Is the exit out of this labyrinth worth dying for? (pages 139-160)

When the Eagle comes in at about eight in the morning, Miles is first afraid of getting caught for their prank. However, the Colonel and him are only invited to come to the gym. In there, the Eagle asks for everyone's presence. When Miles is protesting that they should wait for Alaska, as she is not in there yet, the Eagle begins to cry. He tells the students that Alaska Young was part of an car accident in the last night. She had no chances to stay alive.
Miles first refuses to believe in Alaska's death. Step-by-step he realises that he is never going to see Alaska's face again, never going to feel her lips on his. Like the Colonel he feels guilty for letting her drive drunk and upset. The Colonel ask himself how she could have been so stupid. He complains about why she never could think something through till the end. The school charters buses to Alaska’s fuel but even there Miles does not get the chance to see her again, as the casket is closed.
The Eagle gives the two of them the chance to take all the stuff which Alaska's aunt who is soon coming to take her things back home should better not find in her niece's room. During their investigation Miles an Chip also find the “The general in his Labyrinth”. In it there are new entries.
Has Alaska Young killed herself?

I think this an interesting and not that easy question to find an answer to question. Alaska has added to Jeff Longwell's questions, “How will I ever get out of this labyrinth!”, the words “Straight and fast.”
If you look back on how she died with these words on your mind, it becomes possible that Alaska wanted to hit the police car. The police has said that she did not even tried to find direction. Normally you would try to find a reason now why she could have wanted to die, but with Alaska it is different. During the whole story she never had any reason. She needed no reason to be moody and needed one either to flirt with miles or even make out with him. This is what Miles is afraid of two, when he has the same idea. He answers this question with no, as he could not suffer the thought that Alaska left him hurt, after she made out with him the night before.
However, as Alaska has never been a person who cares much for anyone other than herself I guess it is at least possible that she killed herself, you consider that she had no home to go back to and no one who trusts her unconditionally.

(written by Marc)

Letter

Dear Mum and Dad,

How are?
Did you have a nice Thanksgiving?
Mine was very nice, even I had - and still have - a lot of work to do.
The Colonel invited Alaska and me to his house and we celebrated Thanksgiving together with his Mum Dolores.
I missed our family traditions and of course your great meal with the cranberry sauce - but Dolores is a good cook, too.
I was toghether with you in my thoughts and now I´m really looking forward celebrating Christmas with you, even I have also got a lot to study - as I already said at the beginning of my letter.
So, afternoon lessons will start in a few minutes and I don´´t want to be late.

See you Christmas,

yours Miles



Marlene

Comment p.99-end of before-part

At these next pages in the book Miles is seeing his parents for the first time again. He´s celebrating Christmas there and getting "grown-up-gifts". Even he has got a lot to study, his parents love seeing him and his Mum actually cries as he leaves again. After it Miles knows that he has a real family.
At Culver Creek Alaska and the Colonel are planning a preprank, but Miles is never invited and this is a torture for him. But when they are fulfilling the prank, he takes part, too.
He had to set fires with Takumi beeing the "fox" and run, to keep the Eagle away from the Culver Creek rooms.
Afterwards the whole clique is meeting, smoking and rapping. They´re also playing "best-and-worst-day" and I think it´s interesting for the reader to get more and more background information - especially on Alaska.
the last pages of the before-part depict a little party of Alaska, the Colonel and Miles celebrating their "Barnnight"- success. This time Miles is kissing Alaska,but then she phones with Jack and suddenly gets hysteric.
She wants to leave the campus and the Colonel and Miles let her drive off.

Marlene

A letter to the parents ...

Monday, 29th November


Dear Mum and Dad,

As you know that I am not good at holding small talks, I hope you do not hold the briefness of my letter to you against me. I hope you spent some great days in London. I celebrated Thanks Giving with my roommate. He came back to campus to invite me to have dinner with his family, because his Mum could not suffer the thought that a teenager celebrates Thanks Giving's evening in a school learning – which would not have been that bad either. However, I get her to know as an excellent cook. She is almost as good as you Mum, maybe even better.
Nevertheless I am looking forward to come back home over Christmas. I really miss you two. However, to make sure that you will not be disappointed with me, I am going to tell you right now that I probably have to learn most of the time, as the day after my comeback to Culver Creec our final exams start.
I guess I have to go to bed now. Tomorrow will be hard – much to learn.

Your Son Miles


(von Marc)

"Humans can share poverty but no richness." ...

As Thanks Giving is near, all of Culver Creec's students leave campus in order to celebrate with their families. All of them, except from Alaska and Miles. Miles has decided to stay on campus to bear Alaska company. During his time alone with her Miles realizes that he really loves Alaska and that it is all the same to him in which problems he can get roped into. However, he also realizes that if people were rain he would be less than “drizzle”(page 92 line 17) and Alaska would be a strong “hurricane” (page 92 line 17).
On Thanks Givings day, at sometime in the afternoon, the Colonel comes back to campus and invited the two of them to Thanks Giving dinner. His mum could not bear the thought of leaving people somewhere family-less on Thanks Giving evening. Chip's family lives in a small trailer.
Nonetheless it was one of the best Thanks Givings for all of them.


