The Fault in Our Stars
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.
Stats for nerds
4recommend
7mentions
7people
2013–2021years
57% recommend43% neutral
Mentions per year
What Hacker News says
- The Fault in Our Stars
Okay, I know it's young adult, but it really effected me. I don't know that I've ever read a more honest discussion of death. I don't read much fiction though. Maybe I should read more.
- I didn't mind it at all, and I actually kinda liked the ending of Diamond Age in the way it subverted expectations of typical story telling. By the end of Diamond Age a lot of the questions you have in the earlier parts have been answered (what has happened to people, how they've developed, etc.) And a lot of story arcs have also blossomed and/or run their courses. The story itself is about Nell's coming of age and fulfillment of her potential. By the end it's obvious she's achieved both, and I liked that the novel didn't coddle the reader with a typical over the top happy ending where everyone achieves closure, most of the good people live, and every story line is tucked into bed carefully with a glass of warm milk by the bedside. I'm an adult, I don't need that all the time. The real world doesn't work that way, and real stories don't work that way.
One of the dividing lines I have personally for "good" versus "bad" art is whether or not it blooms or withers upon further thought. Diamond Age, I would say, definitely rewards the reader for further thought, because it's a deep and fascinating world with interesting characters and stories. True, the ending of the book doesn't provide complete closure, but to be honest if you want that you can have it just by making up your own ending. That's part of the fun of that book, is that it leaves it open for you to fill in the blanks afterward, and seemingly things looked like they might have worked out alright for Nell.
One of the best books at getting across the concept of not needing complete closure at the end of a book is The Fault in Our Stars by John Green, though that book primes the reader for it whereas Diamond Age doesn't.
- "The Fault in Our Stars" by John Green,
"P.S. I Love You" by Cecelia Ahern,
"To Kill a Mockingbird" by Harper Lee,
- Hey, guys! I have a bunch of cool books that I want to give away to good people.
>>>> Tech and Programming
- Practical Common Lisp
- Pragmatic Programmer
- Calculus Made Easy by Silvanus Thompson
>>>> Nonfiction
- The Personal MBA
- The Element by Ken Robinson
- Long Walk to Freedom (autobiography by Nelson Mandela)
- So Good They Can't Ignore You by Cal Newport
- The Myth of Sisyphus by Albert Camus
- A Briefd History of Time
- The Google Story
>>>> Fiction
- Atlas Shrugged
- The Fault in Our Stars
- The Hobbit
- Rose Madder by Stephen King
- A Storm of Swords (Game of Thrones 3rd book)
And a bunch of great books on writing comedy and screenwriting.
Besides, if you're interested - I have Arduino, Raspberry Pi, and a little robot-platform building kit, you might find it useful =)
My phone: 8-919-726-00-15
Call/text me if you're interested =)
- When I was in elementary and middle school (early 2010s) his books were very popular. I remember reading Percy Jackson & the Olympians and later The Kane Chronicles and The Heroes of Olympus.
From personal experience, Rick Riordan's series had similar interest levels between girls and boys but later series (Hunger Games, House of Night, Fault in Our Stars) did skew towards girls. My reading also fell off as I got older so I'm sure I wasn't as in touch with what my peers were reading.
- > Not quite
Goodreads is kind of a weird space which shows that the popular vote is kind of useless. It’s hard to find a good book based on ratings. Everything seems to be either 4+ stars or garbage. The Fault in our Stars probably has a better rating than print copies of Hamlet. Actually, all classics seem to hover around 3.68 stars. Never 2. In fact, I don’t think any books published in the history of the world have a rating less than 3.
Anyways, the language you google in heavily affects recommendations. Searching in general is not a useful way to find anything cool. It’s much better to happen upon a good source of reviews or criticism which align with whatever gets your rocks off and settle for curated entertainment/art.
