When choosing a book to read for the “realistic fiction” genre, I admit that I was first drawn in by the title. I was expecting a to read a story about a kid in Alaska, a place close to my heart, but upon reading the back, I discovered that Alaska was just a name of a girl. Instead, the characters would be sweating with a southern accent in Alabama. At this point, I almost discarded it haphazardly back to the shelves in the pursuit of a shorter, easier to read book. Then, I saw the words that drew me in… the Great Perhaps. This Pudge guy was going out and seeking the Great Perhaps. An admirer of metaphors and symbolism, I decided slow reader or not, this was the book for me.
Looking for Alaska by John Green is a book about a quirky adolescent boy on his quest to discover a “more-than-minor” life where connections, relationships, and experiences matter, and people are more than the sum of their parts. One recurring question that occurs throughout the book is posed by Alaska and relates to one of her favorite books by Gabriel Garcia Marquez called The General in His Labyrinth. It is a historical novel about Simon Bolivar. Since Pudge is fascinated by people’s last words, Alaska is compelled to share Bolivar’s – “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?” (19). That’s the beginning of the mystery that follows the characters through their crazy days at Culver Creek. Is the labyrinth symbolic of life? Or death? Or suffering? Alaska and Pudge refer back to this pivotal moment in their history numerous times, as it serves as a foundation for their relationship. Rather than a thoughtless element to add depth to the story, I appreciate the fact that Green brings this entire question, Alaska’s question, full circle as their final exam question for Dr. Hyde’s religion class – “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth of suffering?”
Did Alaska think she knew the answer when she scribbled in her book, “straight and fast”? Looking for Alaska is a book that doesn’t end with every conflict resolved, boxed, and wrapped in a shiny pink ribbon. The reader is left to decide whether or not Alaska’s suffering was so great that she ended it with a suicidal car crash or whether it was the unfortunate accident of a distraught, emotional teenage girl trying to find purpose and balance. Either way, Pudge is insightful. His final essay for class shows the reader the depth of growth in his character and the wisdom that comes from experience. There is hope and beauty that comes out of the most awful of situations. Alaska taught those around her that - not necessarily in her life but in her death. The things that make us want to self-destruct are survivable because Pudge says “we are as indestructible as we believe ourselves to be” (220). I believe that. I know that.
Time and time again, I am reminded of the importance of relationships and character development in literature. This book was no different. I am, by nature, a reader who is bored easily. Perhaps that’s because I’m accustomed to drama in my own life or maybe because my free time is so valuable. Either way, it takes a lot to keep my attention. Needlesstosay, it was a pleasure reading Looking for Alaska. Each character is unique and three-dimensional with raw emotion and intensity both “before” and “after” Alaska’s tragic death. I love the insight into Pudge’s mind. Green is careful to color him with a paint brush of emotion that is innocent and not so innocent. From first kisses to first blowjobs, Pudge experiences it all under the watchful eye of the reader. Nothing is a mystery… except perhaps how to get the hell out of that labyrinth of suffering.
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