You Only Wish You Were This Fabulous: A Review of Will Grayson, Will Grayson by John Green and David Levithan

Title: Will Grayson, Will Grayson
Authors: John Green and David Levithan
Edition: Hardcover
Publisher: Dutton Books (2010)
Pages: 310
Challenges: 2011 GoodReads Reading Challenge
How I Came by This Book: I kept seeing this book on blogs and the cover was enough to make me want to read it. It, like a lot of the books on this blog, was obtained from my library.

About the Authors: John Green is the New York Times-bestselling author of Looking for Alaska, An Abundance of Katherines, and Paper Towns. He has received numerous awards, including both the Printz Medal and a Printz Honor. John is also the co-creator (with his brother, Hank) of the popular video blog Brotherhood 2.0, which has been watched more than 50 million times by Nerdfighter fans all over the globe. John Green lives in Indianapolis, Indiana.

David Levithan is an award-winning and New York Times-bestselling author of many books for teens, including Boy Meets Boy, Wide Awake, Love Is the Higher Law, and (with Rachel Cohn) Nick and Norah's Infinite Playlist. He also works as an editor and, in his free time, takes way too many pictures. He lives in New Jersey.

Synopsis: It's not that far from Evanston to Naperville, but Chicago suburbanites Will Grayson and Will Grayson might as well live on different planets. When fate delivers them both to the same surprising crossroads, the Will Graysons find their lives overlapping and hurtling in new and unexpected directions. With a push from friends new and old--including the massive, and massively fabulous, Tiny Cooper, offensive lineman and musical theater auteur extraordinaire--Will and Will begin building toward respective romantic turns-of-heart and the epic production of history's most awesome high school musical.

Review: I've mentioned before that it takes a lot for me to read a YA novel. While I understand the need for the genre and am aware of the fact that teenagers find comfort and advice between the covers of these books, YA doesn't always do it for me. So when I grab a YA book off of the shelves at my library before anyone else can get their hands on it, you know that something about the book has me intrigued. So it was with Green and Levithan's Will Grayson, Will Grayson.

The story of two very different teenage boys with the same name, this novel chronicles only a few months but it covers a lot of territory in the process. Delving into teenage love (and angst), acceptance and tolerance of those who are different than you, depression, friendship, and, yes, musical theater, Green and Levithan have created an opus that resonates with its readers for as many different reasons as there are sets of hands holding the book. For me, reading about the triumphs and trials of gay teenagers in high school was the most meaningful part of this novel. Remembering my own high school experience and the hatred and intolerance that I (and others like me) endured made the eventual "fabulous" ending of Will Grayson, Will Grayson all the more satisfying. But that, of course, is not all.

While it took me a few chapters to really appreciate the characters, once I became better acquainted with them and their idiosyncrasies, I was invested in them and sped through the book to find out what happened. My favorite out of all of them is Tiny Cooper, friend to one Will Grayson and eventual love interest of the other. Tiny is a fun, unique character who jumps out of the book at you. Reminding me a little of guys that I've known while still managing to be unlike anyone I've ever known before, Tiny made a real impression on me. The other characters, including both Will Graysons, are all interesting in their own way and are pretty recognizable as people who walk the halls of any high school in this country. Watching them change and grow was a great experience and both authors manage, with only minor hiccups here and there, to form authentic teenagers.

The plot itself, I thought, was a little on the thin side, but that's because the story is character-driven. It's not that major things are happening to these kids, it's that they are being formed by the minor things that happen to them, even the ones that may seem major at the time. The high school musical production of Tiny's play, Tiny Dancer (later, Hold Me Closer) is what is driving these characters to the end of the novel but what's more important is how they act and react along the way.

The narrative is colorful, funny, and engaging and it holds the reader's attention. I spent only about a day reading this book because I didn't want to put it down. I wanted to know what was going to happen next, how the major players were going to clear the next hurdle. I enjoyed the alternating chapters and the differences in the two Will Graysons' personalities and story-telling styles. It made what was already a great book into an even better one.

I had a few little issues with the book, but nothing worth writing about. I'm never completely satisfied with dialogue in any book, nor was I entirely impressed with Will Grayson #2 (the one who doesn't capitalize, um, anything) at first. He grew on me pretty quickly but initially I was left wondering whether or not I was actually supposed to like him. These small, inconsequential things didn't detract from the novel in any major way and I ended up even getting choked up a little because of how fantastic the ending was.

I'm giving Will Grayson, Will Grayson 4 out of 5 Gabriels.

