tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893796119628724760.post5715647247477641764..comments2023-07-01T01:52:41.798-07:00Comments on Guys Lit Wire: The Fault in Our Stars by John GreenUnknownnoreply@blogger.comBlogger9125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893796119628724760.post-45789700626695211762012-02-15T06:35:41.249-08:002012-02-15T06:35:41.249-08:00Like Liviania, I wonder if there are any readers l...Like Liviania, I wonder if there are any readers left who are objective about John Green. I know <i>I'm</i> not, being pretty much a die-hard fan. And as a fan, I really LIKE the voice in his books, however one cares to characterize it. It's one of the things I most look forward to, and I'm not certain I'd be enamored of a complete switch/break in voice or tone.<br /><br />But I think swolk's observation - that a lot of the teens in John's books (and short stories) sound similar - is a fair one. And that there aren't a plethora of teens who speak the way Green's characters do - but they definitely exist. (I know my younger daughter could be a Green character most days, vocabulary and sentence construction and hip/smartass tone and all, as could her friend, Ellie). So I don't find Green's portrayals unrealistic - and I always appreciate that his novels don't talk down to teens.<br /><br />Finally, if anyone's still reading this comment (TL;DR, I know), I think it's important to note that nobody in the comments has said that actual teens aren't hip, smart and articulate.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893796119628724760.post-78077271557462672172012-02-14T21:23:46.604-08:002012-02-14T21:23:46.604-08:00Colleen and Caleb articulate my points perfectly. ...Colleen and Caleb articulate my points perfectly. I LOVE that Green is a more "literary" YA writer. I especially loved Looking for Alaska. But let's face it: How many times do you want to read the same hip, smart, and cynical? <br /><br />I agree with Colleen that I could pluck Hazel and Gus in Stars and drop them in Alaska. And as Caleb writes, I read his books and really enjoy them, but I have the feeling as I read them that I've already been here. And they really do feel like they are all versions of John Green. <br /><br />Still, I look forward to his books and will probably read them, but I'd really like to see him create a totally different, very un-John-Green-like character.<br /><br />steveswolkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14121959798198614648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893796119628724760.post-406870726737398422012-02-14T18:54:10.149-08:002012-02-14T18:54:10.149-08:00I actually just finished this, and while I love Gr...I actually just finished this, and while I love Green's character(s) to death ("existentially fraught free throws" is the exact sort of phrase I would use extemporaneously for no apparent reason), they are very much the SAME archetype with different names.<br /><br />I was a little disappointed with The Fault in Our Stars because it hit me when reading it that I'd read it before, because it was very much a John Green book. Being a very John Green book is a good thing, but at some point you get a "been there, done that" feeling that damps the experience when it really shouldn't.<br /><br />On the other hand, all the characters being ludicrously erudite is part of what makes a John Green novel work, and definitely a major part of the appeal of his books. So I'm not 100% sure that a John Green novel where all the characters are not distinct variants on the same archetype would work as well.Caleb Dunawayhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/01820737307501439313noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893796119628724760.post-29353181517439444902012-02-14T17:55:43.054-08:002012-02-14T17:55:43.054-08:00I think you guys are missing the point here - it&#...I think you guys are missing the point here - it's not that teens can't be hip and smart (please) but rather that all of Green's characters could be lifted and placed in each others books without skipping a beat. They all talk the same, they all act the same and all of them are a lot like the author. <br /><br />Basically, they are all the same kind of hip and smart - if you put them together as a group they would likely finish each others sentences.<br /><br />Indeed, Hemingway did something similar (although the argument there is that much of his work was obviously autobiographical).<br /><br />So, is Green writing the same characters in different situations? Again, NOT A BAD THING as was made clear in swolk's comments. It's just an observation and the question is, does anyone else see this?Colleenhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/18380722344521975869noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893796119628724760.post-44266817370021275502012-02-14T17:48:02.902-08:002012-02-14T17:48:02.902-08:00Liviania is right about both claims: some (not tha...Liviania is right about both claims: some (not that many, but some) teens are verbally clever and sound like characters from a John Green novel (or is it the other way around?), and you do not want to read a novel filled with "real" dialogue. Green's protagonists are alike. So are Hemingway's (speaking of unrealistic "real" dialogue). I'm not sure that's necessarily a flaw.wpolkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07110815285833135174noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893796119628724760.post-48166928125897928232012-02-14T17:43:26.057-08:002012-02-14T17:43:26.057-08:00I certainly didn't say that teens aren't h...I certainly didn't say that teens aren't hip, smart, and cynical. Of course many are! And, like I wrote, we need more books to show that. My point is that in all John Green books that I've read that seems to describe all of his protagonists. <br /><br />I think Green's one of the best YA writers today. No question. Maybe I'm looking for a very different kind of character from him.swolkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14121959798198614648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893796119628724760.post-10974044795173068152012-02-14T15:12:38.311-08:002012-02-14T15:12:38.311-08:00I wonder if there's anyone left who is objecti...I wonder if there's anyone left who is objective about John Green.<br /><br />@swolk: Think about anyone praised for their dialogue - you'll find that's it's stylized. In life, people repeat words, stumble around their sentences, change tenses, and our brains automatically edit what we're hearing. On the written page, it can't be real. Real is unreadable. What works is a style that evokes the real.<br /><br />And I certainly disagree that real teens can't be hip, smart, and/or cynical.Livianiahttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10479932701589363306noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893796119628724760.post-48562039220269745052012-02-14T14:39:30.989-08:002012-02-14T14:39:30.989-08:00Hi Kelly
I agree it's a terrific book. I lov...Hi Kelly<br /><br />I agree it's a terrific book. I loved it. And it is especially hard to pull off a "dying" book. However, I read another review somewhere (Goodreads?) that made a good point. The protagonists in most of Green's books are VERY much like: smart, hip, cynical, and very much like Green himself. I dont mind books about smart YAs; heck, I think we need more of them. But there are different kinds of smart. And you don't meet too many YAs who talk like a John Green character. <br /><br />What do others think about this?swolkhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/14121959798198614648noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-7893796119628724760.post-83716377520732068872012-02-14T12:57:44.621-08:002012-02-14T12:57:44.621-08:00Agreed. This book is amazingly good. So difficult ...Agreed. This book is amazingly good. So difficult to write "Teens With Cancer" book without succumbing to Afterschool Special mawkishness (cough, Lurlene McDaniel, cough), but Green has done it.wpolkinghttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07110815285833135174noreply@blogger.com