The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green

Synopsis:

Despite the tumor-shrinking medical miracle that has bought her a few years, Hazel has never been anything but terminal, her final chapter inscribed upon diagnosis. But when a gorgeous plot twist named Augustus Waters suddenly appears at Cancer Kid Support Group, Hazel's story is about to be completely rewritten.

It was a masterpiece. There was a sudden fever worldwide that made everyone want to read The Fault In Our Stars, by John Green. Everyone talked about it, a movie was going to be made... So, of course, I had to read it and see what all this fuss was about. And then there was no going back. My life changed after that. When I read the plot, I was sure that it was going to be just like every other cancer story, where everything tries to be happy but fails completely, causing it to be a sad book with an even sadder ending. That's how cancer books end, with the death of the main character. So I was sure that Hazel was going to die before even opening the book. But the book (in general) wasn't a sad cancer book. I think that the feeling that John Green was trying to make us feel is happiness, the joy of being alive. 

I'll say that when I read it I didn't have the physical book, because I thought it wouldn't be necessary, but when I finished it I looked for it until I found it. Now I have the physical book that I haven't opened, but it's just perfect to look at it with wonder and mixed feelings. 

So about the book... I loved the characters. Hazel is a shy, kind of lonely person who discovers her true happy self when she meets Augustus. And Gus is such an awesome character! I love how he speaks, how he acts. He's got this special way of filling a room with his personality, he expresses himself in a really unique way, and I love him for that. 

I really liked all the plot revolving about Hazel and Augustus's relationship in a deeper and subtler level than most stories usually do. Love isn't easy, love isn't all rainbows and colours, and that's what they're trying to demonstrate. And the best thing about it is that it is done in a subtle way, focusing the plot in other things, like An Imperial Affliction, the book by Peter van Houten that causes Hazel's wish of going to Amsterdam and other main actions. The book is really deep, expressing the complexity of being a teenager, the complexity of love, the complexity of being one of those kids with cancer that people think are too sick to be normal. But Hazel and Augustus, despite their cancer, are very normal teenagers. And the way John Green has of dealing with that is awesome. 

The title was the first thing that caught my attention in the book. The Fault In Our Stars. That's a weird title. But then I read the book, and then the Julius Caesar quote appeared: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/ but in ourselves that we are underlings." That quote means that it isn't fate that makes us underlings, but ourselves. I really like that quote. That being a Shakespeare quote makes it perfect :)

And a movie is being made of The Fault In Our Stars, with Shailene Woodsley as Hazel and Ansel Elgort as Augustus. The weird thing about them is that they're siblings in their movie Divergent, so it's going to be weird to see who I'll see as Tris and Caleb to be Hazel and Augustus. But I think they're fine as them, I like them. 

So to end this, I have only one thing left to say: you must read the book. Okay? Okay. 

The Physician movie

Sorry I haven't posted anything lately, but the holidays were my time of the year far from everything, not only school, so now I'm back and I've read some good books in the meantime. Btw, happy New Year to everyone! Hope 2014 is even better than 2013 was. 

It's been two years since I read the book by Noah Gordon and fell in love with it. So that's one of the reasons why I don't remember every single detail about it and can't really say everything I would like to if I remembered... I'm going to start by saying that I liked the movie. It was a great movie, and I could feel like it was me living in the 11th century. The characters were nicely portraited, and I love that. I loved the fact that it made me want to be a doctor all over again, even if it was less than what I felt with the book, obviously. If I end up choosing Medicine to study at university, The Physician will become more than just one of my two favourite books. I just worship it. 

There were huge things missing in the movie, though. Can someone tell me where's Mary??? And who's Rebecca? That was the weirdest thing ever... They replaced the main character's love interest! That's horrible! Mary Cullen was a huge part of Rob, a very important character. And instead of the Christian Scottish red-head, there's a Jewish married woman that's interested in Rob. I hated that. 

Almost just as bad was the Shah's relationship with Rob. In the book, they develop this unique friendship that I loved... In the book, they were the symbol of uniting religions, of friendship and diversity. Playing chess, having interesting conversations... the movie just ruined all that and portraited the Shah as a shallow, selfish person, not meaning to start a real friendship with Rob like he does in the book. That's something I would have loved to see. There are other things missing, just as Barber's death, because that's part of what triggers Rob's trip to Isfahan, and I loved Rob's trips with the Shah in the book. 
Overall, the story was more or less the same. Don't get me wrong, I enjoyed watching the movie. I understand some changes have to be made to make a movie, but I wanted the Shah and Mary as I remembered them. The strangest thing is that I read somewhere that it was Noah Gordon and his daughter who wrote the screenplay for the movie. Then why is Mary missing? She's such a huge character... And all that adultery story they made up for the movie, falling in love with a Jewish married women and all that... not right. At least he kept almost everything in the story, not like Cassie Clare did with City of Bones, even if she didn't write the script. There are other scenes I would have liked to see, and other characters I would've liked to see developed. Ibn Sina was a deeper character in the book, and his relationship with Rob was more... special. I kept feeling like there was something missing everywhere I looked.