Review: Looking For Alaska by John Green

Plot

 

The young adult fiction novel, Looking For Alaska by John Green, begins with the decision of a teenage boy, Miles, who is fascinated with the last words of famous people. His decision is to move away from home to Culver Creek (a boarding school where his father also attended) to seek the “Great Perhaps.” At Culver Creek he meets his roommate Chip (known as ‘The Colonel’), Alaska, The Colonel’s eccentric but troubled friend who lives down the hall, and also Takumi and Lara who have all been attending Culver Creek prior to Miles’ arrival (although the period of time is not specified). Here Miles, or ‘Pudge’ as he is labelled by his peers, is introduced into a life of smoking, drinking, studying and carrying out pranks but also finally learns about the value of making friends and falling in love.

Good points

Oh Miles; I have never read a young adult novel from a male’s point of view (or if I have I don’t recall) and I can honestly say that I enjoyed it. I have read numerous novels with a female protagonist who, for the majority of the book, moans and sulks about her misfortunes within the plotline. That’s why I appreciated Looking For Alaska so much. The fact that Miles is neither the typical ‘hot stuff,’ tanned hunk nor the emotionally unavailable, mysterious type (as boys are far too often depicted in teen novels) was very refreshing. He is far more relatable, expresses his emotions moderately and demonstrates that boys do actually have feelings! Furthermore, although the three main characters are two boys and a girl, there is no painful love triangle within their relationships. Miles, The Colonel, and Alaska also destroy teen novel stereotypes through, in a way, being quite ‘cool’ but also very intelligent and open-minded which makes the plot far more rounded and 3-dimensional. The story is also quite philosophical and caused me to ask myself questions throughout. Plus, although this doesn’t usually appeal to me, there was no distracting factor to the plotline – i.e. no vampires, angels, werewolves etc. The sole focus was on the characters but not in a way in which the reader is too immersed into the potentially annoying intricacies of each of their feelings.

Bad points

Throughout the first half of the novel, instead of chapters, there is a countdown. It begins with ‘One Hundred and Thirty Six Days Before’ and then counts down to the ‘Last Day’ in the middle of the novel. For me, this was exciting, to begin with, as I was desperate to know what John Green was counting down towards. However, as I got to know the characters more, it started to become quite clear what was going to happen, and when it did, I was a little disappointed. Nevertheless, even though the novel wasn’t as engaging in the second half (the aftermath), it was still interesting to see how Miles and his friends dealt with the issue at hand.

Summary

This was my first John Green book and I can now certainly see what all the fuss was about! I was thoroughly impressed, considering that this was his first novel. It was an enjoyable book with fascinating characters and a refreshing perspective on young adulthood.

Rating: 4 stars.