Comparing John Green

For this blog post I wanted to switch it up a little bit. Instead of talking about what I am reading right now, I want to talk about John Green as an author. I have finished reading Looking for Alaska, and The Fault in Our Stars, and I am currently reading An Abundance of Katherine's. After reading a lot of his work, I really like John Green as an author. His style is so different from other authors that I am used to like Jodi Picoult. His books are very easy to relate to and they have plot lines that may actually be real for some people reading his novels. Something about his style of writing also makes me want to read more of his books. I can't pinpoint if it is the style of the point of view he uses or the actual structure of the novel. I like the fact that all three books have short chapters and each of them get to the point of what they are explaining.  Every part of the book is evolving from another part and John Green does that on purpose. For example, the fact that Hazel in The Fault in Our Stars, reads a certain book comes back into play when Hazel and Augustus go to Amsterdam to find out the ending of the book. Some of the smallest details always come back into play with John Green books. John Green is also amazing at imagery. Every single scene has enough details that you can put yourself in the scene in your head. I really like this because sometimes it is hard to enjoy a book if there is not enough detail to picture the scene in your head. The overall tone of John Green books are very comforting. I don't exactly know why it seems so comforting but something about these books calms me down and makes me want to read more John Green books until there are no more left. They are all so different but all have structural things in common and some plot lines overlap enough to still enjoy the individual books.

An Abundance of Katherine's #2

In An Abundance of Katherine's by John Green, Colin and Hasaan take a road trip away from Chicago to get away from the real world.  This concept of just leaving with a friend and some money just interests me so much. I don't think I could ever do it myself but the fact that Colin and Hasaan did it makes me think about how it would be if I ever did get away. I feel a connection to the innocence of Colin. Even though it is not obvious, I get the feeling that Colin is very apprehensive about new situations. He is the "goody-good" of the novel. I have a lot less knowledge than Colin but I get nervous with new situations even if I am not good at showing it. As a character, Colin has some qualities that are similar to me but we are also very different. I think as the story continues, I will see more sides of Colin that I can relate to because we are both kind of shy and sheltered in a sense that we have not experienced much which makes us nervous for new things. One of my favorite parts of John Green's books is how relatable the characters are. Even though I haven't related to some characters in his other books, I feel like other readers can. These connections with characters make the book more enjoyable to read because I know when I connect with a character, I contrast their situation with how I would react in a similar situation. In An Abundance of Katherine's, Colin goes along with the road trip and doesn't seem to mind. But if I were in his situation, I might like it at first but after a while I would be home sick. This also makes me predict what will happen in the future of the book because I know what I would do and I wonder what Colin will do.

An Abundance of Katherine's #1

I am only about 8 chapters in of An Abundance of Katherine's by John Green and the beginning was a little hard to understand. The plot jumps back and forth between Colin's past break-ups and the "real time" of the novel. A lot of the flashbacks about the break up with one of the many Katherine's tells us about his relationship with her and how devastated he was when they broke up. What made me confused was some of the transitions between the flashbacks and what was actually happening and especially at the beginning when I just started reading. However, now getting into the plot of things, it is easier to tell what parts Colin is reflecting on and what situations Colin is actually in. I think John Green might have done this confusion on purpose so you just learn about Colin as a character and not focus on what is happening. For example, if there were no flashbacks in the beginning, we wouldn't know that he has dated so many Katherine's and we would not know why he started the book being so upset. At first it was very confusing, but continuing reading helped. However, I do like the flashbacks because they provide information that Colin wouldn't provide himself. I also am finding that Looking For Alaska and An Abundance of Katherine's both by John Green have some similarities. They both have a boy who is average, kind of dorky, falling for girls that are out of his league. Hopefully, John Green does not take me on another emotional roller coaster with An Abundance of Katherine's. I like that with John Green's books, you can tell that he is the author. The plots are similar, but the style is also similar. In Looking For Alaska, the sections, or chapters, were broken up by number of days before or number of days after Alaska's death. In An Abundance of Katherine's, the chapters are legit chapters, but within them, they have subsections that seem to be counting down to something as well but I do not know what that is yet. I have a bad feeling that Colin is going to get heartbroken again and something sad is going to happen at the end of that countdown. I am very interested in what will happen with Colin's adventure out of his home town and with a new girl who is not named Katherine. But I am also apprehensive to read because I am afraid of what might happen to Colin.

Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon

Shu Lien says, "Promise me one thing: whatever path you take in life, be true to yourself" to Jen. Shu Lien means that Jen should not change for anyone and to follow her heart. I think the main reason why Shu Lien says this is because of her hidden love with Li Mu Bai. I believe that Shu Lien regrets not telling Li Mu Bai how she really feels and she doesn't want Jen to feel the same way with Lo. Another underlying reason why Shu Lien says this to Jen is because I don't think Jen really wants to be a "full-time" warrior and I think Shu Lien saw that in her, especially after seeing the connection between Jen and Lo. I think this is addressed in the beginning in the conversation between Jen and Shu Lien when Jen is asking a lot of questions about Shu Lien's lifestyle. I think Jen just wants to be free from her arranged marriage and her parents but not be free like Shu Lien. Shu Lien is telling Jen to do what she wants and to not do what other people want and I think this includes Jade Fox. Even though we don't see much interaction between Jade Fox and Jen, I think Jade Fox made Jen keep up with fighting because she wanted her to not because Jen wanted to. I think Jen does do this because when she jumps off the waterfall after Lo making a wish for them to be together in the desert, she knows it will come true because of the story told earlier in the movie. The wish does not have to do with fighting and it does not have to do with going back home. I don't think she would have jumped for a wish that she didn't want to come true. In the end, I think Jen took Shu Lien's advice of being true to yourself and not doing anything because of someone else.