A funny thing happened to me on my way to trashing the third book in the three book series, Fifty Shades of Grey. Between changing poopy diapers, feeding a toddler and an eight month old and making puppets of the ten plagues with which God smote upon the Egyptians and then performing a puppet show with them, I read a book on my daughter’s kindle. The book is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, and it bears a couple striking similarities to the Shades of Grey trilogy.
Both are miscast. Shades of Grey is touted as a novel. It is, in reality, a cross between a romance novel and a trip to the local dildo emporium. The Fault in our Stars is supposed to be young adult fiction. It is, in reality, full on fiction and writing at its best.
Both books have readers raving. Both books have depth, although the depth of Shades of Grey wouldn’t even get your handcrafted Ferragamo shoes messed up. The Fault in Our Stars had me thinking, I wish I could write like that. Fifty Shades had me wishing I could write like that under an assumed name, then use the millions I would make to start a Super PAC to lobby against writing like that.
The Fault in Our Stars is presented as a book about two teenagers with cancer. The main characters, Agustus and Hazel, are, indeed, teens. They do, indeed, have cancer. But reducing them to two teens with cancer is like saying The Merchant of Venice is about a businessman in financial difficulty. The circumstances of the story are a vehicle for more than the story.
Virtually every page confronts the following: What does it mean to die? What does it mean to be alive? What does it mean to love?
Be prepared to think and to ” think deeply. Just as Agustus and Hazel have no way out, neither does the reader. We would like to believe that cancer is the enemy that turns people into heroes. We would like to believe that miracles are the reward for courage. The book gives us no miracles and no heroes. Worse, it gives us no enemy against which to vent.
Be prepared to laugh. Cancer, if not able to be beaten, can at least be made the butt of jokes. Hazel’s observation about osteosarcoma, the form of cancer that has caused Augustus to lose a leg: That’s the thing about osteosarcoma. It sometimes takes a limb to check you out. Then, if it likes you, it takes the rest.
What, then, does one do? One pays attention. Augustus, in his highest tribute to Hazel, says that she observes what others do not. Great discoveries in this world are not created. They are discoveries of things that exist, made by people who know how to observe what is already there.
As more of her body and her energy is being lost to her disease, she brings more of herself to the awareness of her surroundings. In her words, I felt I owed debt to the universe that only my attention could repay. This, then, is our task, even in the face of the most horrific of circumstances: To pay attention. To notice. To bear witness. To stay in the world, even as the world expresses no preference to have us stay in it.
Read the book. Think deeply. You will be rewarded. But don’t worry. Bulging members and heaving bosoms will be back in the next post, and you can give your brain cells a rest.
Life in the Boomer Lane 
Lisa Wields Words
March 22, 2012
This sounds wonderful and I am adding it to my list. I think more and more fiction is being labelled Young Adult because that is what sells, but the reality is that a good book for young adults is simply a good book. Just like good theatre for young audiences is simply good theatre. My biases are showing here.
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
Thanks, Lisa. I had never thought about reading YA books until this one came along. I’m so glad I did.
k8edid
March 22, 2012
Wait, there’s a local dildo emporium? How did I not know this? Just kidding, I pass it every day on my way to work. They include free batteries – “The First Ride is On Us”. Or so their sign says…
Adding this to my list to read. Moving it up near the top. Thanks. Hope your trip was swell and you got enough grandchildren hugs and smooches to hold you awhile…
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
I’m so laughing over “The First Ride is On Us.”
k8edid
March 24, 2012
Starts my work day with a smile every time…
Kiersten Marek
March 22, 2012
Putting on my list, and also thinking about it as a clinical tool for therapy. Thanks for your review!
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
And thanks for reading! I’ve read that people with cancer have given it high marks for telling it like it is.
pegoleg
March 22, 2012
Hopscotch, shooting marbles, making plague puppets – what a shame that so many children nowadays are missing out on the wholesome, old-fashioned play that we knew.
It sounds like a great book – I’ll check it out.
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
The plague puppets were the best. Who knew that pestilence could be so much fun?
She's a Maineiac
March 22, 2012
Great review, I’ll be sure to read it after I’m done with my current book. I thought of you the other day when I read a review of the ‘dildo’ book that said, ‘once you get past the clunky writing, it’s a compulsive read’. I don’t know if I can get past it, so I’ll pass. And I’m with Lisa, a good YA book is a good book.