As an added bonus, here's a video of the song "Holland, 1945" by Neutral Milk Hotel, which is Will Grayson #1's favorite song (and which I didn't realize actually existed until I happened upon it unexpectedly):



-Gabe

Love Is Remarkably Easy to Mistake As Hate: A Review of Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice

Title: Pride and Prejudice
Author: Jane Austin
Edition: Paperback
Publisher: Barnes and Noble Classics (2003)
Pages: 392 (but for the record I'm saying it's 320 just so that my page total here and on GoodReads matches)
How I Came By This Book: I don't remember when I first read Pride and Prejudice but the copy that I own came to me as a birthday present from a friend. She knew that I loved the book but didn't own a copy and so she surprised me with it about four years ago (gods, is it really that long?).
Challenges: Read Me Baby, One More Time Challenge; GoodReads 2011 Reading Challenge

Synopsis: "It is a truth universally known, that a single man in possession of a good fortune must be in want of a wife." Thus memorably begins Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, one of the world's most popular novels. Pride and Prejudice--Austen's own "darling child"--tells the story of fiercely independent Elizabeth Bennet, one of five sisters who must marry rich, as she confounds the arrogant, wealthy Mr. Darcy. What ensues is one of the most delightful and engrossingly readable courtships know to literature, written by a precocious Austen when she was just twenty-one years old.

Humorous and profound, and filled with highly entertaining dialogue, this witty comedy of manners dips and turns through drawing-rooms and plots to reach an immensely satisfying finale. In the words of Eudora Welty, Pride and Prejudice is as "irresistible and as nearly flawless as any fiction could be."

Review: Okay, so, wow. Um, not really sure what to say after that glowing synopsis up there. Way to go, Barnes and Noble. Now I have nothing to write.

I'm kidding, of course, but I agree with everything said above. This being the third or fourth time I've reread this novel, it's obviously high on my list of favorites. There are some novels that can only be reread once, maybe twice, before they get old. I'm pretty sure that I'll be rereading this book every few years for the rest of my life.

NOTE: There are spoilers below, but I'm going to make a guess and say that most of you have either read this book, seen one of the film adaptations or, at the very least, have read and/or watched Bridget Jones' Diary and are aware of the end result. If none of these is applicable to you, then what the heck have you been wasting your time doing? Go and read this novel now. Seriously, you'll thank me.

Sorry, honey, but you are no 
Elizabeth Bennet.

The story is fairly simple. The Bennets, a family of some, but not much, wealth, are finding it hard to marry off their five daughters because of their considerable lack of funding. The problem is that Mr. Bennet has no male heir and therefore their home will be inherited by his insufferable cousin, Mr. Collins, upon his death. This makes his wife, who is one of my least favorite characters in all of literature by the way, severely nervous to the point of being an incredible bore who is ready to foist her girls off on the first man who even looks at them. Jane, sweet and serene; Elizabeth, stubborn and independent; and Mary, bookish and shy, are in no real hurry to get married. Lydia, young and foolish, and Kitty, silly and impressionable, are trying to find a husband among the officers in the militia who are staying nearby. All of this causes considerable worry to their mother, but their father is pretty indifferent to the whole thing.

Early on, Jane catches the eye of the amazing Mr. Bingley, while Elizabeth finds herself an object of derision for the proud Mr. Dary. Throughout the novel these two women will go through no shortage of trouble on their way to a happy ending with their respective beaus, while the rest of the family runs into no shortage of trouble due to dull cousins and a runaway daughter. The book is exceptionally funny, well-written, and shows incredible skill in the oh-so-young Jane Austen.

The characters are, I think, the strongest part of this novel. From the prejudiced Elizabeth, to the dastardly Mr. Wickham, to the delightful Mr. and Mrs. Gardiner, Austen creates a cast of characters that are so memorable and likable (with the exception of Mrs. Bennet), that it's hard not to fall in love with this book every time you read it. It is a testament to Ms. Austen that it is not only women that enjoy this book, but men as well. I know that I'm not the only guy who repeatedly loses himself in Austen's novels, although I may be one of the only ones who shouts from the proverbial rooftop that is my blog.

I think secretly most men wish they could be as awesome
as Fitzwilliam Darcy. I, however, make no secret of it.

The dialogue is strong, witty, and full of complexity. There are hidden meanings behind much of what these characters say to each other, although some of them are bold enough, like Lady Catherine, to come right out and say whatever they mean to say. The plot is engaging and the inevitable romance between Elizabeth and Darcy is so well-strung-out that, instead of being tedious, it is fun to watch them slowly come together as a couple. The whole novel is also so chaste that it is almost incredible to see the differences between romance novels today and this novel, which I believe to be the epitome of romantic. The two main characters are never even seen to kiss! Don't get me wrong, I'm not against sex or its use in literature and film (I'm only human, after all), but sometimes it's nice to just dive into a novel in which love takes a considerable amount of time and things aren't so focused on the, uh, "big finish."

This is one of those novels that I recommend to everyone. Of course, most of the people I suggest it to have already read it, but for those of you haven't, please do. Even if those of you who haven't read it didn't heed my warning about spoilers, knowing the end of the novel in NO WAY detracts from the experience. In fact, I think it makes the novel even better.

Pride and Prejudice is obviously getting five out of five Gabriels.

-Gabe