This week in my Adolescent in Literature class we read John Green's Looking for Alaska. This novel deals heavily with loss and how teens cope with it- providing some intense and amazing observations. After some of our class discussion, I realized I read the book entirely differently from almost everyone in my class. This got me thinking, what is it that made my experience so different? Did I miss the boat entirely? Are the intracacies of the novel something my mind just fabricated? What exactly is so unique about my perspective on this fantastic story?
Of course, this sent my mind reeling. I wondered if I've read everything from this "weird" point-of-view (and to tell you the truth I'm still wondering...). But then it hit me- isn't that the beauty of literature??? It's amazing how many different interpretations people can have for any given piece of literature. From the Great Gatsby to Twilight, books (and poems and articles and music...) have millions of discernable messages and ideas. Whether what an individual derives from a story is the author's intended meaning or something completely out of left field, literature takes on such a unique meaning to each reader.
So with this newfound opinion I'm ready to delve into the Great Perhaps with my next book- Robert Cormier's The Chocolate War. Who knows what I'll get out of this one...
*the Great Perhaps is a phrase from Looking for Alaska
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