll leave Jan or Ann the job of a negative critique and, instead, I want to talk about Green's device of story-layering.

TFIOS has 3 major intratextual narratives that added thematic complexity to the novel: the main story of Hazel and Gus, the invented novel by Van Houten, and the Diary/story of Anne Frank. A major scene takes place in the Amsterdam Anne Frank house, and it becomes clear that the spirit of Hazel's character has been informed by hers. I actually had never read Anne Frank's diary, and took an opportunity to do so after reading TFIOS. I'm so glad I did, and I think the echo of Anne's voice adds to Green's story. An Imperial Affliction, the made-up novel that informs Hazel also provides Green with the ability to create thematic echoes that tie to his main story and Anne Frank's.

The plot detail which is the most significant in Van Houten's fake novel is the ending--that it ends mid-sentence, much like the abrupt end of Anne Frank's Diary, and like, ultimately, Gus and Hazel and all of us must die. There is another invented book or series of books in TFIOS--the sci-fi action books that Augustus lends to Hazel. Those, too, become an informing missional echo which Hazel uses to interpret Gus's desire to be remembered for a heroic deed and stave off death.

Green's story device of layering texts--real and invented--makes this novel interesting to me because, as a writer and reader, I relate to the notion that the texts we love become an informing scripture in the backdrop of our lives. Green is creative and mature enough in the delivery that he avoids an amateurish novel--like the voice of a new writer admiring and copying the masters.

There is plenty that I admired in this story. I'm happy to say I want to read it again, and I'm looking forward to the movie next month.

Five stars.

Jan's Response

TFioS was an interesting and good read, which initially I thought I was going to give five stars, even though stories with sick protagonists aren't really my cup of tea. Hazel was an interesting character who, although I might have felt too dumb to be friends with in real life, was very fun to experience through in the novel. Augustus, on the other hand, is kind of a non-character.  I liked him while I was reading the book, because Hazel liked him, but now that I have had some time to sit on my reactions, I don't really know why I liked him.

"I like that he plays video games." Wrong. I thought that I had this in common with Augustus, but when I think about it, the only game he really plays is what is essentially a loosely disguised Halo. It's a sci-fi FPS, i.e., Halo. Which is like the least interesting taste in video games ever. And his favorite books are based on the video game, so there's that too. To be fair, he also played that DVD story game with Isaac, but his single-mindedness about saving the damsel in distress is synonymous with how he played the Halo-esque game.

"He's an ex-basketball player who hates basketball." Well, sure. This is factually true. But his hatred for basketball doesn't seem to run very deep or to be particularly defining. The most anti-basketball thing he does is rejoice over Isaac destroying the basketball trophies.

"He lost a leg to his cancer." Why yes, yes he did. But you know what he didn't seem to lose? Any amount of confidence in himself. He can't drive well thanks to his prosthetic, which is a big joke, but that's all it is: a joke. He does have one moment of self-consciousness when Hazel is about to see him naked, but he is reassured easily.

"He chews on cigarettes but doesn't light them." Ugh. UGH. This behavior annoys me. His reasoning is the whole "putting the killing thing in his mouth but not giving it the power to kill." Which sounds cool, and does resonate with his statement about fearing oblivion. But the statement and the action both ring hollow because I never actually feel true fear from him. Desperation certainly. But fear, not so much. So the cigarette thing seemed more like "cool guy" posturing than it did a touchstone.

I wasn't really intending to go on a rant about Augustus in this post, because I actually quite liked the book. I think Hazel is charming, deep, and courageous. She is someone I could sympathize with. And even though the book is marketed as a love story, I don't think that it is one. The story is about Hazel and the people she cares for. Augustus is important to her, but not so important that she goes halfway around the world to shout at a drunken, belligerent author in order to find out what will happen to him after she dies. So while I liked Hazel, loved Hazel's mother, was endeared to her father, and was angry with Isaac, I was just kind of neutral about Augustus. Ultimately I think all Augustus really amounts to is a collection of quirky behaviors and an inexplicable and irrational affection for Hazel.

Nevertheless, I give this four stars, and would like to read more John Green in the future.