First off I would like to say that this blog started out as an assignment from a weary English class. It was a good idea from the beginning but as my progress in said class reached it's ending how was I to let a blog just simply die? I have had only one blog before in my lifetime and that was during Junior high to let the kids who were far advanced in computers know about my daily happenings and what musicians I was currently listening to. Now I am going to keep up with this blog to analyze texts, movies and what-not. I don't care if my former classmates read this, or any teachers. But please do not take anything I say on this thing personally for it is what I think and it simply won't hurt you in the end if I get bitter. Now onto the 'analyzation' of this great teenage aimed novel.
The book starts off with tiny print, which I knew for sure was going to give me a headache because I suffer from mild blindness while reading. So I put my glasses on and begun this novel with great hopes in mind. My brother and his friend read this book before me and as I flipped through the pages there were several notes written in the margins of the pages. Little did I know that I would find these notes hilariously funny and some depressing. The novel starts out in Florida in which the main character lives. His name is Miles Halter and he memorizes last words.
He sends himself to boarding school in Alabama mostly because all the male figures in his father's family has done so also. His parents host him a going away party which only two people attend which leads him and his parents to eat the artichoke dip that his mother made, for dinner. While reading this section I knew that Miles was not a loner. He mostly kept to himself because he was a scrawny boy and had 'chicken legs'. He later tells of traumatic experiences in school that left him scarred.
He reaches the boarding school and soon makes friends with his roommate whom everyone calls "the Colonel". Simply because he is the Colonel and doesn't answer to anyone. He is well known for his pranks, chants at basketball games and getting thrown out of every single basketball. The Colonel takes 'Pudge' or Miles to get some cigarettes, little did Pudge know that he was going to meet the first girl he ever loved, Alaska Young.
Alaska can be described in one word: Awesome. She is the epitome of the girl that guys simply adore because she is there. The book continues with the meeting of Takumi, a soft spoken Japanese whiz, and Lana a beautiful Romanian whom Pudge dates.
Green leads his story in two parts: Before and After. He builds up the story with each anecdote having a title counting down. Which leads to Alaska Young's Death.
The target audience for the novel came across clearly in Green's text. The troupe lives in mischief even if they are attending a pricey boarding school. The main character is unsure of himself. He is shy and when asked tells it like it is. He remembers people's last words and prefers reading Biographies of writers than actually reading the work of those great once living artists/poets and well known people. The two main last words are
"I go to seek a Great Perhaps." - Francois Rabelais (last words)
"How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?" - Simón Bolívar (last words)
"How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?" - Simón Bolívar (last words)
The book does not clearly answer these but it is more for the reader to think about and soak in the knowledge of these young teens.
I finished this book in a day and was an enjoyable read. I recommend it to those who are lost and want to find themselves. Or a teenager looking for something to read during the Summer.
