I first read The Fault In Our Stars last year and my reason for choosing to spend my time reading the novel was because tumblr was full of people taking photos of the book, posting quotes and talking about how the book had had a profound impact on the way they live their lives. Overall, I'll have to agree, the book did move me but no where near to the degree that the teenagers on tumblr were saying it would. I found myself smiling after one chapter, crying after another, then smiling and crying all over again but it wasn't one of those books that becomes one of your favourites. The tragic storyline may have pulled on my heartstrings but it by no means had the ability to rip them from my chest. You may find that slightly dramatic but it's what I look for in a book if it's going to make my favourites list.
Although the book did make me cry and smile in the parts that I was supposed to I don't think the book had the effect on me that John Green fully desired. The main reason for this is his poor character development. I fail to see how both Hazel and Augustus develop and change as people throughout the novel. Apart from the fact that they've fallen in love with each other they're the same when they first meet until (SPOILER ALERT) Augustus dies and I feel that Hazel just carries on after his death as the same person she was before. The reason the character development is so poor, is due to both Hazel and Augustus being portrayed as having such a large amount of wisdom from the very start of both the novel and the film. Thus it's made it impossible for John Green to explore their personalities fully as the audience can grasp from the first few minutes of the film and from the first few chapters of the book, what Hazel and Augustus are like as people.
Maybe I'm being overly critical of Green's work because I don't fit into the age range of his target audience. He writes for young adults but I'd say the book and most definitely the film is aimed at teenagers who are aged sixteen and under. This could be the reason for the poor character development as the audience may not be able to cope with the adult subject matter of cancer along with then keeping up with the development of two main characters. Despite his writing being aimed at younger people, both Hazel and Augustus have several speeches in the book in which they talk about oblivion and their love for each other amongst other philosophical topics. The speeches were at first difficult to understand and so I found myself re-reading some sections of the book in order to fully appreciate the meaning in the character's words. The speeches are very well thought out but at the same time is that really how typical teenagers would speak about life, love and loss? I don't think they would. Green heavily relies on these long speeches to carry the novel and these are also present within the film. I don't believe that either the book or the film would have received such high ratings had these unrealistic speeches not been included.
Below are a few photos from when Chris and I went to watch The Fault In Our Stars at the cinema for our two month date.
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| Before we went to the cinema. Chris has uber fluffy hair :3 |
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| Sitting down after the film to roll a cigarette because he was too upset to stand up :') |