Alaska's character traits – if you ask me she is close to schizophrenia in this chapters - would definitely be a suitable and interesting theme to write about in this entry. However, there is something that astonished me still more. I guess there is a Chinese saying which says “Humans are able to divide poverty, but no richness.” These chapters are very good examples for this Chinese saying. Not one of the richer mums, but one of the poorest cannot suffer the thought that two to her completely unknown teenager spend Thanks Giving family-less and alone somewhere in the middle of nowhere.
She takes care of them, even if there are not enough places to sleep and even if it means that her own son has to sleep Thanks Giving's night outside in a tent. She lets them take part in their meat. A family which has in reality not even enough money to pay the rent for a small flat and who need to live in a trailer, shares the few they have with two strangers. I can really understand the Colonel's deep hate and it's really astonishing that a school like Culver Creec which contains this two contrast can exist without greater problems.


Marc

The first-person perspective and its effects for the book ...

- the narrator becomes more concrete for the reader
- identifying becomes easier
- the story becomes more thrilling ( you cannot take a look at the plans thougts etc.
of the other characters )
- reader is immediately affected
- reader gets a better understanding of Miles situation/ his feelings in the different
situation etc.
- the book becomes very subjective and sentimental

The effects the first-person narrative perspective has

Effects for the novel:


-suspense is created
-reader indentifies with the main character Miles (indentification figure)
-he becomes more interested in Alaska and the Story


Marlene

Some thoughts about p.63-83

In this extract Miles has a date with Lara. It takes place at the play in the gym but has a - maybe I would call it - special end: Miles has a concussion and vomits on Laras  legs!
The rainy days after this the Colonel plans the big prank and Miles gets to know Takumi better.
In the end Alaska is persuading Miles to stay Thanksgiving at Culver Creek with her.


But in this extract are some funny and striking aspects.


First I find it curious that Alaska organised the date for Miles, but I think this shows her special character again.
Next I liked that Takumi´s character is more involved it seems that he could  become a real good friend for Miles.
In my opinion he has a great balanced and humorous way of expressing himself.
And the last point I wanted to point out is the end. I find it some kind of tricky how Alaska tried with her affection and charme to convince Miles staying Thanksgiving. But there is one question that makes me think:
Is she really interested in Miles or is it just that she does not want to celebrate another Thanksgiving alone because she refuses going home like all the years before?


All in all I would say we get pretty much closer to the inside of Alaska during these pages and I think every ready has already an own opinion about her until this point of the story.


Marlene

"Looking for Alaska" ... page 63 and there is still faintly plot

In my first comment I already mentioned that I did not know more or less anything about the book's plot bevore I started reading. If I take a look back now - after reading more than sixty pages - I can say I still do not know much more about what will happen in it. The reader cannot even make a guess what will happen on the next pages. This writing style would be very interessting if you as the reader know that something is going to happen at some point in the book, if the writer inplied something in the beginnig.  So it's only a matter of time. However, John Green's "Looking for Alsaka"will become very boring to read, if it goes on like this, as there was nothing implied that anything will happen on the following pages.

However there are two parts on these pages which really appeal to me. The first is the part with the basketball game in the gym. On this few pages you can feel some sort of change of Miles' attitude. The shy and precarious Miles becomes more and more like the person he wants to be. He has become self-confident enough to conter the verbal attack of one of the schools bad boys.
In the socond part miles an his friends get caught for smoking. Here you can see Miles new self-confidence, too. He dares himself to do things he would have never dare to think about in the past. However, this is not the point I mean. What I never expected is that Alaska and the Colonel took guilt on their shoulders. The friendless lone wolf Miles Halter has found real friends. 

Marc

The first pages of "Looking for Alaska"

 

I did not know much about the book’s plot before I started reading, what is quite comprehensible, as I only read the cover text and a short review before starting. As always the cover text does not give much information about the book’s plot and in the short review it seem as if the deeper questions behind the book and the actual story are much more important than the story itself. So actually I did not know what I had to expect. When you consider this I really liked the entry of the book compared to others.

Furthermore I like how John Green has designed Miles character. It’s a great idea to make him special through letting him read biographies and memorize last words. The most interesting part of these first pages is the situation, as Milton was thrown in the sea. I mean he was close to dead and he starts to think about that his last words were not very gripping and unique.  

All in all I liked the John Green’s entry to the book, even if it is kind of boring in some parts which is normal as you get to know the characters and their place in the setting. However, as I already wrote, there are exiting parts, too.

Marc

Short summary of pages 33-48

The chapter begins after the day a prank was played on Miles.
He has his first World Religious class and the teacher Mr. Hyde really appeals him.
The relationship between the Colonel, Alaska and Miles develops and Miles also gets to know the Colonel´s girlfriend.

-> I think Miles is wondering, why  they are still toghether, if even the Colonel knows that they just "deserve each other"? instead of loving each other?

In the next part Miles is in one of Mr. Hyde´s classes, but he´s in thoughts. So he and Alaska, after she startedprovoking Mr. Hyde, are kicked out. They go outside, but Alaska expected Takumi and the Colonel to follow.
After the bell rang the two followed and they start rapping.

-> I think this is the time, when they start building some kind of clique, they´re becoming real good friends.

Marlene

And now the big blogging starts!

During the next weaks, you´ll find here a lot of reading diaries and comments.
Wehope you enjoy and comment it, too =)

Marlene