Tuesday, January 25, 2011

A seemingly rare opinion

So I have had blog posts pop into my head but I had refrained from writing them up on here since they were not sewing/crafting/costuming related. The one that popped into my head today was so strong it caused me to seek an opinion from others on twitter. I did not get burried under responses but I got a few that were encouraging so I'm now going to let Free Radish Designs branch out.

To start that branch out right, I'm going to be talking about books. More importantly, about my favorite book from the author John Green.

I have been a fan of John Greens for a couple years now. I found the Vlogbrothers (Hank and John Green's colab channel) on youtube before I started reading John's books. After watching their videos for a while I knew I had to pick up John's books. He has a way of talking that is both succinct/to the point and overwhelmingly nerdy. I had to see if his books were the same. For the record, they are.


John has written four books to date; Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherine's, Paper Towns and Will Grayson, Will Grayson. Let me start by saying they are all amazing books. Let me also say that, as with any writer or author, the writing gets better over time.

Subjectively, the writing in Looking for Alaska is not as good as the writing in Will Grayson, Will Grayson which is his most recent book. That does not mean the story is worse then the new ones. It just means the writing behind it is stronger and more refined.


There are many people out there who love John green's writing just as much, maybe even more, then I do. One of the things that makes me a rare opinion in the John Green fan world is that An Abundance of Katherine's is my favorite of his books. For most people this is their least favorite. I don't see why. It could be the high portion of math in this book, even though John Green himself is no high level mathematician.

An Abundance of Katherine's to me is whimsical in all the right ways, never so heavy you want to stop reading and has one of the best "safe words" I have ever heard (dingleberries) . It also has the kind of road trip I would love to take but am almost a bit too scared to take. In the end the book just sings to me.

I love the others too but I have to say, Looking for Alaska is my least favorite of the lot. It just doesn't resinate with me the way the others do. It's just a tad too awkward and depressing for me. I much prefer Paper Towns which, in my opinion, is a more mature and grown up Looking for Alaska. Plus, who wouldn't want to sneak into Sea World at night like Margo and Quentin do.

So, while I won't be sneaking into Sea World any time soon, I will remain a rare opinion in the sea of John Green fans. Now I'm off to reread An Abundance of Katherine's. Just kidding.

Or am I?

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1 comment:

  1. I've read Will Grayson, Will Grayson! It was recommended to me by my aunt, oddly enough. I liked it, but I thought the ending was kind of... abrupt, I guess. I also didn't like that the gay Will Grayson forgave Maura, mostly because I still wanted to punch her.

    I'll have to check out the rest of his stuff, though.

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