Hooray! We completed our first book club meeting! Thanks everyone!
About the Book:
Summary:
Hazel Grace is a 16 year-old who has had terminal cancer since the age of 12. The cancer spread to her lungs and she is visibly sick due to the oxygen tank she must bring along everywhere she goes. She is an only child and worries her mother has no other purpose besides hovering over her and worrying about her. She meets a Augustus Waters, a boy with osteosarcoma, at a cancer support group. They bond over their appreciation and her obsession with a book called The Imperial Affliction by a man names Peter Van Houten that Hazel considers a best friend who knows her better than anyone because she is able to relate to the book's views on death and the life of a young sick girl named Anna. Her curiosity about the book's ending and characters bring her and Augustus on a journey to Amsterdam and back and are confronted with the realities of death and terminal illness.
Setting:
Indianapolis and Amsterdam, modern day
Characters:
- Hazel Grace
- Augustus Waters
- Patrick
- Isaac
- Peter van Houten
- Lidewij
- Hazel's mom and dad
- Augustus's mom and dad
- Other: Augustus's ex-girlfriend, Hazel's childhood friend
Questions:
1. The book is mostly focused on Hazel and Gus, and less so on the parents. But it's clear that they struggle with her condition and attitude towards it. How do you envision that the parent child relationship was before the cancer and how did it change because of it?
2. What are your thoughts on the author's writing style? Did it feel age-appropriate and realistic?
3. Hazel mentions that her favorite book, an Imperial Affliction,
anticipated her feelings before she felt them. Kids are in a stage of
life where they're trying to figure out how to feel about things. What
should these role models be?
4. Hazel describes the support group of 12-18 year olds being competitive.
During first contact, Hazel believes she won the staring contest. Recent
science says your frontal lobe is still developing until the time you
are 24. This area has been associated with impulse control among other
things. How do you think the story may have differed if Hazel and
Augustus met at a different age?
5. Augustus's home is full of
Encouragements. Though Augustus mocks them were they helpful and who did
they help? Do you have a particular encouragement that is meaningful to
you?
6. Hazel's “greatest fear is that when I’m gone, you’re not
going to have a life anymore.” What are the fears and hopes of the
various book's characters?
7. If the book ended in the middle of a sentence, which sentence would it be and where?
8. Peter van Houten references Shakespeare when he writes "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars/ But in ourselves." What do you think this means and how is it related to the title of the book? What do you think the title of the book means?
9. Augustus Waters had an obsession with saving others, being a hero, and being remembered rather than fading into the oblivion. Was he successful in this pursuit? What do you want to be remembered for?
Conversation Summary:
Discussion jumped around, topics covered:
- have a chronically/terminally ill only child vs multiple children
- parenting an ill child
- differences between how others remember you and if it is accurate
- how illness affects you physically and your relationships
- what kind of cancer would you not want to have
- how you want to be remembered
- Peter van Houten is not a such a bad guy, he speaks bluntly, underwent unfortunate circumstances, and was heartbroken to see Hazel as the teenager Anna never got to be
- differences between the book and movie
- differences and similarities between John Green and Peter van Houten
- Esther, the girl who inspired the book, affect on John Green and the book
- current research on cancer - more random than genetic or environmental origins
- favorite characters - the mom
- fears of various characters
- lack of depth and information on characters other than Hazel and Augustus
References:
1.
About Esther - the girl the book is dedicated to
2.
Science article - cancer is really 2/3 random and only 1/3
affected by genetics/environmental factors. Its creating a lot of uproar
in the medical community.
Bear Love Book?:
#3/3 bears love book
