-Mark Z: The ending was perfect. Gus' eulogy for Hazel is better than anything Vanhouten could write. The ending was very emotional and offers great closure. We don't know what will happen to Hazel or her family or anybody for that matter, but frankly I don't care. The ending was perfect, no other words could describe it. It was a pleasure to read this book.-
After reading this book I can say that I agree with this statement. This book was very well written and really did an amazing job with reflecting the moods, feelings, and behaviors that a teenager would go through; If I hadn’t known the author I would say that this really was written by a teenager. The level of emotion it brings is truer than others. Its not super sad and emotionally striking, but it sounds like how it would be in the real world. Other books really push the feelings by adding other events in the story and certain kinds of undertones, but this was raw feeling and people were speaking like normal people would. You can pick up on this because as they speak, you hear in their voice that they don’t always have a good answer or know exactly what to do, they just say what they can. The author did an excellent job and really got to a level that others don’t get to.
A couple of things I was confused about were, for one, why didn’t the author ever respond to Hazel except at the end and only really talk to Gus? Did he have something against her or was he busy? An idea I had was that he did not like the way her emails were written so he refused to write back. This is apparent by that fact that he says he really likes the sophisticated language that Gus’s uses. Another thing that was strange was that before Isaac went blind, his girlfriend was really connected to him. After he did go blind, she pretty much completely ditched him as Isaac says “she hasn’t even visited” (Green 74). Why was it so hard for her to deal with him blind? Its not even that much of a problem and he’s still the same person, just without sight. Was it because it was too emotional for her to stay or was it just because she didn't want it?
The ending of this book, especially the eulogy, was really quite powerful. It really showed that there wasn’t a single person or idea that could ever make Gus leave Hazel. Though her feelings are kind of hard to decipher, I still knew that the note was the best thing she had ever read. I’d like to stay positive and think that Hazel survived for at least another several years or so, always keeping Gus in her memory; and instead of mourning him and wondering what life could have been, she would instead remember all the reasons why she loved him and how those can be used to keep her up through her life. I hope she’d know that even as he’s gone, he’s still with her, helping her everyday.
There were a lot of good things I learned while reading this book. I learned that just because you may have a problem, that doesn’t mean you should sit back and watch others do things. Theres always a way to do what you want and you shouldn’t let anything get in the way of that. Another thing I learned is that you shouldn’t let life pass you by. Life is short, so do what you want to do and don’t let the chance get away. Perhaps the most helpful thing is at the end, when Augustus says “You don't get to choose whether or not you get hurt, but you do get to choose what hurts you. I am happy with my choices, I hope you are too.” (Green 313) This was a very striking message and it hit me personally as I learned that I shouldn’t always be so careful and decisive with my choices to please others. I have to make some that I’m happy with and don’t need approval from others to do so.
After reading this book I can say that I agree with this statement. This book was very well written and really did an amazing job with reflecting the moods, feelings, and behaviors that a teenager would go through; If I hadn’t known the author I would say that this really was written by a teenager. The level of emotion it brings is truer than others. Its not super sad and emotionally striking, but it sounds like how it would be in the real world. Other books really push the feelings by adding other events in the story and certain kinds of undertones, but this was raw feeling and people were speaking like normal people would. You can pick up on this because as they speak, you hear in their voice that they don’t always have a good answer or know exactly what to do, they just say what they can. The author did an excellent job and really got to a level that others don’t get to.
A couple of things I was confused about were, for one, why didn’t the author ever respond to Hazel except at the end and only really talk to Gus? Did he have something against her or was he busy? An idea I had was that he did not like the way her emails were written so he refused to write back. This is apparent by that fact that he says he really likes the sophisticated language that Gus’s uses. Another thing that was strange was that before Isaac went blind, his girlfriend was really connected to him. After he did go blind, she pretty much completely ditched him as Isaac says “she hasn’t even visited” (Green 74). Why was it so hard for her to deal with him blind? Its not even that much of a problem and he’s still the same person, just without sight. Was it because it was too emotional for her to stay or was it just because she didn't want it?
The ending of this book, especially the eulogy, was really quite powerful. It really showed that there wasn’t a single person or idea that could ever make Gus leave Hazel. Though her feelings are kind of hard to decipher, I still knew that the note was the best thing she had ever read. I’d like to stay positive and think that Hazel survived for at least another several years or so, always keeping Gus in her memory; and instead of mourning him and wondering what life could have been, she would instead remember all the reasons why she loved him and how those can be used to keep her up through her life. I hope she’d know that even as he’s gone, he’s still with her, helping her everyday.
There were a lot of good things I learned while reading this book. I learned that just because you may have a problem, that doesn’t mean you should sit back and watch others do things. Theres always a way to do what you want and you shouldn’t let anything get in the way of that. Another thing I learned is that you shouldn’t let life pass you by. Life is short, so do what you want to do and don’t let the chance get away. Perhaps the most helpful thing is at the end, when Augustus says “You don't get to choose whether or not you get hurt, but you do get to choose what hurts you. I am happy with my choices, I hope you are too.” (Green 313) This was a very striking message and it hit me personally as I learned that I shouldn’t always be so careful and decisive with my choices to please others. I have to make some that I’m happy with and don’t need approval from others to do so.