"The Faults in Our Stars" by John Green

The Faults in Our Stars, by John Green, is a book following Hazel Grace Lancaster, a 16-year-old cancer survivor who meets the charming, witty and dashingly handsome Augustus Waters at her cancer support group. This book, which I have previously read, is consistently one of my favorite books of all time, refreshed in my mind as being a wonderful, powerful, charming, emotional book every time I read it. I read this book for book clubs, and one of the questions my club had before we started reading was, "What keeps the character motivated?" I thought this question was really important to the plot of the The Faults in Our Stars. Many of the characters are driven by each other, and mutual want of respect and love, in this book.

For instance, Hazel is driven by Gus to do more with her life. Hazel has a fine life before she met Gus, but Gus helped her live more. Augustus introduces the idea to her that she can go to Amsterdam to visit their favorite author, Van Houten, the author of An Imperial Affliction, a fictional book in the world of TFiOS. Gus introduces a new, exciting sort of energy into Hazel's life, someone who has been living for so long prepared to die, and energy that makes her want to live. I think this is also cause for Hazel not wanting to get too close to Gus, as she thinks that she'll just break his heart by dying, and that their time together, the new energy he brought to her life, will just go to waste. However, overall in the book, I think Gus motivates Hazel to do more with her life than she could have imagined to do otherwise.

The parents in this book are also driven by love for their children. The parents of these teenagers with cancer want to make their kid's live as good as possible, and they help them in so many amazing ways. Hazel's mom, for instance, almost organizes all of the trip to Amsterdam to make her daughter happy. Knowing that her daughter may die at any time also motivates Hazel's mother to take good care of Hazel, and try hard to make her daughter's life better. She wants her to go to cancer support groups to help Hazel with any problems she's having, she supports Hazel in her relationship with Gus, a near stranger, and goes to Amsterdam with Hazel just so Hazel can meet one of her favorite authors.

I think that in this book, the characters are also motivated by their wanting to have made an impact on people's lives. They want to be remembered, as all humans do. So many of the characters in this book are given such short strings on life, because of cancer, they want to make sure they are remembered for something other than cancer. Hazel and Gus often talking about philosophy, I think, is an ode to this, as they want to discover something more about the world. They want to know that they weren't just defined by their cancer, but by something else, something important, something that changed people. Gus, especially, has this want, as he comes into people's lives, such as Isaac, or Hazel, and just tries his best to make them better. As Gus says, "The marks humans leaves are too often scars." Gus doesn't just want to be a 'grenade' that left scars in people lives. He wants people to live as much as he wants to live, and he wants people to know that he wanted them to live. I think in the end, everyone wants that, but as people who were told from the beginning, "You will most likely die", to have that terrible weight on your chest most of your life, they want to know that people remember them not just as, "The girl with cancer."

This book tackles with so many issues, so many, deep, basic human wants and emotions, it's really hard to talk about only one of them. I'm sure I could write hundreds of essays on the different themes in The Faults in Our Stars. The characters in this book are one of my favorite parts of it, which is one of the reasons I chose to respond this question. They're so strong, so inspiring, and so lovin
g. Each one of them made whoever they touched a better person. They're each are so motivated to help others, and to help each other. The book deals with mortality and sacrifice and so many more issues in a relatable, unique, funny, heartbreaking way. The characters in this book are almost doomed from the moment we meet them. These characters, however, these amazing, strong characters, are able to do so much more good in the world. They're not just angry (Though they are a little angry,), they're curious, intellectual, understanding, and compassionate. None of them ever gave up, and I think that's pretty great.

Update 2: The Faults in Our Stars

**Spoilers!!**

I'm basically done with The Faults in Our Stars, or FiOS, but I thought I may as well extend these responses until I've used all the content I can and responded to it until basically the end of the year, because for some reason I just don't want to charge my Nook and start the Curse Workers series again.
Sigh.

Okay, so first of all, I would like to say that even when I first read this book, from the moment they left for Amsterdam and Gus and Hazel's mom were acting fishy, I knew that he was going to get cancer.
And die.

Oh, this still gives me a lot of emotions, but anyhow, I've not technically read this part of the book yet. So back to where I am, which is-- actually wait, yes, I'm right past the eulogy Hazel tells Gus at his pre-funeral. So, Gus, is, unfortunately, dead.

The pre-funeral is one of my favorite moments in the book, pretty much because of the eulogy. The eulogy shows how someone who always know that death is always impending on their lives, and that they are forever bonded with the dark thing that is death, because they almost experienced it, views the world. Hazel is shown to see the world, or at least after she met Gus, as many infinities. I believe this is because a moment is not valued by the amount of time it takes up, or by the money it took. It's by all the beautiful and wonderful things that happened in these moments that are infinite, because they change us as people and shape us forever.

These moments that Hazel spent with Gus, they obviously weren't chronologically infinite (that is almost definitely not the correct use of that word). But Hazel knows that their little infinity, their little moments that made Hazel more happy, that made Hazel want to live more, that made Hazel love more, was one of her favorite infinities, favorite memories, favorite feelings, and was one of the 'biggest' infinities in her life, one that changed it for the better.

This scene made me want to live my life to the fullest. I would love to find some dashing Augustus Waters to bring me to Amsterdam and change my life and outlook on this said topic, but I most likely will not. I have to make my own little infinities to make my life as good as possible, and have to try to like the infinities I already have.

Also, John Green is an amazing human being.

