In-progress review: The Fault in Our Stars

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SirMustapha
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Re: In-progress review: The Fault in Our Stars

Post by SirMustapha » Mon Aug 18, 2014 7:01 pm

Thanks for the feedback, Chris. :)

I think, in this particular case, the problem isn't really in trying to write a masterpiece. I mean, when we are making a piece of art, many times we secretly wish we were making the Ultimate Masterpiece, because, well, that would be great. And in a way, that can be a pretty good incentive, as long as we don't get utterly consumed by that. I don't see that problem in this book. It is not overwrought and heavyhanded like most books written with that mindset. If anything, it's actually pretty underdeveloped -- which is not a problem per se, as long as it is a conscious literary choice. I also don't see a problem with writing a book (or making a generic piece of art) with a certain target audience in mind. And it's easy to see this book is aimed at "nerdy" teenagers who think they are misunderstood by society and think they can't fit in because everybody is like soo superficial and like they don't get it. I mean, I was like that myself. The problem that I see is that this book panders to that audience, in a way not too different from that Twilight panders to hyperhormonal young girls who might as well develop a crush on anything, and that Fifty Shades of Gray panders to middle age, sexually unsatisfied women who think their husbands should be oh so rough and menacing and romantic (sic). It's not a case of "hey, are you a teenager and nerdy? This book may be for you!", as it is a case of "hey, are you a teenager and nerdy? YOU ARE THE GREATEST HUMAN BEING EVER IN THE WHOLE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, YOU'RE AWESOME, YOU'RE TOTALLY AWESOME, and this book may be for you!". The book doesn't simply tell us the story of these characters and make us involved with them, but rather spends a lot of time showing how SUPER AWESOME they are, and regardless of what you feel about they, they are STILL SUPER AWESOME.

What separates The Fault in Our Stars from Twilight in my mind is that the former is an earnestly produced work with a lot of effort invested in it. It does take a few risks, and does reach out for things below the surface (I think I noted some of these moments in my summaries), and the characters are not mere blank slates for the readers to project themselves onto. Indeed they were archetypes of AWESOME in that sticky-icky-icky fashion that makes me stay away from most of the Geek Chic culture, but that also shows the author cared a lot about them, and invested a lot of emotional intelligence and care into the story itself.

I guess, in the end, this may just boil down to personal preference. After all, some could defend this book saying that all my complaints are perfectly justified by the fact that it's a first-person narration, therefore it's obvious the narrator would make everything sound SUPER AWESOME because that is what she thinks. But I have two objections: first, if that is the case, then what's the point? If you're writing from the perspective of a character that only likes to talk about things that are SUPER AWESOME, then at least make it a study into why the character feels that; and that is the number one thing this book does not. This is, for all intents and purposes, a cancer/love story, not a character study. And second, again: the character that is narrating the story is depicted as being very, very, very smart and clever; and if that were the case, then she would certainly go into the details of the ambivalence and the ambiguities of the characters and the story. She would gives us something to truly sink our teeth into. Instead, she mostly them all aside, and anything that could add some weight to the characters is mostly a tacked-on plot device to make the climax more powerful.

So anyway, here am I talking about this book again. Hey, maybe I was wrong after all: it was not a waste of time. If anything, this book only makes me think of the kind of stuff I want to avoid as an author. But it also brought light into things I want to do; like I said, not everything here is a mistake. And if someone asked me for opinions of this book, I most likely would recommend it. Like I said, it's a Good Book after all. So there ya go.
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Re: In-progress review: The Fault in Our Stars

Post by c_nordlander » Tue Aug 19, 2014 12:20 am

SirMustapha wrote:It's not a case of "hey, are you a teenager and nerdy? This book may be for you!", as it is a case of "hey, are you a teenager and nerdy? YOU ARE THE GREATEST HUMAN BEING EVER IN THE WHOLE HISTORY OF THE WORLD, YOU'RE AWESOME, YOU'RE TOTALLY AWESOME, and this book may be for you!".
Erk, I have a fairly good idea of what you mean. Sounds like the kind of rubbish you see on the internet all the time. I guess the internet must be leaking.

Very nice analysis. You've given me a lot to think about...
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