Dear John Green,
To be honest, I had really never taken much interest in your name until very recently. That is until a friend posted one of your vlogbrothers videos on Facebook. It was one of your educational ones and I was thoroughly intrigued only 15 seconds into it, and then laughing only 10 seconds later. After I finished watching the video I looked you up. Could this be the same guy who wrote that book that I've been hearing so much about? You know, the little known book turning into a little known movie with the little known actress? Sure enough. Same guy. Not what I was expecting, but in a really good way. The next 2 hours...well, honestly the next week...was spent watching countless vlogbrothers videos in my spare time. You and Hank were pretty much my new favorite people: funny, honest, intellectual, and kind. My kind of guys.
Knowing that The Fault In Our Stars was an emotional book made me hesitate to read it. My genre of reading is usually planted firmly in the sci-fi/fantasy realm. Reading a book about cancer kids? Not on my list of fun things to do really. Well, that didn't last very long. I found the first two chapters of the book on your YouTube channel and after watching those videos I was sufficiently drawn in. The blatant honesty and intelligence of the characters was so much more than I expected. The wit and thoughtfulness of Hazel Grace and the counter sarcasm of Augustus Waters spoke to my sarcastic and sometimes cynical brain. I devoured that book in a day. Granted, that isn't unusual for me, but I have been a bit of a stagnant reader lately and it has been suffocating. I haven't connected with characters in written form in a while and it was incredibly refreshing to be brought out of my book worm slump.
John....I trusted you. I mean, I knew what I was getting into, but goodness. It wasn't so much the part where the plot twist was revealed, but the lead up to it. You know your readers are intelligent, we saw the signs in the many pages leading up to the conversation in that fateful Amsterdam hotel room. Yet, you still managed to break my heart. It took all I had to keep reading those pages. What is the point of going on when you already know the outcome? Why didn't you end it the same way Peter Van Houton did in An Imperial Affliction? Why make us suffer the torture of knowing?
As I read those remaining chapters with the bitterness of a shattered heart I reluctantly began to accept the point. We cannot shut out horrible things just because we don't want to face them. Life demands us to put on a brave face, to power through the difficult and the unruly in order to survive. The world is not a wish granting factory. A simple lesson really, but somehow still ground breaking when phrased in such a way. I'm sorry, did you say this is a YA book? I think you might be confused. I have been out of the Young Adult target ages (as set forth by the Young Adult Library Services Association) for a few years now and this, Mr. Green, has challenged and taught me more than almost any other YA book. Obviously, Harry Potter falls into the 'almost' category of that statement. Yes, I am still brokenhearted after completing the final chapter, but not quite as much as I was at the climax. You softened the blow with your teachable moments and unique outlook on imminent death.
So...thank you John Green. For introducing me to your nerdfighter community and allowing me to feel more at home in the world. Thank you for The Fault In Our Stars, which is truly a blessing to all readers, not just the young adults. Most of all, thank you for being yourself and showing those who need it that life is hard, for showing that the hardness of the world does not lessen its beautiful moments. We can all stand to learn from your most beloved Augustus Waters and Hazel Grace.
I look forward to the continued enthusiasm of your work, in both vlog and written form.
Allons-y!
