Daniela Diaz Diaz itibaren Taharpur, Uttar Pradesh 206247, Hindistan
I can see why this book won the Printz award. I didn't like it as much as I liked some other winners, like Going Bovine, or Ship Breaker, but it is completely deserving of the award just the same. I liked Pudge. He seemed like an average guy, who got swept up into a new life. I think he found his Great Perhaps that he was seeking while at Culver Creek, and he had absolutely no idea of the magnitude of how much he would be affected when he left. I absolutely adored all of the last words mentioned in the book, and have half a mind to go back and highlight/tab all of them that I loved. I didn't love the inordinate amounts of drinking and smoking, but it seemed to fit the story, so I let it go. I LOVED the Colonel. He is probably one of my favorite characters I've ever read about. He was sharp as a tack and hilarious, and extremely loyal. I would love to be friends with him. Though I cannot imagine milk and vodka seriously makes a good drink. The religion classes were all super interesting. John Green has a degree in religious studies, so it makes sense that he worked in his knowledge, and religion in study is so much more interesting than religion in practice, to me at least. I now realize maybe taking theology wouldn't be the absolute worst thing in the world. I have to admit, the only other thing I didn't really like about this book...was Alaska herself. Something about her just rubbed me the wrong way. All in all, this was definitely worth the read, and it's actually the John Green book that I have liked the least. This is of course by the most minute quantity, though.
Excellent book! It left me with a wonderful feeling about love, people, life, but wasn't at all unrealistic or pollyanna-ish. I now love both Jane Austen and Karen Fowler. Fowler interweaves the nuances of Austen's writing and thinking into the characters and their lives. I look forward to reading more of her work.
This book would be a five star one if not for the fact that Victor Hugo insists upon describing everything and everyone in tedious detail, even, and perhaps most especially, when it is entirely irrelevant. I know part of it is probably just the style from back then, so I forgave it a bit. Also having read Les Miserables, I was already prepared for a bunch of details I could just skip in the writing. And skip them I did. As for the actual story, Hugo did not fail to impress me. While it was not, perhaps, as good as Les Miserables, the plot was still good, and the characters (for the most part) very well put together. Disney totally butchered this book, by the way. I tried watching the movie while reading this, and it was like two different stories. Frollo is not the definate "bad guy". Actually, I thought he was the best character, if not a bit weird and obsessive. All the characters are ambiguous. One could easily say that anyone was the villian, and all the others victims. Personally, Pheobus seemed like the villian to me. He was just a player, for lack of a better word.It would have better if Esmeralda had loved Quasimodo, Gringoire, or even Frollo. But as always, the pretty face got chosen before heart, brains, or passion. That's probably why this book is so good. In reality, pretty girls don't typically choose men that are best for them over the ones who are good looking. Which is a shame for all of them, because the story ultimately ends in sadness for all but of course, the hot guy(who deserves to fall off the roof of Notre-Dame or get hanged more than anyone) loses nothing. A lot of people will hate this book because of it's reality and bitterness, but I enjoyed it because of the fact. I have a host of new characters to enjoy (Jehan, Claude Frollo, Gringoire), and another very good classic under my belt. One thing suprised me, I didn't like Quasimodo as much as I anticipated. He seemed like someone I'd enjoy, and I didn't particularly. All in all, a good book. Just skip some of the descriptions, or get an abriged version, and you'll be fine.