Looking for Alaska in Overdue Podcast

Apr 22, 2015 Hyzie rated it liked it · review of another edition

I liked this a lot better than Paper Towns, although the two are often compared (and for good reason).

John Green books never seem to hit me as hard as they hit most people. I tend to enjoy his characters (well, most of his characters) and his dialogue is a lot of fun, but the plotlines tend to not make me cry the way they seem to for other people, and I always feel like they are a bit melodramatic. This was true for this book as well.

Alaska is easier to empathize with than some of his other kind I liked this a lot better than Paper Towns, although the two are often compared (and for good reason).

John Green books never seem to hit me as hard as they hit most people. I tend to enjoy his characters (well, most of his characters) and his dialogue is a lot of fun, but the plotlines tend to not make me cry the way they seem to for other people, and I always feel like they are a bit melodramatic. This was true for this book as well.

Alaska is easier to empathize with than some of his other kind of zany female characters. I get the idea that her actions stem from something real as opposed to just being a part of her personality we are supposed to think is cute, and she had a background that genuinely made me feel for her.

I didn't really enjoy the whole boarding school crap that they were all doing. The sheer amount of trouble these kids get into was kind of ridiculous, and I just can't manage to relate. I couldn't have as an actual teenager, and I certainly can't now. It's all just a little odd to me. Some of the practical jokes played (in particular the last one) were fun, though, and I enjoyed that aspect. But the smoking and the drinking seemed insanely over-the-top to me. Maybe that is really what happens, but if so it is a part of teenagehood I never experienced or even really saw, so it felt odd to have it included as a matter of course. Is this what is is/was like to be a teenager off at boarding school and I am just way out of the loop?

Pudge was a little bit lame in a few ways (his obsession with Alaska being the primary one), but I liked him well enough for him to carry the book. The Colonel was over-the-top, but added some color.

There was a message here. It came out without being terribly preachy or annoying and stayed just this side of cheesy, and unlike some books it was a message worth broadcasting, but this was absolutely supposed to be an uplifting sort of book, and that aspect didn't quite work for me.

It also didn't quite work as a mystery, because I guessed a chunk of the "answer," and was thus vaguely annoyed at how long it took the boys to put together the pieces. In addition, it was not really the kind of mystery that was strictly "solveable" in a sense that we are sure, even at the end, whether the answer was right. It was an explanation for something otherwise inexplicable, but aspects of what happened remain in the dark and always will. That might be part of the message, perhaps--John Green seems very keen on the idea that you can never completely understand someone else.

I did enjoy it, but I always find myself wanting to like John Green books more than I actually do. I get the idea I would like him and I like the way he writes, but I never connect the way I feel like I should. His books and I are two puzzle pieces that almost fit, but no matter how many times we jam them together there is never that satisfying "click" noise where we connect. ...more

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Jul 30, 2012 Tiffani rated it really liked it

Shelves: young-adult, read-in-2013, lit-explorer-2013, fiction-general

Looking for Alaska has been on my radar for a long time. It seemed to pop up everywhere I looked, with everyone having nothing but good things to say about it. I finally got around to reading Alaska and now will add my voice to those singing its praises.

So much was great about this book. It is hard to write about this book without giving away major plot points so I instead I'm going to focus on two things, or specifically two quotes that are used in the book.

"I go to seek a Great Perhaps." ~ Fr Looking for Alaska has been on my radar for a long time. It seemed to pop up everywhere I looked, with everyone having nothing but good things to say about it. I finally got around to reading Alaska and now will add my voice to those singing its praises.

So much was great about this book. It is hard to write about this book without giving away major plot points so I instead I'm going to focus on two things, or specifically two quotes that are used in the book.

"I go to seek a Great Perhaps." ~ François Rabelias

The story begins with Miles or "Pudge" headed from his Florida home to boarding school in Alabama in search of the "Great Perhaps." Pudge is fond of memorizing people's last words and he quotes Rabelias to explain to his parents why he wants to go to boarding school. The "Great Perhaps" completely captures that time when you are a teenager, influenced by romance, mystery and adventure stories (whether written or on a screen), and waiting for life to begin, because it seems like nothing ever exciting happens in your town/city/school but you know one day it will and you can't wait. Pudge heads to boarding school seeking for his life to really begin, and it does. He makes real friends for the first time, including the beautiful, mysterious, fun, and moody Alaska. Pudge has no choice but to fall in lust with her. Now if this were a less well written young adult fiction book, Pudge would be the nerd/party kid/ or some other stereotype who gets fixed by his new friends who teach him how to have fun/be more responsible or whatever lesson is to be conveyed. That doesn't happen here. Of course Pudge changes and grows as anyone might upon immersing oneself in new surroundings with new people, but he is fully formed character when the novel begins as are (most of) the other characters.

"How will I ever out of this labyrinth!" ~ Simón Bolívar

Miles' religious studies teacher uses Simón Bolívar's quote as the basis of an essay question, asking students how they personally "ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering." This question reverberates throughout the story. I had never heard this quote before reading this book and yet it evoked and immediately familiar feeling. It so perfectly captures how it feels (at any age) to be depressed and/or hopeless, when something terrible has happened and you're wondering if things will ever get better, if you'll ever not feel the pain you're feeling right at the moment. Looking for Alaska is full of teenage fun and giddiness, but there is also sadness as the characters struggle with dealing with their own suffering. In less competent hands this could have turned into a Hallmark movie but luckily Green manages to write the characters in a way that feels real. There lives are messy but without the over-the-top melodrama. There are questions that never get answered, just like in real life. Tragedy happens, people grieve in their individual ways, and then somehow they manage to move on finding their legs even after the ground has shifted beneath them.

In case it is not clear I very much enjoyed Looking for Alaska and would definitely recommend it. Even for those who do not regularly read young adult fiction this is worth a read. ...more

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Nov 28, 2017 Jeni rated it liked it · review of another edition

It's a testament to John Green's skill that I could like this book while not liking either Pudge/Miles or Alaska. Or their "romance." I did like the Colonel though. I'm with the people who think those who don't think there should be drugs, sex and alcohol in this book are people who don't know/remember what teenagers are actually like. (view spoiler) ...more

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