Looking for Alaska?

Question

can someone give me a summary of looking fo alaska. please and thank you :)

Answer 1

Plot summary

Sixteen-year-old Miles "Pudge" Halter has no friends at his Florida high school. He instead loses himself in biographies of writers (though not their works). He is especially interested in the last words of famous people.
Tired of his safe life, Miles asks his parents to allow him to attend Culver Creek, a boarding school in Alabama, which his father had once attended. There, for the first time in his life, he makes friends. He drinks, smokes, plays pranks, gets a girlfriend, and finally fits in. Throughout it all, he cannot get over a girl named Alaska Young. Funny yet sullen, flirtatious yet committed to her boyfriend, she becomes somewhat of an obsession for Miles.
One night, when Alaska is drunk, she makes out with Miles. Not long after, Alaska drives off sobbing without explaining why. Fifteen minutes later, she smashes into a parked police cruiser, killing herself instantly. Miles and his friends are crushed, especially Miles, who aided her in leaving campus and did not mention that she should not be driving drunk. Miles and his friends set out to understand the circumstances of Alaska's death. Was it a suicide? Where was she headed?
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Controversy

The book has been challenged for content dealing with sexually explicit situations. The main characters in the story are teenagers who also drink, smoke and use foul language.[1] The appearance of what were once traditionally adult-themes has caused some to question whether or not the book should be marketed to young teens, though the book is marketed for readers 14 and up. The book has been cited as an example of an increasingly blurry difference between young-adult and adult publishing.[2]
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Comparisons and references

Green attended Indian Springs School, a boarding and day school outside of Birmingham, Alabama. During the time he was a student there, two students died under circumstances similar to Alaska's.[3]
According to John Green himself at a book talk in Rivermont Collegiate on October 19th, 2006, he got the idea of Takumi's "fox hat" from a Filipino friend who wore a similar hat while playing pranks at Indian Springs School. From the same book talk, Green also stated that the "possessed" swan in Culver Creek came from his student life at Indian Springs School as well, where there was also a swan of similar nature on the campus."

"Miles Halter is off to Culver Creek, a boarding school in Alabama. It may be because of his failure to become ‘popular’ at his public school, or it could be due to the fact that his parents want him out of the house. We really aren’t sure, and it really doesn’t matter. The year that Miles will have is far more important that any sort of reason which brings him to Culver Creek. When he arrives at the hot, stagnant campus he meets his new roommate Chip, who is affectionately (or not) called ‘The Colonel’ by his fellow classmates. Miles is immediately dubbed ‘Pudge,’ which is an ironic name stemming from his skinny frame and his awkward disposition. ‘The Colonel’ feels that nicknames are essential for survival at Culver Creek.

Miles is introduced to the ways of the school. He is almost killed by a prank when the ‘Weekday Warriors’ who are Culver’s rich kids, throw him into the lake, tied up, in the middle of the night. Right away ‘The Colonel’ and cronies take sides against the ‘Warriors’ and the pranks bounce back and forth. Miles’ group of friends forms quite quickly, and he and ‘The Colonel,’ Takumi and Alaska are inseparable. They get Pudge hooked on smoking, they all hide in the ‘smoking hole’ and they drink Strawberry Wine and vodka and milk. They have a fabulous time together for the most part, pulling pranks and getting wasted, and talking about philosophy. They are all very intelligent and interested in literature, and Pudge has a knack for remembering the ‘last words’ of famous people who have passed on.

Right away Alaska has an enormous effect on Pudge. Although she is eccentric and completely obsessive/compulsive, even though seems as though she is on a path for destruction, and even though she has a much bigger boyfriend than Pudge, Pudge loves her. One moment she’ll be laughing and planning a prank for the ‘Warriors’ and the next she’ll be crying her eyes out and completely devastated over what seems to be nothing.

Looking For Alaska is written in two parts. The first half is entitled Before, and is broken into chapters that say ‘One hundred ten days before and then Ninety-nine days before.. and so forth. The second half, quite obviously, is After, and it goes along the same path, (except the days are counted as ‘after).

PLOT SPOILER

I normally don’t include plot spoilers in my reviews, but in this case I feel I have to mention a major factor in this book. I mean, I thought that Alaska was going to leave school or get expelled or something similar for the After portion of the book. But that’s not what happened. She died in a drunk driving accident, (she was the driver) and Pudge and friends must face life without her. More importantly, they feel that they must discover why the accident happened and why the circumstances occurred that chartered such a fatal and horrific outcome.

Looking for Alaska is not just about young people ‘discovering themselves.’ It digs into an existential layer of crust, which demands the reader to ask important questions. One of the most prominent themes is the theory that young people find themselves invincible. Pudge and friends certainly discover that death can interrupt anyone’s life and arrive in a ‘POOF’ (as described several times in the book).

John Green places his readers into the mind of an adolescent boy who must make sense of the death of a young girl that he felt he loved. I personally remembered (vividly) the way I felt when the first person I truly loved and was close to died. I almost relived it, and many of the feelings I had came to surface. We first feel Pudge’s surprise and the trauma of disbelief. She can’t possibly be dead. We then feel the anger and the sadness that Pudge feels when he realizes that Alaska is not coming back. We are then wanting, just as much as Pudge and friends want, to find out what happened and why would she let this happen??

The most shocking part about author John Green is that he makes us fall in love with Alaska before letting her go. We love Alaska just as much as Pudge does. This is why I was in such disbelief when I found out what the After portion of the book meant. I was angry that Green killed off this character but I read on, because I wanted to find out why.

Looking For Alaska is a very thought provoking book and it isn’t easy to put down. I wouldn’t recommend it to someone who doesn’t like reading depressing stories, but I would recommend it on the whole because the author definitely has talent, and it’s a very good story. John Green definitely deserved the coveted Michael L. Printz Award for Looking For Alaska, and I am very glad that I found her. "

Answer 2

Looking For Alaska Plot

Answer 3

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Answer 4

Looking For Alaska Sparknotes

Answer 5

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I've read both. Out of the two, I prefer Looking For Alaska, but that's just me. Catcher is the Rye is alright though, just not my cup of tea. I go by the philosophy of "saving the best for last", so I'd read Catcher, first. You should also read John Green's other books, especially The Fault In Our Stars. It's my favorite book.

Answer 6

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Looking for Alaska?
can someone give me a summary of looking fo alaska. please and thank you :)

Answer 7

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