Synopsis
"A deeply affecting coming-of-age story, Looking for Alaska traces the journey of Miles Halter, a misfit Florida teenager who leaves the safety of home for a boarding school in Alabama and a chance to explore the "Great Perhaps." Debut novelist and NPR commentator Green perfectly captures the intensity of feeling and despair that defines adolescence in this hip, shocking, and emotionally charged work of fiction.
Miles has a quirky interest in famous people's last words, especially François Rabelais's final statement, "I go to seek a Great Perhaps." Determined not to wait for death to begin a similar quest, Miles convinces his parents to let him leave home. Once settled at Culver Creek Preparatory School, he befriends a couple of equally gifted outcasts: his roommate Chip―commonly known as the Colonel—who has a predilection for memorizing long, alphabetical lists for fun; and the beautiful and unpredictable Alaska, whom Miles comes to adore.
The kids grow closer as they make their way through a school year filled with contraband, tests, pranks, breakups, and revelations about family and life. But as the story hurtles toward its shattering climax, chapter headings like "forty-six days before" and "the last day" portend a tragic event―one that will change Miles forever and lead him to new conclusions about the value of his cherished "Great Perhaps." "
Review
I was one of those people that when “The Fault in ours stars” was released on movie immediatly became intrigued with John Green’s work. However, up until recently, I've never had the chance to read one of his books. Nevertheless, one day on vacation and without anything to read, from a random pile of books ,“Looking for Alaska” was the one that held the most interest for me, so I started reading it.
I had no expectations about the story when I started it, and in fact I didn’t even read the synopsis. It reveals itself to be an easy read, filled with humor that, if the movies are any indication, is very characteristic of this writer.
It is a story about adolescents but has interest to all group ages. It aims to enlighten the best of that age group an also everything that makes the teenage years a complicated age.
Even though the author’s writing is very simple and straightforward the main subject of the book is quite serious. However he talks about it in a very correct way highlighting some important points.
“Looking for Alaska” was the perfect way to meet John Green without any preconceived ideas given by the movies. It’s a very interesting novel with charismatic characters that easily distract us from what goes around us.
Opinião
Fui daquelas pessoas que quando fui ver “A Culpa é das Estrelas” ao cinema imediatamente ficou curiosa com o trabalho de John Green no papel. No entanto, até há bem pouco tempo, nunca tive oportunidade de começar a ler um livro deste autor. Contudo, num dia em que me encontrava fora de casa e sem mais material de leitura, numa pilha aleatória de livros, “Looking for Alaska” era o livro que mais me interessava e assim enveredei na sua leitura.
Comecei a lê-lo sem nenhumas expectativas e, de facto, sem ler a sinopse. Demonstrou ser uma leitura muito fácil, com um humor que, se os filmes são alguma indicação, é muito característico de John Green.
É uma história sobre adolescentes mas que se torna interessante para todas as idades. Realça tudo que há de bom naquela faixa etária e também, tudo o que faz com que seja considerada uma idade complicada.
Apesar da forma leve como escreve, o assunto principal retratado acaba por ser bastante sério mas abordado de uma forma muito correcta e focando-se em pontos muito interessantes.
“Looking for Alaska” foi a forma perfeita de conhecer John Green sem ir com ideias já pré-concebidas oferecidas pelos filmes. É um romance muito interessante, com personagens carismáticas que nos distrai facilmente do que se passa à nossa volta.
“It always shocked me when I realized that I wasn’t the only person in the world who thought and felt such strange and awful things.”
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