Looking for Alaska details the story of Miles Halter, a nerdy boy who is known simply for knowing famous last words, and seeks to leave his family and uneventful life in Florida to find his “Great Perhaps”, a deeper meaning to his life that will only present itself outside of the mundane barriers of Florida. So he travels to Culver Creek, a preparatory school in Alabama. Unbeknownst to Miles, Culver Creek and its myriad of unique individuals, latent moral codes, and their relations to each other prove to make Culver Creek a chaotic, flurry of events that shaped Miles and challenged his understanding of life as a whole. As he embarks on numerous unpredictable endeavors foreign to his prior self, he confides in like-minded
individuals such as his roommate Chip “Colonel” Martin, a poor, short, muscular man with a passion for gaming and pranking, Takumi an amateur rapper from Japan, and Alaska, a confusing girl. She is very mercurial, some days she is kind and loving, sometimes she is bitter and cold, sometimes she is overwhelmed by her regret for the past, and sometimes she lives impulsively to enjoy every moment. No matter what emotions she displays, Miles, now known as Pudge, is hopelessly in love with Alaska and lets her guide him to become a new person. Unfortunately, one hardship in particular leaves Pudge scrambling for the meaning behind the tragic event that has unfolded before him and how he might continue to discover how he will escape the perpetual cycle of suffering Alaska describes as “the labyrinth,” despite his loss. I am acquainted with the works of John Green, his novels are focused on illustrating hidden stories of real teens struggling with problems that they feel are too foreign for others to empathize with. In this novel, and many of his other books, John Green strives to tell the world of these kids’ struggles to educate and to alleviate those who may feel something similar. In this novel, Green paints life as a never-ending labyrinth of hardships that challenge everyone to adapt and learn to navigate to an exit that appears so far out of reach. The author proposes two solutions to the issue, Alaska's and Miles' perceptions of how to reach the exit. Miles' perception makes an interesting point that I have never considered as a way of coping with life’s unexpected turns, forgiveness. I have always believed that you must confide in those who you love or the things you love to do to get you through the more perplexing parts of the maze. While those are important components, I have neglected to consider the importance of forgiving yourself and others for errors in the past and focusing more on bettering yourself for the future, as I have found that on many nights I excessively dwell on my embarrassing or irrational decisions instead of contemplating how I can improve. Another topic emphasized throughout the writing is the importance of “loving your crooked neighbor with your crooked heart.” Alaska loves this quote because it encapsulates her perception of who she loves, she cannot judge them for being broken or “crooked” because she is just the same, just in different ways. This should be a universal truth that all people live by, just seeing each other for who we are and having mutual respect no matter how different our perceptions of the world are, because we are all strange and have problems, so no one person should be regarded as superior or lesser. I believe that now it is more important than ever with the dramatic increase in ideals and ways of life that are too gargantuan in number to fully understand. And yet time after time again I have seen that people neglect their necessity to see each other as human beings capable of making mistakes or seeing things differently and immediately shun those different than them, a tragic truth that is pulling us further and further apart. This issue is incredibly important and I applaud John Green for exploring it in this novel. The only reason why I would not say this is one of the best books I have ever read is because the characters are partially shallow. Miles stays an awkward, nerdy, sort of selfish boy who doesn’t develop much in his personality, just in his understanding of the world. The colonel doesn’t deviate much from being a hot-tempered prankster, and we get little to no details on his past or what drives him. The rest of the characters seem to only have one definitive quality that sets them apart, minus the enigmatic Alaska. That doesn’t really take away from the plot and teachings much, but it is my one critique, other than my distaste for the perpetual suggestive jokes. Overall, this novel explores a wide variety of truths, there are far more than the ones I discussed, that can help whoever reads it better themselves and understand some common struggles some might face so they can strive to support them. Although it did lack the dynamic characters that some novels possess, it is a great and easy read nevertheless and I would recommend it to anyone, whether it be to read recreationally or delve deep into hidden meanings.