Turtles All The Way Down by John Green

Turtles All The Way Down

by

John Green

Last night on the way home from work I finished listening to John Green's latest book, Turtles All The Way Down.  I only listened to this book on the way home because John Green's books always make me cry and I did not want to arrive at work upset.  But this John Green book did not make me cry.  It is supposed to be the story of a teenaged girl, named Aza, with Obsessive Compulsive Disorder.  In my opinion, she is showing a lot of schizophrenic type symptoms.  She totally breaks from reality at times and she is pretty paranoid about microorganisms.   She not only hears various voices in her head but even identifies herself in the plural.  Nevertheless,  regardless of whether or not the author got the diagnosis right,  he has dealt with the issue of mental illness in such a way that his audience,  which is predominately young people,  will feel less isolated if they have a mental illness and will feel more empathy if they do not.   And Aza does exhibit obsessive thoughts and compulsive behaviors.   Therefore,  John Green has written another successful book.   I found the part of the book where Aza's best friend, Daisy, becomes upset because she feels Aza only thinks about Aza and no one else,  which is very true,  a relief.  There were times in the book that Aza annoyed me and I wanted her to just get a grip.  Although I realize that people with mental illness aren't able to which is the point of the book.   I think the author does a great job of pointing out that the future of this young woman is promising so that a young person with a mental illness reading the book does not feel life is futile.  I also think he does a great job in using the stars and the sky to show his reading audience that everything is not about the individual in life but that we are a part of a larger world.  In addition, the way he uses the sky at the end to show that the same thought spiral that tightens on Aza can grow larger instead of smaller if looking outward instead of inward is brilliant.  I will not say that this is  my favorite John Green book but the author was successful in writing a meaningful and important  book about mental illness.  Please click on the author's name and book title above to follow the links to more information and enjoy the video that follows.