Looking For Alaska by John Green
I just spent hours with tears trickling down my cheeks. At times I sobbed more than I have in probably years. Others, my hands started to shake making reading hard. Yes, I was reading a book.
That book was Looking For Alaska by John Green.
A few months ago I happen to pick up Paper Towns. I had seen it all over shelves everywhere and finally came across a used copy and figured why not. I read it in one sitting. It was mysteries and captivating. Hands down, I knew it was one of the best books I had ever read.
Then I got caught up reading other books. I went through a handful of ones I already had and new ones that I was excited for. Somewhere along the lines I picked up Looking For Alaska. It was a used copy with a note stuck in the pages. It was a referance to nerdfighters. The book was also signed by John Green. I set the book next to my bed. I wanted to read it soon but something else kept coming first.
I started to get into vlogbrothers and nerdfighters. I thought to myself I really need to read Looking for Alaska and go buy An Abundance of Katherines. Still I did neither until yesterday, the Fourth of July. I finished reading one book and decided it was time to take on Alaska. It was late in the afternoon. Already after dinner time. I sat outside and started reading.
I read most of the way through Before. It was brillant. I laughed and fell in love with the characters. I saw myself so much in Alaska and even quite a bit in Pudge. Having to go to work was like a curse. More than anything else I wanted to stay home and see what was next for Pudge, Colonal, and Alaska. I read for so long that I barely left myself time to get ready for work. When I got off work I uploaded my pictures as fast as I could, wrote my descriptions in record time and was curled up reading again.
I got to After. I cried. I knew I had to go to sleep because work was early in the morning. It was as good of a stopping point as any other. I couldn’t wait to get home and read the rest.
After is the most devestatingly beautiful thing I have ever read. You know how sometimes, no matter how much you are enjoying a book you scan over some paragraphs. I can honestly say I read every single word of Looking For Alaska. It was like if I missed one single thing it would be a shame. My eyes were wet through the whole thing.
This is a book that I honestly feel somehow impacted my life. I don’t know how exactly but I know it did. It hit me so hard that I think my perspective from here forward will be different.
When I read Notes From my Travels by Angelina Jolie I felt the same thing. I know, I know. You are rolling your eyes thinking how could anything by Angelina Jolie be that influential on a person’s life. To that I say, just read it. Jolie wrote it when she was seeing third world countries for the very first time. She is describing them exactly with the shock and innocent perspective that I think every American would relate to. I could never look at the world the same way after reading her book.
Now I will never see my own world the same way after Green’s. That is the power of books. They bring us a world that we will never experience but that doesn’t mean we can’t take experience from them. I have a feeling this will not be the only time this year that I read Alaska. I can’t wait to see what I learn next time through.
