not a book review: The Fault in our Stars

I recently finished reading The Fault in our Stars, by John Green. I borrowed it on Kindle from my local library. I was on the waiting list for weeks and then I finally got it and read it. I have not seen the movie, The Fault in our Stars. I do like the actress, Shailene Woodley. Okay, I watched her on The Secret Life of the American Teenager. (Damnit, I didn’t want to admit that. Oh well) Anyway, when I saw the movie trailer, I recognized her immediately, and that drew my interest.

actress, Shailene Woodley

The thing is, I don’t like cancer movies. My mom died of ovarian cancer when I was 19. She had been sick for two and half years. There is not much in life that I enjoy LESS than being reminded of the experience of slowly, torturously, losing my mother to cancer. For some unremembered reason, my dad, sister, and I all went to see the movie Patch Adams when it came out. My mom was still alive at the time, but very sick. We all cried pretty much nonstop through the whole movie. It was a horrible experience. So I have been very against movies about cancer ever since. No surprise.

So as soon as I saw the trailer for The Fault in Our Stars, I knew I didn’t want to see that movie. But I do like Shailene Woodley and I like a good love story, too, so I was a little torn. Plus, it’s been 15 years since my mom died – so maybe I could handle it? I found out it was based on a novel and I decided to read the book first and then decide about seeing the movie after.

Reading a book is a different experience than seeing a movie. Generally speaking, the book is often better than the movie. There is a lot than can be conveyed and savored in the reading of a book that can’t be communicated via the movie screen. But then the converse is also true.

Anyway, short story long, I read The Fault in Our Stars, by John Green, and it was just okay. It has a good concept, but the writing wasn’t epically moving or memorable. It definitely made me cry, but I’m a crier. I tear up during the emotional scenes on the Walking Dead. Even a really stirring television commercial can get me going sometimes. I probably would have forgotten about the Fault in Our Stars a week after reading it if it hadn’t been made into a motion picture. I’m willing to bet that the movie is better than the book. But I don’t think I’ll watch it. I’ve had enough crying about cancer for now. It looks like Shailene Woodley will get more starring roles after this. I’ll wait for those movies and see them when they come out.

Have you seen the movie? Tell me about it – do you think I should see it? Did you read the book? What did you think?