Destiny is a lousy traitor
Fate is a lousy traitor (Original: The Fault in Our Stars ) is a novel by the American writer John Green . The youth novel was published by Dutton ( Penguin Verlag ) on January 10, 2012 and was ranked number 1 on the New York Times best list for children's and youth literature in its first week of sales . The novel was published on July 30, 2012 in the German translation by Sophie Zeitz under the title Das Schicksal ist ein louser Verräter .
background
John Green announced the release of his fourth novel in May 2012 on June 29, 2011, and announced the title at the same time. This is based on a line from Shakespeare's drama Julius Caesar , which says: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, / But in ourselves, that we are underlings." A short time after the title was announced, the novel rose alone through the pre-orders to the top of the sales charts of Amazon and Barnes & Noble , although at that time neither the content nor the cover design were known. Green also announced that all copies of the first edition would be signed by hand.
In September 2012 John Green was on a short reading tour in four German cities, including Berlin in the children's and youth program at the 12th Berlin International Literature Festival .
The audiobook version of the book won the children's and youth audiobook of the year award , which is awarded jointly by hr2 and the Börsenblatt weekly magazine for the German book trade. It also won the LovelyBooks Readers Award in the General Literature category in 2012 .
content
The sixteen-year-old Hazel Grace Lancaster has been suffering for three years to thyroid cancer with metastases in the lungs, but managed to survive through the use of a new drug. Her favorite book is A Manorial Suffering by Peter van Houten. To reassure her parents, she visits a self-help group for cancer patients, where she meets seventeen-year-old Augustus "Gus" Waters, whose leg had to be amputated as a result of a bone tumor . She admires his relaxed manner and the way he deals with his cancer. The two spend more and more time together and their relationship is getting closer. But Hazel wants to save Gus from the pain of her inevitable death - she considers herself a "time bomb" that will eventually go off and hurt everyone close to her - and decides not to see him anymore.
Hazel ends up in the hospital with severe pneumonia. During her recovery she is visited several times by Gus, who assures her that she means much more to him than any pain she could inflict on him. He wants to make her dearest wish come true, namely to visit Peter van Houten, the author of her favorite book, in Amsterdam ; At an organization that fulfills the heart's desires for children with cancer (a fantasy version of the real Make-A-Wish Foundation ), he still has one wish that he would like to use for Hazel. After lengthy discussions with their parents and doctors, the two are given permission to travel to Amsterdam in the company of Hazel's mother.
The meeting with van Houten turns out to be a disappointment, however, as his secretary Lidewij Vliegenthart organized the visit without the knowledge of her employer, who has become an unfriendly, cynical alcoholic. He refuses to answer the young people's questions and is abusive towards them, whereupon Lidewij resigns and leaves the house with the disappointed young people. The three of them visit the Anne Frank House , where Hazel and Gus kiss for the first time. Back at the hotel they sleep together.
On the last day in Amsterdam, Gus told Hazel that his tumor had returned in a more aggressive form. He begins strong therapy, but is no longer given much chance of survival. His condition is rapidly deteriorating, and he suggests that Hazel and his best friend Isaac hold a pre-funeral in his presence so he can hear the obituaries for himself. Gus dies eight days after the pre-funeral. Hazel holds an obituary and tries to comfort the loved ones. After the funeral she meets Peter van Houten, who specially traveled to America for the funeral; he tells her that his own daughter died of cancer years ago and that he incorporated her into the protagonist of A Manorial Suffering , Anna. This explains his hostility when they first met in Amsterdam, when Hazel reminded him too much of Anna. Hazel encourages him to write a sequel to the book.
Eventually Hazel discovers that Gus wrote something for her shortly before his death and looks for the pages that appear to have been torn from his notepad. Lidewij discovers Gus' letter between van Houten's fan mail and sends it back to Hazel. It is an obituary for Hazel.
Movie
The film adaptation of Josh Boone was released in German cinemas on June 12, 2014. Shailene Woodley took on the role of Hazel, Ansel Elgort that of Augustus and Willem Dafoe that of Peter Van Houten.
literature
Tanja Kraus / Eva Riegger-Kuhn: Materials and templates for John Green "Destiny is a lousy traitor". Hase and Igel Verlag, Garching near Munich 2016, ISBN 978-3867607551
Web links
- Original edition on the publisher's website
- German edition on the publisher's website
- Review on KinderundJugendmedien.de
- Natalie Standiford: The Tenacity of Hope review for the New York Times .
Individual evidence
- ^ A b John Green: The fault in our stars video blog , published on June 29, 2011 on YouTube . Retrieved January 16, 2012.
- ↑ Jeffrey Trachtenberg: Tweeting from a La-Z-Boy, An Unfinished Book Hits No. 1 . Published in The Wall Street Journal on July 1, 2011. Retrieved January 16, 2012.
- ↑ IMDb , accessed on February 2, 2014.