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/lit/ - Literature

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4469531 No.4469531[DELETED]  [Reply] [Original]

I read this the other day. I've only lately started to take reading more seriously, and I think I just bought it because I wanted something light and refreshing, after buying stuff like Herman Hesse, Isherwood, and Rimbaud and Ginsberg poetry.

But basically, I was really surprised. For the first quarter of the book I felt a little disappointed. It felt a little childish, and I'm not even kidding when I say that there's a line in which the protagonist says "UUGGGH!". But then all of a sudden I got quite emotionally nested in the story. It was all very nice and light-hearted to put myself into this world. And I kid you not, by the end of the book, I was an absolute sobbing mess, covered in tears. So yeah, I just wanted to recommend this for anyone who wants a nice and light read. It's a cute story to be honest.

>> No.4469539

Another general shout! I do believe that these applauses are for some new honor that is heaped upon John Green.

>> No.4469540

Wow, that's a really obscure title. Was this written in the early 1800s?

>> No.4469550

>>4469531
I can't help but feel a tumblr atmosphere around this book OP, should I venture forward anyways?

>> No.4469561

>>4469550
Yeah, the fandom is fucking annoying. They are basically all on Tumblr and think they are really intelligent for reading a book. But I just kinda ignored that. I just don't associate myself with them. I would give it a read anyway. I really enjoyed it, and I'm glad I read it because it's a nice and emotional story. You get used to the "childish" writing after a while, and by that I mean that it's pretty obvious it was aimed at teenagers. I'm making it sound pretty shit, but really, give it a read. It's fairly short anyway. There's 300 pages or so, but the font is quite big, so it's probably about 150 pages of a normal book.

>> No.4469568

>>4469531
You lack emotional sophistication. Keep reading. You'll look back on this chapter of your life and be thoroughly embarrassed.

>> No.4469573

>>4469568

>emotional sophistication

Is that even a thing?

>> No.4469622
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4469622

It's shameless sentimentality bait. It has the same literary merit as Clive Barker or NTR. It's garbage written in a very calculated way.

>> No.4469651

>>4469622
>>4469568
This. Don't get complacent with this shit, OP. It is NOT OK.

>> No.4469654

>>4469568
>>4469622
>>4469651
cry more

>> No.4469665

>>4469622
I am actually not sure about the 'calculated' part.
It felt like John Green does not really know what he wants to say, there is pretty much nothing at all happening (it's girl meets with a Newbery Medal type of event), and the characters do nothing at all. I thought that since he mixes realistic and completely unrealistic episodes of disease progression he might just have some kind of an idea to present. Turns out I was expecting too much.

>> No.4469959

>>4469665
>It felt like John Green does not really know what he wants to say
From what I've read about the book, he based a lot of it on personal experience working in a hospice or some such place. So I think he knew what he wanted to say, but was having trouble saying it. Ending up with "cancer is bad, and these kids are still quite quirky right?"

>> No.4469997

I read this book a few days ago as well, thanks to /lit/ talking about it.

I actually don't hate it, but I disliked how unsurpassingly tiresome the later portion of the book is. I actually liked the part before they went to Amsterdam, but everything after they met van Houten was progressively more obnoxious.

>> No.4470023

>>4469959
Not having read the book I can see this being as indefinitely plausible. The nature of someone who worked in Hospice, who wishes to craft meaning from it, without the skillset or talent to write it, carried on by tumblots and sentimental folks.

The sad thing is someday I will probably have to read this so I don't get taken as naive or ignorant.

>> No.4470025

>john green

DROPPED.

>> No.4470269

I really don't know how anyone could take this book seriously on any level, everything about it is just so obnoxious especially the way John Green tries to make his characters sound like modern teenagers in an incredibly heavy handed way, with cringe worthy expressions such as "douchpants" or "nonhot guy" littered throughout, and the use of fully capitalized expressions like "UGGGGGG" are common and completely inappropriate. The use of emoticons in the text was terribly done, and beyond that the book reeked of over sentimentality.

>> No.4470282

on principal i hate vloggers, so fuck you john green, i'm not reading your stupid ass book. it could be good, I don't even care. fuck everything about that book.

forreal tho, you guys don't hate john green, you hate his popularity.

>> No.4470293

>>4469531
>I've only lately started to take reading more seriously
Yet you bought Rimbaud (probably Illuminations), idiot.

>> No.4470301

could soeone tell me the plot of the book and the way in which people die

>> No.4470311

>>4470301
Plot of the book: Cancer cancer smouldering romance cancer book wanking cancer Amsterdam dreams shattered awesome sex cancer cancer? cancer! terminal cancer! cancer eulogy schmaltz tearjerker bad writing death cancer.
How people die: cancer

>> No.4470314

>>4470293
No, I bought the Complete collection actually. And how exactly am I an idiot? Because I like poetry?

>> No.4470315

It's a book for teenagers, or for those with the emotional depth of a teenager.

>> No.4470320

>>4470315
>cancer, early death, and the humiliation of seeing yourself become a vegetable stops being sad when you're an adult

I'm just gonna assume that you didn't actually read it, hence the fucking ridiculous comment you just made.

>> No.4470324 [DELETED] 

this novel will take your emotions and it will meld them to its will, but don't expect much more than that

>> No.4470335

>>4470282
I watched a video of his before I knew who he was. I didn't like him then and I don't like him now.

>> No.4470341

>>4470320
Not the person you responded to, but just because the book is about thing that are really sad doesn't mean that the book is not primarily suited to teenagers.

>> No.4470349

>>4469531
It's on my list. Probably after Ishiguro.

>> No.4470350

If John Green was able to say "I am the literary equivalent of a big mac and cheese" like Stephen King does, but it does not seem like he thinks of his writing in this way.

>> No.4470353

>>4470341
It's not just about sad things. That's the thing, the book never dwells on cancer or how sad it is. It has a very pessimistic view on cancer, since the protagonist hates sympathy. So it never says "cancer is really sad", but after a while, when you see the cancer finally win on some of the characters, it's naturally sad. But it's not even sad until the last quarter of the book. It's actually quite funny for the most part. Then it hits you. But it's definitely aimed at teenagers, specifically, the "nerdfighters".

>> No.4470357

>>4470353
Could you elaborate on what you mean by nerdfighters?

>> No.4470367

>>4470357
It's what Hank and John Green call their viewers. If you don't know who the vlogbrothers are, I don't think you've been on the internet for very long.

>> No.4470426

>>4470367
Way to make us feel old...I honestly never heard of them, and even if I had, I'd have ignored it because vlogging is obnoxious to me. I much prefer the written word.

>> No.4470440
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4470440

>>4470426
>I much prefer the written word

>> No.4470498

>>4469568

>You're not allowed to enjoy this thing because i'm more intelligent than it

snobbery is just fucking lame

>> No.4470552

>>4470498
typical anti-intellectual response. he's saying intellectual sophistication would cause you to search for better means of entertainment, and if you're content with enjoying shit like john green then you can't lay claim to being very intelligent, discerning or sophisticated.
>hurr, saying stupid people enjoy something is equivalent to saying I shouldn't be enjoying it, because I'm smart!