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
Wow, I can’t imagine what could be so compelling that I could get past clunky writing. Even whips and chains wouldn’t do it for me.
notquiteold
March 22, 2012
This is going on my must-read list. Not only does it merit reading, given your review, but you have got my curiousity going with regards to Young Adult books. I think I might have an idea for a book in that genre, and I need to see GOOD STUFF being written to understand the genre better.
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
I would never have thought about reading a YA book. This was a real eye-opener. Someone said that it’s easier to win awards in the YA category than it is competing in the adult category. that does make sense.
judithhb
March 22, 2012
This has now been added to my Must Reads. Thanks for sharing.
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
My pleasure!
Audubon Ron
March 22, 2012
Oh, do I have to read? I just let Fox news tell me what I need to know and then I take a nap. Then while napping I dream of being alone in a log cabin for an entire winter with Nancy Pelosi where we discover what is already there, the “after glow!” I say, “Nancy, babe, never change.”
Can those books give me that?
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
Gosh, Ron, there’s a post in there.
Kathryn McCullough
March 22, 2012
Cool, Renee, I will check it out! Sounds fabulous. Apart from the poopy diapers, hope you are enjoying London this time around.
Hugs,
Kathy
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
London was great, but I got wretchedly sick. I’ll probably do a post about it because I got to deal with NHS up close and personal and IT WORKS. The US is so pitifully behind in health care.
speaker7
March 22, 2012
I’ve heard raves about The Fault in Our Stars from librarians. This post has cemented my decision to read it.
My next band name will be “Dildo Emporium”. Thank you for that.
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
I would have used that name for my own band, but I am proficient in no musical instrument whatsoever, with the exception of the vulture bone flute, and there hasn’t been a demand for that in about 100,000 years.
morristownmemos by Ronnie Hammer
March 22, 2012
How many of your readers have you turned on to the 59 Shades of Grey?
You should share the commission.
Ronnie
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
Oh jeez, I hope none.
writingfeemail
March 23, 2012
How on earth are you finding time to read and write while tending baby and touring London? My hat’s off to you!
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
This was the only post I wrote in ten days, but thanks.
dufmanno
March 23, 2012
My term paper on The Merchant of Venice actually contained the line ” The Merchant of Venice is about a businessman having financial difficulty”. That, my friend, is why they pay me the big bucks
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
That’s pretty hilarious. I mean the quote part, not the part about your getting paid big bucks. My going rate is free and I still can’t get anyone to pay me.
Deborah the Closet Monster
March 23, 2012
I read so many rave reviews of this, I think I set my expectations too high for it. What I ended up feeling was satisfaction. It’s not a bad thing to feel about a book, but it’s not the revelation I expected.
And, see? There you have it! “Revelation.” Yep, expectations too high.
I read a few critical reviews that said “geez, wow, he made a sad book about sad kids with cancer, that takes talent.” But I actually felt like he did a great job infusing the characters and the story with love, care and truth, so that he took something that could’ve just been a test of tear ducts and made it truth. In that regard, I was pleased and delighted.
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
I’ve had that happen. In this case, I know absolutely nothing about the book and only read it because it was on my daughter’s Kindle. So I was blown away. I felt like his message wasn’t about cancer. Cancer was the setting, but it could have been war (a la the Anne Frank part) or the plague or an alien invasion. I had the same reaction with the film The Descendents. I’ve heard people say, “But it was so sad, what with the mom dying!” and I thought No, it was the most uplifting film I’ve seen in some time. It wasn’t about death. It was about one man’s redemption. Death was simply the vehicle.
jensine
March 23, 2012
As a single bilingual I like the sound of a dildo emporium, wonder if they stook blow-up men who make tea and clean so you can enjoy the dildos?
But after you lovely introduction I want to read “the fault in our stars” now … after all a good book is a good book no matter who the PR people market it to. A pet peeve of mine are badly written, highly acclaimed best-sellers… must be my bank-account envy speaking
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
Hey, thanks for visiting Life in the Boomer Lane and for your comments. If anyone could invent a male blow up doll who also cooked and cleaned, they would make a fortune. And yes, my literary and reading pursuits also suffer from bank account envy.
gojulesgo
March 23, 2012
I’m surprised you even remembered which book you were reading! The similaries are astounding! 😉
This sounds fantastic. And you know what? I bet teachers would have a lot more luck with non-readers if they promised a little Fifty Shades of Grey at the end.
pegoleg
March 23, 2012
Ha ha ha!
