Today, I review the infamous 'Looking For Alaska' by John Green, and this is one novel where I really struggle as to where to begin. Part of this is because I know how popular it is and I feel afraid a lynching is a'coming if I criticise it, but it is more than that. On the one hand it is exactly the Bildungsroman I expected it to be from reviews, a relatively neutral protagonist, struggling towards a more exciting "Great Perhaps", and eventually succeeds. However, on the other hand, this book really surprised me, and impressed me with its honest and relatively complex characters and it was nothing like I expected. You see my dilemma.
I'll start with the controversial stuff today. See if you follow my thinking on this one: I liked the book. I really enjoyed reading it, and I found it gripping and tragic and heart wrenching. But I think I liked Alaska dead more than Alaska alive. Now before you begin with "Ah yes, this is exactly how Miles felt, see you prefer her idealised form", no. I preferred Alaska dead because she was a "hurricane" and hurricanes destroy everything they touch. I found Alaska quite unlikable to be honest, but this was in part because the other characters were created so well, and also in a way that made them so likeable. This didn't mean Alaska was badly constructed (on the contrary, in my opinion) but it's a simple truth: you don't like characters who hurt your favourite characters and for me, that was a lot of Alaska's personality. The other part of her, which I was equally unmoved by and not fond of, was her endless sweeping statements and her brooding and moody attitude ("I smoke to die" was one I had a real distaste for). Regular readers may remember that this was the one of the only problems I could find with TFIOS, but I did excuse it as dying teenagers deserve to express their drama and feelings however they wish (oversimplification but you’ll catch my drift if you’ve read the previous review). But Alaska came off as more shallow from this, and even her backstory felt to be part of her cliché. I sound harsh, but I will say, amidst all my disinterest in Alaska, I found something in John Green's writing that was a true credit to him: creating a character I didn't exceptionally hate, but did not like, and make me believe they could be real.
One of the true masterstrokes of 'Looking For Alaska' was its view of teenage society and the values that exist in it. The protagonist is not particularly popular but he is also not disliked by his peers. He is simple an average boy, something that is all too rare in YA. I do get a little bored of reading how secretly special someone is after a while, and part of this is that it dismisses any person without this specialness as a character who is not important enough to be a hero. Something I actually adored about Miles' character was his frank nature towards his strengths and weaknesses, and that he never became polarised, becoming neither a dream-boat prince or a friendless loser. His humanness let him act as a perfect reflector and refractor for what was going on around him. Not just the tragedy either, no, the comedy was also put through his lens, and this allowed John Green to, not only immerse, but integrate his reader in his setting, which really helped when trying to (as fully as possible) understand some of the characters. More than anything though, this novel helps explain a very adult subject through a really fantastic perspective, demonstrating how teenagers discover the difference between adult things and adult life.
To conclude and to simply say how much I liked the book would not really be doing it the justice I think I would like to. It is exactly what a Bildungsroman should be, reminding me distinctly of 'The Catcher in the Rye' (a favourite of mine), but it brings the idea forward to a modern view of teenage life that I really enjoyed, despite my dislike of Alaska. Oddly enough, it often felt like she wasn't what I was really looking for -swans away in a cloud of cliché-.
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