(The link above is a clickable image!)
"As the tide washed in, the Dutch Tulip Man faced the ocean: "Conjoiner rejoinder poisoner concealer revelator. Look at it, rising up and rising down, taking everything with it.""
""What's that?" I asked."
""Water," the Dutchman said. "Well, and time.""
-Peter Van Houten, An Imperial Affliction
A brilliant excerpt of a fictional novel, within a fictional novel. Oh, how it woes me that An Imperial Affliction is non-existent. More so how John Green refuses to make it existent for the fans of The Fault Of Our Stars. After all, it is Hazel Grace's favorite novel of all time.
Depressing, I know. There's just something about the first paragraph that absolutely entrances one, though. Hazel Grace is not what would society would consider an average teenager; who would consider a seventeen year old girl with cancer average.
-Wake up
-Get dressed
-Go to doctor/Go to Support Group (depends on the day)
-Watch America's Next Top Model or read An Imperial Affliction
-Sleep
The life of a cancer patient isn't all glamorous, after all. At thirteen Hazel was diagnosed with Stage IV Thyroid Cancer, which then developed into Satellite Colonies in her Lungs. As she lay dying- fluid overflowing her lungs, not being able to breathe, swollen hands and feet, etc..- they tried Phalanxifor (a completely made up drug), an experimental drug for her Cancer Doctors, AKA: The Miracle Drug. Four years later, Hazel still has tumors and satellite colonies, but she's alive.
Regular Dr. Jim suggested to Mrs. Lancaster, when Hazel's depression was not getting better, that she go to the Cancer Support Group at church. It was the same routine for Support Group. Support Group Leader Jim would tell the story of how he beat testicle cancer, how his girlfriend left him, and how he found God's Love. He would hold the sessions in The Literal Heart Of Jesus, or the heart of the church. They would go around in a circle, talking about how they felt.
Needless to say, Hazel hated Support Group. That is, until the fabulous Augustus Waters. He's charming. He's hot. He's overcame cancer. He is everything she didn't think she could have. The two of them blossomed. She slowly overcame her fear of loving someone outside of her family, and let Gus into her life, letting him slip into every crack and crevice her sickly heart had. Hazel even shared her most sacred possession, An Imperial Affliction.
When he heard how Hazel spent her wish from the Genies- which was, in his eyes, a hasty way to spend a free trip while staring in the eyes of Death- he decided he'd take the two of them, and her mother, to Amsterdam to meet the ever famous Peter Van Houten.
Of course, all good things had to come to an end, and Augustus Waters, the best thing to ever happen to Ms. Hazel Grace, had his relapse with the battle, danced with Death, and lost. His impact on her, however, lived on. He still continued to be the love of her life, her infinity within her number of days. Never did she imagine he'd go before her, but she took comfort in the fact that he loved her to his last breath.
We all have our Go To book that is able to give us the thrill we seek over and over and over again. As a reader, I want to be blown away whenever I read. From the first page, the first sentence, I have to be hooked. The Fault In Our Stars is my Go To book. I laugh. I cry. I groan in frustration. I feel what the character feels. This book has been read so frequently I can quote it in my sleep.
The Fault In Our Stars: You earned a 10 on my scale from 1-10. The only thing you will need food, drink, and tissues.
Now, if only John Green would write An Imperial Affliction, there would be two Go To books.
No comments:
Post a Comment