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
Ha ha is right!
gojulesgo
March 23, 2012
*similarities. Oops!
Laurie Mirkin
March 24, 2012
Wow Renee, I love the way you write. There are more books in your heart, and I hope you get to write another one that gives you peace and a catharsis. I know that’s what I want, also.
I’m going online to order “The Fault in Our Stars” right now and I can’t wait to read it. I just didn’t feel like posting something funny. I love that your blog today made me feel, think, and react. Bless you, my friend.
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
Thanks, Laurie my friend. I look forward to discussing the book with you.
KM Huber
March 24, 2012
Awareness is the key to everything we have ever wanted, which is not all light but dark as well. It’s the experience of it that is everything. Book sounds great so I’m on the list at the library.
Thanks for the review.
Karen
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
And thanks for reading Karen. Yes, we often lose sight of how powerful being in the moment is. And that goes for whatever the moment looks like.
jlheuer
March 24, 2012
I am glad you have discovered YA fiction. As a retired librarian I can tell you there are a lot of really great YA books out there and the only reason no one reads them is because they are catagorized YA. They aren’t all vampires and gossip girls. This genre has come along way since Nancy Drew.
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 24, 2012
I’m reading The Hunger Games now and enjoying it. That might be YA, as well. Not great literature, but a compelling story.
literarybex
March 25, 2012
I’ll be honest: I just skimmed your post. I’ve been going back and forth about reading John Green’s novels not sure if I want to or if I think I want to because everyone* is raving about him like he invented sliced bread or something. But what I read here has made me more inclined to pick up his books next time I’m out. Thanks!
*And by “everyone” I mainly seem to mean college girl English majors.
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 25, 2012
I think I was lucky in that I knew nothing about the book, other than having heard a couple people recommend it. So I didn’t come into it with the sliced bread expectation. That has happened to me in the past, so I well understand your hesitation. If you have a Kindle, you can download a sample. Or just read the first few pages in a bookstore.
Betty Londergan
March 25, 2012
I love that you love books. And good writing — which is always in short supply and hence precious! I can’t wait to get the book — and I don’t mean 50 Shades of Grey. You are my shining light, Renee!!
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 26, 2012
Thanks, Betty. I am a reading fool. So many books are hyped, make millions for their authors, and ultimately, are poorly written. For example, I knashed my teeth all the way through Sarah’s Key. Compelling story, horrible writing. But people loved it. Go figure.
simonandfinn
March 26, 2012
Thoughtful post.. thanks.
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 26, 2012
You’re welcome!
dufmanno
March 26, 2012
When I pen my badly written book about that Minotaur/Mermaid/Cyclops interspecies love triangle I intend to make BILLIONS!
Seriously though, my Kindle is like reading black tar heroin. It’s all right at my fingertips so I read like a woman lost to all sanity. And then I see my credit card bill.
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 26, 2012
I am usually reading 4 books at once. Now, I have put aside several, including Old Men Waiting to Die, and am devouring The Hunger Games. This is so not the stuff I usually read and I am obsessed. I wish I could write something that would make me billions. Or millions. Or thousands. Or like $50 even.
Main Street Musings Blog
March 26, 2012
Who needs NY Times book review when I follow your blog? Gotta go–I have some books to read–thanks!
Life in the Boomer Lane
March 26, 2012
I’m honored. Seriously.
Sienna (@datingseniormen)
March 26, 2012
Who are you and what have you done to Renee? This is so unfunny.
Also so wonderful. You’re the bomb, kid.
Life in the Boomer Lane
February 19, 2013
Haha. I just saw this comment. I like to go about in disguises every once in awhile.
carolcovin
February 19, 2013
You found this on your daughter’s Kindle? I continue to be impressed at how deep young people are. This is not a trivial book. Love your description that saying it’s about teenagers who have cancer is like saying the Merchant of Venice is about a businessman in trouble. You learn more about teenagers than I’ve seen since my grandchildren’s fathers were teenagers.
Life in the Boomer Lane
February 19, 2013
Thanks, Carol. So many bestselling adult books are poorly written and have hackneyed messages. This book had such depth and such heart.