First Pages: The Fault in Our Stars
The first page of The Fault in Our Stars by John Green.
Years ago I was writing a story about someone with cancer/leukemia. I also have a novel about a teen mom with a toddler who is very ill--initially cancer but then I changed it to SCID (Severe Combined Immunodeficiency). Yes, SCID, just like Maddy in Everything, Everything by Nicola Yoon. However, SCID is changing and so are its therapies. And that novel has been stuck 'in a drawer' for many, many years so if I ever pick it up again, the possibly terminal illness may possibly change. But at the time I was working on both stories--it might have been around the time that the film version of The Fault in Our Stars came out. So I avoided the novel like the plague....except I was curious. I normally don't like to read about a novel that may have something in common with what I'm working on.
For example, I've never read Snow Falling on Cedars by David Guterson because the very first novel I worked on was partially set at the turn of the 20th Century in Monterey, California among the Chinese fishing village that used to be there. And Snow Falling on Cedars supposedly has something to do with a Japanese fishing village here in the US--I'm not sure, as I've said, I haven't read it. (Though I just read the summary when I posted the link to the novel...maybe I DO need to give this book a look-see as it sounds quite intriguing.)
Yet, there was something about The Fault in Our Stars that made me keep going back to pick it up until I eventually read it. Maybe it's the refreshing tone, plain curiosity, or just simply the first few sentences had me hooked. (See above.) I think it's because of course you expect a teen with cancer to be depressed. And then....and then you get a bit curious about just what this cancer therapy group will be all about. And then we meet Augustus and we are just as drawn in and curious as Hazel is.
The Fault in Our Stars is a beautifully rendered story and quite believable, even as it promises to break your heart. And it makes me want to visit Amsterdam again.
Read the excerpt above. It's hard not to want to read more.
So I have a bit of envy of John Green for not only telling this cancer story but telling it well. And, let's face it, he also is the king of great titles: The Fault in Our Stars, An Abundance of Katherines, Looking for Alaska, Paper Towns, and his latest, Turtles All the Way Down. Though the Spanish translations baffle me: Bajo La Misma Estrella = Beneath the Same Star? and Mil Veces Hasta Siempre = A Thousand Times Until Forever. Yes, I had to look the last one up and it's the Spanish Title for Turtles All the Way Down. I'm not sure why they're supposedly equivalent, but I like both versions.
And now I'm off to work in the (rare) rain before I'm late! Happy Friday! :D
Tell Dr. Bookworm!
Are there certain types of books and movies that you avoid? Is there a novel that you didn't want to read but just HAD to?
Do you have a favorite book title? Or cover? Share with me below or feel free to email me instead. xo
