The Ending

The ending of the book was a little anti-climactic. The story was very dramatic with twists and turns, but the ending was a little boring. One of Pudge's friends, named Takumi, left Pudge a letter that gave a detailed description of the night that Alaska died. It turned out that Takumi ran into Alaska and she divulged her secrets. Pudge was upset with Takumi after reading his letter, because the whole time that Pudge and The Connel tried to discover the truth, Takumi alread knew it. However, Pudge suddenly solved his labyrinth of life, he realized that all that happened helped him grow and instead of being mad at Takumi, The Connel, Alaska, and himself, he should just move on in life. “I had just now realized: that I forgave him, and that she forgave us, and that we had to forgive to survive in the labyrinth” (Green 218). His had his epiphany when he stated, "Things that did not go right, things that seemed okay at the time because we could not see the future. If only we could see the endless string of consequences that result from our smallest action. But we cant know better until knowing better is useless" (Green 218). IN this quote, Pudge realizes that dwelling over his past mistakes will not change the future, because he did not know they were mistakes at the time when he could have chosen another path. While the way for Alaska to escape her labyrinth was suicide and Takumi's way was moving to Japan, Pudge needed to understand and move on in life, but never forget the memory of his friends and adventures.

Alaska's Labyrinth

Throughout the story, Alaska constantly brings up the idea of a labyrinth or a 'maze of life'. For example, the quote, "Jesus, I’m not going to be one of those people who sits around talking about what they’re gonna do. I’m just going to do it. Imagining the future is a kind of nostalgia. ... You spend your whole life stuck in the labyrinth, thinking about how you’ll escape it one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present" (Green 240). Many instances in the story Alaska mentions the uncertainty of how to escape the labyrinth and even the uncertainty to understand what the labyrinth is. In my opinion, each character has his or her own labyrinth constricting their life. Each one must recognize the labyrinth and try to escape it. Not each character is able to escape it in a constructive way, for example, Alaska 'commits suicide' before she truly gets to discover her life's labyrinth.

Alaska's Smoking Habit = Suicide?

The main characters smoke cigarets as if it was a fountain of nutrition. This becomes a main "theme" in the book. The characters smoke when they are upset, happy, or just together having fun. It is an outlet for most of the kids - a way to channel their thoughts and emotions.

At one point in the story, Alaska says, "You smoke to enjoy it, I smoke to die" (Green 167). This posed a question for Pudge and The Colonel, after the death, because it made it seem as though the death was a suicide. However, there were also other traits that cause the death to appear as an accident.

The book never quite answers wether it was a suicide or accident - however I have my speculations. I am sure other people who have read the novel have different opinions. The ending is left up to interpretation which I thought was both good and annoying.

IR book post (12/8)

In the story of Looking for Alaska, one of the main character dies in a tragic drunk driving car accident. As I mention before, the event reminds me of One Bad Decision.

Besides the event of the death, the devastating aftermath of the death of a loved one is accurately portrayed in the book. When a loved one dies, it is difficult to concentrate on how the death affects others because you are overwhelmed with your own feelings and thoughts; however, getting an outside view of how each character reacts to the death differently helps me understand. Some people react very extremely to the death of a loved on, while others become withdrawn and reserved. The people who did not know the character, who died, very well gave their sympathy to the others but they soon forgot and moved on with their lives.

Next time something devastating occurs in life, try to think more about the others who were also affected along with yourself. If you all join together and help each other out and comfort each other, you will be able to remember, love, and move on more easily together!

IR book post (11/30)

I have finished reading the book. My overall opinion is that it is very interesting. The book incorporates drugs, alcohol, sex, and pranks. One of the main characters is a kid who lead a boring life in his first two years of high school. He did not have many friends and did not have fun. His junior year of high school he decided to go to boarding school. Here he meets new people and makes new friends. His life takes a dramatic turn, when he becomes involved in drugs and a group of kids who like to play pranks.

This main character reminds me of a friend. He was very innocent and worked very hard in school. However, once he got to college, he began to hang with the wrong crowd. Drugs, alcohol, and sex began to take its tole on him. In high school, he always used to tell me, "just have fun". I honored and respected that quote, however, you can't party too hard or else the consequences seen in Looking for Alaska may become a reality in your life too.

Ind reading post (11/24)

The book that I chose to read is called Looking for Alaska, by John Green. As of today, I am more than half way done with the novel and so far it is phenomenal. The story line is good and it is very well written. The book encompasses all areas of the emotion spectrum; one second I am laughing and the next I am hit with a bomb filled with sorrows. The twists and turns seem predicable, but then the story takes a nose dive in a direction I never saw coming. The plot keeps me "on the edge of my seat" and I am curious to see how it will all end.

In the story, the main character dies from driving drunk. This reminded me of the "one bad decision" story about a boy who was badly injured while driving intoxicated.

http://www.onebaddecision.com/onebaddecision/home.html

I strongly recommend the book to anyone who is looking for a story about a junior's journey through the social aspects of life in boarding school. It encompasses drugs, drinking, sex, death, and all the fun of being a teenager.

Ind reading post

Title: Looking for Alaska

Author: John Green

I picked this book because it sounds like an interesting tale of a boy who had a very boring life until he went to boarding school his junior year. There, he met a girl who he fell in love with and became involved in drugs and alcohol.

I do not necessarily anticipate LEARNING anything from it, however, it looks like an interesting read.