This past
quarter, the book I read for SSR was Turtles
All the Way Down, a novel by John Green.
Its genre may be described as young-adult fiction, though it can also be depicted as a mystery book. Essentially, much of the book's plot revolves around our protagonist's search for a billionaire-gone-missing, as well as the tribulations that come to afflict some of the main characters as a result of the man's disappearance. Additionally, such subjects as
romance, friendship, and personal growth also prominent in this novel.
My favorite character was protagonist and narrator Aza Holmes, a sixteen-year-old high school student afflicted by obsessive compulsive disorder and an apparent anxiety disorder. The reason I favor this character perhaps has much to do with the way Green portrays Aza’s personal struggle with mental health, though I acknowledge this has much to do with his own tribulations with both disorders depicted in this novel. What’s more, Aza’s mental struggle actually does much to influence the way in which the reader experiences the story. A large portion of the conflict in this novel is internal, and this can be seen amidst the arguments Aza has with herself throughout the text. In my opinion—while mental disorder isn’t a positive thing—Aza’s mental struggles were what drove the story, and they also largely impacted how I felt whilst reading. For example, her internal arguments sometimes make the reader feel rather suffocated, and I actually think was necessary given the point of these arguments was to show how suffocated she felt herself.
My favorite character was protagonist and narrator Aza Holmes, a sixteen-year-old high school student afflicted by obsessive compulsive disorder and an apparent anxiety disorder. The reason I favor this character perhaps has much to do with the way Green portrays Aza’s personal struggle with mental health, though I acknowledge this has much to do with his own tribulations with both disorders depicted in this novel. What’s more, Aza’s mental struggle actually does much to influence the way in which the reader experiences the story. A large portion of the conflict in this novel is internal, and this can be seen amidst the arguments Aza has with herself throughout the text. In my opinion—while mental disorder isn’t a positive thing—Aza’s mental struggles were what drove the story, and they also largely impacted how I felt whilst reading. For example, her internal arguments sometimes make the reader feel rather suffocated, and I actually think was necessary given the point of these arguments was to show how suffocated she felt herself.
It’s not
only this that appeals to me regarding Aza’s character, for I additionally find
her to be a quite relatable character. Though
I don’t think I could ever compare my struggles to those she endures, there were
many instances in this novel I found I could connect with her character. She often feels trapped inside her own head,
as do I, and I also felt we shared many of the same opinions regarding a
multitude of subjects. I was also able
to relate to the frequent difficultly she seems to have in communicating her
ideas to others, which appears is quite frustrating for us both. Even the sympathy she shows toward her mother
throughout the book is something I found myself able to ascribe to certain
events in my own life. I also admire Aza
for her relatively empathetic and uncritical nature.
Aza being my favorite character also has much to do with the fact the reader
gets to know Aza so thoroughly through her mental struggle. Perhaps what I appreciate most about this
novel, though, is Green’s accurate portrayal of mental illness, particularly
that of OCD, which I unfortunately find many people have a fairly distorted view
of. That being said, I highly recommend
this book, and there are plenty of other characters in this novel I’m sure
others would adore as well.
I have been meaning to read this book ever since it was published. Now that I know the basic synopsis (sort of), I want to read it even more! Knowing that John Green accurately portrayed mental illnesses is refreshing. Often times, mental illnesses are falsely depicted and rather exaggerated. I'm looking forward to picking this novel up in the near future.
ReplyDeleteI think it’s interesting how authors can kind of toy with our mind to get us to like certain people in the novel as opposed to others. I also agree that it is nice that this book accurately portrays mental illness because I feel a lot of times books, as well as movies, somewhat glorify them in a way or only use what they know about the illness to create their work.
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