Wednesday, June 11, 2014

Why I fell in love with "The Fault in Our Stars" (before it become a movie)

I read the Fault in Our Stars by John Green about a year ago, before news of the movie even came out. I read it per request by a friend who told me that it was worth reading and because she thought I'd like the way it was written. And boy was she right.

Just as Hazel Grace says about Imperial Afflictions, John Green is the first author that I've ever read who can portray an illness/disability and make it seem like a minor detail while still making it apart of the story...as someone with Charcot Marie Tooth (a neuropathy that makes it painful and tiring to walk and causes me to get sick more easily) there are actually  themes of the book I can relate to. Which is rare.
 
   Now I'm not saying that my life is any way as hard or painful as Hazel Grace's or Augustus Water's. I'm not saying that at all. I'm not dying. There is a very good chance that I will live into adulthood. I live a life that is probably much easier then most people in my situation. But my CMT isn't going away. In fact, more then likely, I believe that it will progress. There is a good chance that I will someday be permanently in a wheelchair. I know for a fact that I will always be tired and weak and get my pain cycles. There are parts of Hazel and Gus' story that tug at my heart string. For example: when she is at Anne Frank's house and has such a hard time making it up the stairs? I've been there. That feeling of  "I can do this. I don't need to be different then the other people here". That feeling of "I'll show them". That feeling of "I'm perfectly fine, I don't need to be treated like someone who is sick" while in truth you are that person. You are that person can't do all the things someone else can do.
    When Gus is calls Hazel in the middle of the night sobbing and it turns out he was trying to buy cigarettes because it's the "one thing he wanted to do on his own"? I have felt that so many times.  The feeling of wanting to be able to rely on the body that is suppose to ABLE you to do something not hinder it. The feeling of why even exist when my life is so full of sickness? All of these parts of the book (and Hazel's questions and overall being) were what hit home for me and caused me to enjoy the book so much. Because I can relate. I know that I've felt that way at least once in the 16 years that I've been alive.
 
   Why do I love Gus so much? It's not because he's dreamy and mysterious, though that may be part of it.. It's because he sees Hazel as who she is as a person and not the illness. He treats her as if she is not her problems. The part in the book where he asks what her story is and she begins to tell her cancer story? He interrupts and tells her he wants to know HER story, not her cancer story. He wants to know her dreams and her hobbies. The unique things that set her apart from everyone else. That's what I want. I want a man to love me and not to linger on my disability. John Green doesn't romantize the illness. He romantizes the love between two people who just happen to have an illness. Sure Gus worries and makes sure that Hazel is OK to do something, but he doesn't stay bent on the subject for too long. He plans ahead to make sure that Hazel has everything she needs, yet he doesn't worry about the moment. He wants to live and he wants to live his life with Hazel no matter how hard it gets.
 
John Green has done something that no other author that I've ever read (and there have been ALOT) has ever done before. And that is write a book that has deeply impacted me because I can relate to the main character without feeling like something to be pitied or something to be idolized. He has penned a story that doesn't linger so much on the life that a chronic illness or terminal illness can take away but instead focuses on the life that one can live while surviving and dealing with the illness. This is something special. And something that I, someone with a disability, hardly ever get.

John Green gave us a positive light to shine through, even if that wasn't his intention when writing 'The Fault in Our Stars'. He gave us a voice that is telling the world that we are living a full life. That is what we strive for each day. To live a full and happy life. And that is something that I am so very grateful for. So, Mr. Green, if you EVER happen to stumble across this or actually read it, I (on behalf of me and my friends who struggled with any type Muscular Dystrophy) would like to say thank you. Thank you for writing a book that I can relate to and have fallen so in love with. It hold a special place in my heart for a different reason then most people have.

Sincerely,
Dana

1 comment:

  1. Thoughtful and provocative blog, keep writing, you are a gifted author. Although I am biased. xoxo dad

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