Looking for Alaska

by John Green

[Amber (The Literary Phoenix)]

Looking for Alaska is, tragically, not one of my favorites. I wish I liked it a bit more - so many of my friends list it as a favorite. But of all John Green's books... it's my least favorite. Here's why.

The main character, Miles "Pudge" Halter, is a self-centered brat and I can't stand him.

I suppose it's a bit unfair at times - after all, he's written well to his character and perhaps it's not fair of me to judge a book so harshly on the personality of its protagonist. As a reader, I need the protagonist. I fall in love with characters more often than in the story. In typical John Green fashion, there are all sorts of great minor characters in this novel. I like Chip ("The Colonel"). I like Alaska, more or less (ugh, meet me in high school, but less dramatic). But... Miles.

I find it really difficult to fully enjoy a book when I want to sucker punch the main character in the stomach and tell him to get over himself.

That aside, this book presents some interesting philosophical questions about the nature of life and death and human existence. It discusses a few moments in religious/cultural history that illustrate different viewpoints on this topic and I find that interesting. I also like John Green's discussion of the stages of grief and how they appear differently in different people. You can see John Green's intelligence shining through his writing and it's inspiring. He makes you want to go look up other peoples' last words.

Storywise, though, this feels scattered at times and too simple. There's the whole great enigma of a problem and the way the characters find their way through is frustrating, too easy. It's a style I would expect to see in a debut novel, and Green has definitely grown; I feel his newer works are much stronger.

All in all, Looking For Alaska is worth a read, because it is interesting, but it's not a time-worn favorite of mine, personally.