Looking for Alaska

I'm so glad I finally decided to pick up this John Green book!

Looking for Alaska is so compelling for me that it made me want to read through the pages really, really fast just so I can figure out if they were able to find Alaska (or when I was still on the early pages, so I can know what exactly happened that made them go looking for her in the first place).

I liked the concept of having a Before and After part, which totally leaves the part between still as enigmatic as Alaska Young, which, I believe, is the whole point of it.

All the questions left unanswered after Alaska's death has me completely racking my brains out, too, along with Pudge and the Colonel. I wanted to understand, too, because personally, I live for stories that recount details of someone's life, of events that had happened to them. Things that would make it all make sense. Because when you get to that point where all of it just clicks, it feels astoundingly wonderful.

But there was one question that I had my own answer to:

"How will I ever get out of this labyrinth?"

Thinking of life as labyrinth/maze is a fascinating idea, because I presume that at some point in every person's life, one gets that nagging feeling of being stuck. He goes on figuring why or how or when or what he did exactly to arrive at that circumstance. And then, there'd be moments when he'd think he'd gotten out because everything suddenly feels fine, that he is in this great place right now. Of course, it's only temporary relief until he makes a wrong turn once more. And repeat.

Finally, somewhere down the line, he is finally lead onto the end of the maze, onto the way out. At last, freedom! That's when he realizes that every single event he had encountered inside the labyrinth had made him who he is, that it had all been significant to his life, whether good or bad. And this is usually when it is time to go...

So if you ask me, I would not want to get out of the labyrinth until it is time for me to do so. In accordance to my faith in God, I continue to believe in the philosophy that everything happens for a reason.

Alas, trying to look for Alaska has led me to looking for answers to questions I have long before answered. It's the kind of read that will continue to stay with you for a long time. I can't wait until I shake this feeling off and incidentally stumble upon this book once more and end up just repeating the process.

(5 out of 5 stars)