Summary
Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought
her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter
inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters
suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel’s story is about to be
completely rewritten.
- Number of Pages: 313
Review
Augustus Waters. If there were anyone I would aspire to be
like it would be Augustus Waters.
As I was reading this book, I tweeted my feedback and a few
quotes on my personal Twitter account when a girl out of the blue asked me if
she should read it. So many though jumped into my mind, but the 140 characters restrained
me. In the end all I could do was warn her. I wrote “Prepare to fall in love
with heartbreak.”
I began with the misconception that this book, though raved
about to be unique and ultimately unlike anything else, would be cheesy
and absolutely tragic like all books that pertain to this selection of genre.
I read it and discovered how beautifully awful life could be. The true nature
of Cancer.
I spent the majority of my hours over the past couple of
months in an AP English Language and Composition class, in which my teacher
drilled and drowned us in enough literature to be able to later dissect even
the deepest meaning from a newspaper cartoon or an obituary. Though Hell at
times, I now like to believe that as I read this book I understood it for its
true meaning. This isn’t a light read. It isn’t even all that interesting in
the beginning. It is life. It is the way that these two human beings of
infinitesimal proportions loved, lived, and died that makes this book raw and
real. Everything in this book is both a metaphor and not a metaphor. It is
straightforward and yet hidden with deeper meanings.
I could write an essay on each moment of Hazel’s days with
Augustus, the boy who represents all the good in the world and all the bad that
happens to the good in the world. It all amounts to nothing in the end because
the life that they and all of us live is filled with day to day moments that
shouldn’t be analyzed . . . they should just be LIVED. I don’t even think any
of this makes any sense, but that should be the reason that you read this. You
should read this just so that the logic and the way you look at life transforms
to a way where you see the joke in the tragedy and the hope in the
hopelessness. Read it for the laughs you'll gain and the tears you'll lose. Read it for Gus. From 1-10? I give it a 7.
