'The Fault in Our Stars' by John Green

The Fault in Our Stars, John Green (4)

I hesitated to read this book after hearing about its subject, a love story about a terminally ill teenage protagonist. But, if you can handle one good bout of crying, I found this to be one of the most uplifting and worthwhile books about dying that I’ve read. The characters are interesting and thoughtful, particularly note-worthy since they are teenagers, albeit ones that have already gone through excruciating times. I won’t reveal the main points of the story, though it was not completely predictable and it’s not all hospitals and suffering. Since truly good characters need to be multi-faceted, I was pleased to see that whenever the story took a particular Pollyanna bent; Mr. Green pulled back and gave the characters realistic emotions and behaviors. It’s not emotionally an easy read, but it is a worthwhile one.

'Great Expectations' by Charles Dickens

Great Expectations, Charles Dickens (5)

I had forgotten the meaning of the interesting Victorian phrase: ‘having great expectations’. We first hear the phrase when the young forge-apprentice protagonist, Pip, finds he has a secret benefactor who intends for him to become a gentleman with an inheritance – he now has ‘great expectations’. Young Pip believes this benefactor is the mysterious Miss Havisham, the strange lady who asked him to visit for amusement for her and her adopted daughter, Estella. We learn bits and pieces about the tragic past that leads to her isolation and strange behaviors. While much of the book focuses on the relationships Pip has, foremost with these two ladies, the secondary characters add color and become more prominent in the last 1/3 of the book. Here is where the story gets very compelling, as we learn more about Pip’s benefactor and the interconnecting lives or the characters. This great novel has many of the classic trademarks of Dickens: quirky characters, social inequities, humor amid tragedy, and standard Victorian trappings. I particularly loved Wemmick with his post office mouth and strange twin behavior (at work versus at home). Some readers may not have the patience to get through the Victorian language, but I encourage them to try as the gems of language are worth it. One of my favorites: instead of saying the rooms were stifling, Dickens writes ‘we found the air was carefully excluded from both rooms as if air were fatal to life.” Excellent.