Reading log #2

Reading Log#2
Title: The fault in our stars
Text type: Novel
Director/Author: John Green

The fault in our starts by John Green, published in 2014. It is a book about two star crossed lovers Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters. Hazel was diagnosed with lung cancer at a young age, and Augustus was diagnosed with osteosarcoma, which is a rare form of bone cancer. They both share the same wit and love for books. Augustus and Hazel both share the same favorite book " An imperial affliction" by Peter Van Houghten. Although Hazel was advised not to go to Amsterdam due to her heath, both herself and Augustus embark on an adventure to Amsterdam to meet the Author of this book.

This book is very sad due to the fact it is based around cancer and death. But the love story is what makes it thoroughly enjoyable. John Green uses many metaphors in the book. One particular one that stood out to me was when Hazel was talking to her mum and said "I'm like. Like a grenade and at some point i'm going to blow up and i would like to minimize the casualties okay?" When she talks about "blowing up" she is referring to her death, and when she talks about casualties she is talking about the people who will be hurt by her death. This makes me feel sympathy for Hazel because she feels like she has to isolate herself from others so they don't get hurt when the cancer takes over.  She says that "I can't be a normal teenager, because i'm a grenade." She thinks that pushing Augustus away is the only way not to hurt him and to keep him safe.
This makes me upset to read because Hazel did not asked to be diagnosed with cancer, she should get to live a normal life like most other teenagers and be able to live her life without being connected to a machine to help her breathe.

The use of the metaphor about the grenade is also seen when Gus plays this video game. His character on the game saves a school by getting his by a grenade. He then says "People don't chose who they hurt, they choose who hurts them". This made me realize that we chose to put ourselves in a position where we can potentially get hurt but its okay to be willing to for the right reason. This is like Gus choosing to be Hazels friend even though there is the risk of her dying.

Another part of that book that shocked me was that throughout the whole book we though that Hazel would be the one to lose the fight first. In the end of the book this was not the case. Augustus was the first to die from Osteosarcoma. This left Hazel heartbroken. At Augustus's funereal Hazel wrote a euology. “My name is Hazel. Augustus Waters was the great star-crossed love of my life. Ours was an epic love story, and I won't be able to get more than a sentence into it without disappearing into a puddle of tears. Gus knew. Gus knows. I will not tell you our love story, because-like all real love stories-it will die with us, as it should. I'd hoped that he'd be eulogizing me, because there's no one I'd rather have.......... I can't talk about our love story, so I will talk about math. I am not a mathematician, but I know this: There are infinite numbers between 0 and 1. There's .1 and .12 and .112 and infinite collection of others. Of course, there is a Bigger infinite set of numbers between 0 and 2, or between 0 and a million. Some infinities are bigger than other infinities. A writer we used to like taught us that. There are days, many of them, when I resent the size of my unbounded set. I want more numbers than I'm likely to get, and God, I want more numbers for Augustus Waters than he got. But, Gus, my love, I cannot tell you how thankful I am for our little infinity. I wouldn't trade it for the world. You gave me a forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful.” This euology made me feel her pain, and left me heartbroken with her. Augustus was the love of her life, and gave her a "little infinity"  with the little time she had left.

In conclusion The fault in our stars by John Green is a must read. It portrays a number of important ideas and ways to cope and help through life. There are more people out there who are willing to support you, but you just need to let them in and allow it. This will help you feel better within yourself. I would recommend this book for Teens and Adults.