The Fault In Our Stars

The Fault In Our Stars
by John Green

First published in Great Britain in 2012.

The Fault In Our Stars is a book off my 'To Read' list for this year.  For a while after the film came out there was talk everywhere of 'Okay? Okay' - I even saw it on a tshirt in Primark.  I never got around to seeing the film but wanted to read the book once the hype died down (less chance of someone asking if I was up to 'the bit where......happens'?).  I did end up knowing certain plot points by the time I read it but not enough detail to have it ruined.

Hazel is a sixteen year old with terminal cancer.  Augustus Waters is a seventeen year old who has had osteosarcoma and is an amputee as a result.  The two meet at a Cancer Kid Support Group and are soon inseparable; Augustus even manages to organise a trip to Amsterdam for Hazel, her mum and himself to meet Hazel's favourite author.  As their relationship deepens and they help each other through hospital visits and a friend's issues, the backdrop of cancer is always there.  A plot twist eventually brings sadness to their love story.

Even though The Fault In Our Stars is a book mainly about teenagers it is one I believe a lot of adults would enjoy too.  The characters are maturely written, not made out to be your stereotypical high school kids.  The book is fairly concise; at only 313 pages it's short enough to read in a week or less (which I did) and then re-read before you have to give it back to the library.  

Although it is written from Hazel's point of view it is not childish and is at times emotionally quite hard.  Obviously cancer is horrendous, yet it is something which most of us will have some dealing with in our lives.  I have often heard that people who have cancer sometimes find a sort of humour in their situation, and this is definitely true for the characters in this book.  Cancer is the first link between Hazel and Augustus and continues to feature heavily in their story, from their friend dealing with losing his sight to Hazel's ever-present oxygen tank.  

The characters do not let it define themselves but they are also not cheesily optimistic all the time.  I think this is a much more realistic view; allowing the characters to scream and cry and shout that it isn't fair is a lot better (although emotional) to read than if they were these 'this won't affect me at all', unrelatable people.

I thought that Hazel was a well thought through character.  She wasn't just an angry teenager who has cancer.  I may be a bit biased because she loves reading and I know what it's like to feel obsessed with a book,  but I felt I could relate to her - I felt like we would have been friends in school if she were real.  She cares so much about the people in her life and says that she knows she is a grenade who will explode one day so wants to minimise the casualties.  I thought this was a very mature way of looking at her situation (plus it gave Augustus the chance to be all cheesy and sweet).  Hazel's matter of fact way of looking at her life is refreshing and makes it even more emotional when she is upset.

Augustus comes across as a bit of a cocky lad at first.  When he tells Hazel he is looking at her because she is beautiful at their first meeting I thought 'oh heck here we go with the over the top teen romance'.  I think because Hazel reacted the same way I did as I was reading, he grew on me the same as he grew on her.  He is similar to Hazel in that he understands the pain people can cause.  One of my favourite lines from the book is one of his: 'You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world, old man, but you do have some say in who hurts you'.  As sad as this sounds, that pain is inevitable, I like the idea that you can decide to let it get to you or not.

I won't spoil anything if you haven't read this great little book, but I will say that I cried.  A lot (at one point I had to stop reading it on a bus because tears were threatening to fall and it was first thing in the morning).  I found that I cried at random parts that you wouldn't even think to be sad at.  To me, that was the best bit about The Fault In Our Stars.  Even though I sortof knew what was coming, the story still hit me harder than I thought it would and I felt sadness in moments that you wouldn't immediately expect, particularly between Hazel and her parents.

Don't let the 'young adult' label put you off this one, let it teach you a better way to look at life.  And maybe don't read it on public transport unless you have a heart of stone.

Wild

Wild
by Cheryl Strayed

First published in Great Britain in 2012.

Wild is wonderful.  I saw the film trailer and knew it was one I wanted to see.  When I learnt it was based on a book I went straight out and bought it.  Then I had that annoying time when you're still reading another book and so can't start the new one yet (thankfully the other book was Life After Life - see previous blog post - and I couldn't put it down so was finished pretty quickly).

I think I read Wild in about two weeks, it was another one that I really struggled to put down and go to work.  At the same time, because I was enjoying it so much, I didn't want it to end, so I sortof read it slower than I would otherwise have done.  That probably makes very little sense but I do it a lot with books, re-reading bits and so on to extend the reading time.

The story is of Cheryl Strayed, who at 26 decided to hike 1,100 miles of the Pacific Crest Trail alone after her mother died suddenly.  Cheryl hikes through deserts, snow and forests meeting other hikers along the way but staying alone for the most part.  The story of the hike is interspersed with stories from Cheryl's childhood living with her mother and siblings, and her struggles after her mother's death when Cheryl was 23.

Cheryl is a strong, resiliant person but she doesn't realise it at first.  Her mother's death tears her apart and she turns to one night stands and drugs to try to cope.  She realises that she is damaging herself and those around her and makes the rather spontaneous decision to hike the trail.  Throughout the book she gains strength from seeing how far she has come and allowing herself to grieve for her mother properly.  A lot of people would say she is brave, and I agree but not in the sense that she is hiking this potentially dangerous trail alone.  To me, Cheryl doesn't realise the scale of potential danger and so is not afraid of this.  Her bravery comes from choosing to change her life from the depths it was sinking into.

The writing is straightforward and unapologetic, rather like Cheryl herself.  I found it very relatable as a 26 year old, even though I have definitely not hiked on my own (or much at all for that matter!).  It is so detailed in the descriptions of the trail that it is easy to imagine yourself there with Cheryl.  I laughed and cried with Cheryl.  She doesn't shy away from her emotions, especially when she is on the trail and feels safe in her grief.

There are parts which are very much about the technical side of hiking, for example when Cheryl is packing her rucksack, and when she faces snow for the first time.  These parts are detailed but because Cheryl hadn't researched or trained before the hike, the writing is understandable even if you have never worn a rucksack.  I felt as if I were learning along with Cheryl, and shared in her victories.  I so badly wanted her to reach the end of the hike that I was fully cheering her on at times.

When I first started reading it I loved that Cheryl's last name was Strayed, what with her 'straying' from her day to day life to hike and all that.  As it turned out she chose this last name herself.  At first I was disappointed to read this as I liked the idea that her name was more than just a name, that it was part of her personality that she would find as she grew up.  Looking back on it now, I admire Cheryl for carving her own identity by choosing a new name, particularly as the close bond with her mother is not one she discards with the old name.

I kept picturing Reese Witherspoon as Cheryl as I read the book, because of her looking at me from the cover every time I picked it up.  This wasn't necessarily a bad thing, but I do think it stops you from imagining a character if a casting director has decided what you should be picturing.  I was glad to see that the book's descriptions of Cheryl and photos of actual Cheryl from when she did the trail are pretty similar to Reese.  I find it so unnecessarily annoying when a characters hair colour or something equally small is changed.

This book is obviously a great one for holidays, gap years and walking weekends (if you have time to read in your tent at night).  For me, it was an escape from the daily commute to the trail in North America.  The book made me want to up and travel somewhere far away with a massive rucksack (although this feeling soon stopped once I finished reading!).  It was made even better by the fact that it was real; Cheryl exists and really did hike the trail.

If you get itchy feet easily, get this book on your bookshelf.  I take no responsibility for it making you want to leave your day job and go travelling.