The most recent book club pick was
The Fault In Our Stars by John
Green. I'm giving it 3 1/2 stars and a general "yeah you should read it if
you don't mind sad books" recommendation.
The book is a great literary read. There are big words and nuances and
symbolism and imagery all over the place. It reminds me of the sort of book my
high school AP English teacher would have
loved. I do have an
appreciation for these sorts of books but I don't automatically rave about a
book because it's strong literature.
For me to really love a book I have to want to read it again. While this
book was intriguing and enjoyable (despite the tears), I can't say I'll read it
again. One and done kind of deal.
The premise is that this teenage girl with cancer goes to a support group
for other kids with cancer where she meets and (shocker) falls in love with
another teenager with cancer. That's a lot of cancer folks. Obviously someone
must die (hence the tears) but telling you who would be a spoiler. So to sum it
up, cancer patient meets cancer survivor, they fall in love, and someone dies.
Being a doctor's kid, my view on death can best be described as pragmatic.
Death in general is a sort of peace- be it for the patient who is finally freed
from pain or for the family who is finally freed from watching the suffering.
In that sense, death serves a purpose. Coming from a strongly
Christian family, death is also not feared. We might not want it right now, but
if that were our fate we are all secure that it will not lead to a miserable
existence (ie we believe that we will be in heaven). So the combination of my
practical acceptance and lack of fear of death makes dying itself not so sad a
topic for me. (This means I am very awkward and inept at comforting anyone
other than my immediate friends and family when someone passes away).
So why the tears from this book? It was the daughter's concern for her
parents, her mother in particular, that absolutely, positively tore. me. apart.
This girl knows she will die, she has a terminal diagnosis that has been
temporarily put off by experimental treatment. Any time she thinks death is
upon her, her concern is not for herself but her mother. Her mom has been by
her side every step of the medical journey. Her mother truly is her best friend
because her mother is the one who knows everything about her inside and out.
She, the daughter, despairs over the agony and grief her best friend, her mom,
will experience when death finally occurs. While the text title and main
storyline revolve around these lovers with stars so crossed they could be
called faulty, I think the true story is the evolution of acceptance of death
and lack of fear as the daughter and mother learn to face the future. Maybe it
was meant to be a side-line story, but the interactions between those two
characters were the ones that had me sobbing. Love and devotion between mother
and daughter is something I truly understand and commiserate with. It was truly
touching how accurate and spot-on the emotions were.
So yes, read the book (but be prepared with tissues) and enjoy a great
literary piece. Maybe you'll love it and want to eat it up, maybe you'll have a
one-time appreciation for the story. There are several small stories within the
large one and it is likely that you'll be touched by one of them. It just makes
the book that much more relatable and more likely enjoyable.
