Book: The Fault In Our Stars

I borrowed The Fault In My Stars from Shafeeqah few months back. (For the record, i finished the book few months back as well just that i didnt have the time to write about it.) I was surprised that she had the book and i was even more surprised that she liked it. See, Tumblr is literally a nest for fans of TFIOS. Quotes from the book flooded my dashboard. Unfortunately, it did not help with my first impression at all. 

Average girls would be squealing over those quotes. I, on the other hand, shudder at the cheesiness of it. I must admit, they are beautifully crafted words. But to find them ALL in one single book? I mean, which guy talks like that honestly? I was quite repulsed by the rose-tinted glasses it puts over our eyes. Books like these feed our minds and we begin to have unrealistic standards for our partners. I have a huge issue regarding such books but that's not the point today.

So. I did not think highly of the book but i was curious as to why people were raving about it. And when Shaf told me she had the book, i thought to myself, "What the heck. I'll just try it,"

John Green is definitely a good writer. His words are alluring and convincing. The sentences he phrased hit the nerves accurately. The first thing i love when i read the book was not the characters - they took me some time to get used to - it was his writing. He deserves the recognition he has. I just wished that people would focus more on the actual theme of the story instead of gushing how romantic Gus was and how they want a relationship like Hazel and Gus. Because, well, nobody talks and acts like that in real life. It is really pretentious. And also, this book is about life and death. About giving others the power to hurt you even when you know they will because you love them. It is so much more than just a lovey-dovey couple who were there for each other till the end.

I did not cry a bucket though i did shed a tear or two. It reminded me of my grandfather who died when i was 7. It was the first time i experienced grief and i still remember how devastated i was. Like the characters in the book, it was cancer which took him away. Those feelings came back as i read the book. I did not like TFIOS because it was romantic. I liked it because of what the book stood for. Here is one quote that i really liked:

"I'm in love with you, and I know that love is just a shout into the void, and that oblivion is inevitable, and that we're all doomed and that there will come a day when all our labor has been returned to dust, and I know the sun will swallow the only earth we'll ever have, and I am in love with you,"

Most people liked the quote because it is pretty much the most romantic confession a guy can say to a girl - that even if the world ends, it cant change the amount of love he has. But i liked it because it reflects the truth about humanity. Oh, mankind knows that earth is heading towards destruction. And yet they love. They love even though it is ultimately useless because who is there to remember their feelings and thoughts at the end of it all? They love even though it eventually bring them pain because even if the world does not end tomorrow, no one lives forever. We love. We love even when we know everything comes to nothing. We love even when we know this is a futile effort that will bring about the pain of losing.

Yet we love, yet we love.

The ending paragraph of TFIOS sums up what the whole book was about: You dont get to choose if you get hurt in this world but you do have some say in who hurts you.

And that is why i liked the book.