Update: The Faults in Our Stars

I recently began reading, The Faults in Our Stars by John Green (cough cough I am a huge nerdfighter.) ANYWAYS

This is by far one of my favorite books, ever. I have previously read this book, this amazing, deep, philosophical, emotional, touching book, and now I am reading it again for book clubs.

One thing I initially notice about reading TFiOS, as I'm rereading it, is that Hazel doesn't attempt to do very much with her life until Gus shows up. I mean, Hazel has the urge to do things, and wants and desires like everyone else, but I feel like Gus is really the one that enables her, makes her want to do these things that seem ridiculous and impossible beforehand, like meeting the author of An Imperial Affliction and going to Amsterdam.

One reason I think this is is because Hazel is more physically weighed down than Gus is, due to her oxygen tank, so it's a more constant reminder of how she will always be held back by cancer, and how cancer will be forever affecting her life. Gus, though cancer still obviously affected him in huge ways, Gus probably will sometimes forget that he has an amputated leg more than Hazel will forget that she has to drag around a metal tank with her all day.

NOT THAT I'M TRYING TO DISCREDIT amputees. That is, if possible, the exact opposite of what I'm trying to convey. I'm just pointing out, with Gus' dreamer and optimist personality, it's most likely more easy for him to forget his troubles than Hazel is, who has a more serious and down to earth personality, especially since he doesn't have as much trouble as Hazel, let's say, walking up stairs because of a tank he has to carry around.

Gah, this is just a mess. I feel like I'm offending everyone.

Update: "After Ever After" by Jordan Sonnenblick

**Spoilers!**

The book, After Ever After, by Jordan Sonnenblick is the sequel to Drums, Girls, and Dangerous Pie, following Jeffrey Alper, after his cancer went into remission, now in his eighth grade year, dealing with many of the same problems Steven Alper, his older brother, did in his eighth grade year in, Drums, Girls...

I really like this book so far. It reminds me a lot of the original story, and has extremely similar tones, probably due to that they're written by the same person, Jordan Sonnenblick. That's a pretty obvious explanation. But I like that Sonnenblick brings out new characters, and though in this story, as the last one, there's still the main boy character, his love interest, and the best friend.

One thing I would like to explore is the best friend in this story, Jeffrey's best friend, Thaddeus, or Tad. Tad is a really antisocial person, often really downright mean to people. He was even snide to Jeffrey when they first met, and to the girl he likes.

I believe that this is Tad's attitude at the beginning of the story, pretty much almost up to the point I'm at now in the book, because he was afraid to get close to people, and he wasn't sure even how long he would live to see them become friends.

Tad's cancer made him feel weak, and it made him afraid he wasn't going to live. This obviously made him look down on the world, probably seeing their problems as more insignificant than his, which explains his cynicism and sarcasm towards many in the book currently.

But I believe also that besides Tad's weakness bringing out this trait, it also made him question how much he wanted to do in his life, or if there was any point to it. He gave up trying to walk, and he was just complacent with the life he had. He knew that he had his best friend to get by with, so he didn't think he needed to go out of his way to be friendly to anyone else. I think that Tad is fully aware that is cancer could return in the story, which it does, so he tries not to get closer to anyone and uses his cynicism as a shield.

This also explains why Tad wants Jeffrey to pass Jeffrey's state tests so much. He wants to make sure that Jeffrey gets to do at least everything Tad does, and make sure that Jeffrey doesn't give up like Tad does. This also shows that Tad is not truly mean, and is actually quite compassionate, spending a lot of his own time working with Jeffrey on math.

"The Faults in Our Stars" by John Green

**Spoilers!!**

I recently finished The Faults in Our Stars by John Green. This book is about Hazel Grace, a sixteen-year old cancer patient who knows she might not live until her next birthday. She meets the charismatic, attractive Augustus Waters at a cancer support group, and her life is changed forever.

I really loved this book. I loved the narration style and the characters voices, and the ending especially. It was really touching and sad, but really hopeful too.I though it was following Hazel's character that she wouldn't be blubbering over Gus for weeks. She would be sad, but strong and now that he was in terrible pain before, and he wasn't anymore. But she also knew that he would much rather be alive than dead.

I thought a symbol for life in the book was Mr. Van Houten. He was what Hazel was looking forwards to, and thought that he was the best thing that ever happened to her. She ended up seeing that he was often terrible and not fair. For example, Hazel thought he would be smart and kind and a wise, good person. Just by reading his books, she assumed this about him. In reality, he was a kind of crazy messed up old man who didn't know how to handle grief.

This is corresponding with the moment in life Hazel found out she had cancer. She, as a child, was looking forward to life and all it had, but she soon realized that life isn't fair, and most of the time tragic.  Following Hazel's attitude towards cancer, she doesn't give up on or to Mr. Van Houten, she stand up to him, and just does what makes her happy. She doesn't pretend as if it doesn't hurt her that Van Houten ended up being annoying and sad, but she knows that she can't change him.

Van Houten represents the main events of Hazel's life in one three-day trip. At the end of the book, after Augustus dies, Van Houten shows that he (or life) is disappointing for reasons, and that it can always redeem itself. The near-redemption of Van Houten is representing Hazel meeting Augustus.

Again, this book is amazing. Really, just amazing, and it's just so... AMAZING. I recommend to fans of books like 13 Reasons Why and definitely any other John Green books. Also, just saying, I was right with my prediction from the last post.