Questions about Looking for Alaska (SPOILERS!)
NOTE: This page is for people who have read Looking for Alaska. As such, it contains numerous huge spoilers. If you have not read Looking for Alaska, kindly avert your eyes.
Q. Do you really know all those people’s last words?
A. Yeah. I’m sort of obsessed with last words. (Many of my favorites did not make it into the book, actually.) You can watch me reciting favorite last words here and then listing the last words of every American President here.
Q. How long did it take to write Alaska?
A. I began the book in earnest just after 9/11, and it was published in March of 2005. But for one of those years, I was in the process of breaking up with a girl (well, technically, she was in the process of breaking up with me), which is not a situation conducive to writing well. Also, I rewrite a lot.
Q. How did you come up with the countdown chapter titles?
A. Well, right after 9/11, everyone on TV was talking about how this was a defining moment in American history, and how we would all view the world through the lens of 9/11. (Indeed, for years afterward, one could not turn on the TV without hearing someone say that we live in a “post-9/11 world,” which is the stupidest observation in human history. I mean, we also live in a post-World War II world and a post-invention-of-fire world.) But I think what is meant by the phrase “post-9/11 world” is really interesting: Humans tend to measure time within the framework of important events. In the Christian world, we date from the birth of Christ. The Islamic calendar dates from the Muslim community’s move from Mecca to Medina. Alaska is a novel about the most important event in these people’s lives, so it made sense to me to structure the story in the same way. Also, I thought it would be neat.
Q. Is “bufriedo” pronounced bu-FRY-do or bu-FREE-do?
A. Well, first let me say that books do not belong to their authors. Books belong to the reader. So you can pronounce bufriedo however you’d like; my pronunciation of it is not inherently better than yours. But now that we’ve got the philosophical question out of the way, I say buh-FREE-doh.
Q. Are bufriedos real?
A. Sort of. There was a similar thing at the boarding school I attended called a crispito. A chimichanga is basically a deep-fried burrito. I imagine bufriedos tasting a bit fried-er than chimichangas, but again, the way I imagine things is totally irrelevant because books belong to their readers.
Q. What do you think happened to Alaska? I know you don’t say it in the book, but what’s YOUR opinion?
A. I knew when I started the book that we would never be inside Blue Citrus with her that night, and so I still don’t have any idea what happened to Alaska—which is to say that I genuinely don’t have an opinion. I really believe that your reading of a book I wrote is just as legitimate as my reading of a book I wrote. (It’s possible you can even read the book better than I can.) I know that’s not a terribly fulfilling answer, but it’s the only answer I have. Frankly, I kind of want you to be haunted by the unansweredness of the question, because I think being haunted by such things is a valuable part of being a person.
Q. Do you have any teaching suggestions for Looking for Alaska?
A. Yes. There are discussion guides available for both “Looking for Alaska” and “Paper Towns,” which can be downloaded here. They’re pretty good. A lot of schools teach “Looking for Alaska,” so there may also be teachers’ guides created by teachers you can find online. If I were to teach Alaska, I would ask: What is the point of death? and What is the point of literature? and In an essentially and irreperably broken world, is there cause for hope? That is not really much of a lesson plan, though.
Q: Can you explain the ending of Looking for Alaska?
A. Well, when I was writing “Alaska,” I wanted the end NOT to give us what we want, which is of course to know whether Alaska’s death was a suicide or an accident. The truth is that in our lives we are all going to encounter questions that should be answered, that deserve to be answered, and yet prove unanswerable. Can we find meaning to life without those answers? Can we find a way to acknowledge the reality (and injustice) of suffering without giving in to hopelessness? Those are the questions I think Miles is confronting at the end, and I wanted to argue that through forgiveness, it is possible to live a full and hopeful life—even if our world is saturated with injustice and loss.
Q. Do you plan on writing a sequel to Looking for Alaska?
A. I don’t plan on writing a sequel to any of my books at the moment. I feel like I left Pudge and the Colonel and Lara and Takumi where I wanted them to be. My grandmother taught me to never say never, but certainly there will not be a sequel in the foreseeable future.
Q. Did you know an Alaska?
A. That is the rare question that is too personal.
Q. What about Culver Creek is realistic, and what isn’t?
A. The physical setting of Culver Creek is very, very similar to the physical place where I went to boarding school, Indian Springs School. There’s a lake and an evil swan and a barn and there was an unairconditioned dorm circle when I was a student. (The dorms are now much nicer.) It’s an excellent school. Attending Indian Springs made my life possible, and I am very grateful to the school and its teachers.
Q. What’s your favorite part of LFA?
A. I’m not sure I have a favorite part. (For one thing, I wrote it a long time ago, and I haven’t read it since it came out, so to be totally honest there’s a lot of it I don’t remember.) I guess I am still pretty proud of that line at the end about never needing to be hopeless because we can never be irreparably broken; that line seems to have meant something to a lot of people. (For instance, I recently saw it tattooed around a person’s neck.)
Oh, and I still like the fox hat.
{ 153 comments… read them below or add one }
← Previous Comments
Hey John, I know it has been a long time since you wrote “Looking for Alaska.” I don’t know if you read these comments anymore, but I write this in the hope that you will someday read it.
Looking for Alaska is a most beautiful book. It touched my heart on so many levels and in so many ways. Car accidents seem to be a prevalent theme in my life, and the moment I reached the end of “before,” I knew that this book would be making a huge impact.
In this life and our times, we are often caught up in the the idea of invincibility, and I know that I am often guilty of it. The absolute love that existed in this book: friendships, relationships, families, etc…made me realize that we all pay the deepest price for our thoughts of invincibility.
It is a message that every student needs to hear many, many times in their life. It means so much to me now, to remember to hold onto the time that I have with an unfailing grip, and to always remember to say “goodbye” and “I love you” to my friends.
Every reader gets what they want out of Alaska, which is why the story is so absolutely beautiful. If it were not for writers like you, the world would be a lesser place. Keep writing, John. DFTBA
This comment is absolutely relevant. I’m pleased that someone actually put into words what I felt when reading LFA for the first time. It was a truly magical experience that I’ve never had with any other book, and probably never will, and I am so thankful for this experience.
“Car accidents seem to be a prevalent theme in my life…”
…Sentences like these make me loathe my good fortune and feel immeasurable pity for those whose lives are harder than mine… o.o
Did you ever get bitten on the ass by the real life evil swan?
Well, I’ve been bitten by a swan, and it isn’t funny! But it wasn’t an evil swan, so who knows how that feels like?
I’ve been wondering…are there any plans to do an audio book of Alaska? I love the book & I think an audio version would be epic. I keep searching for it on iTunes in the hope that you’ve done it since I last looked…but all that keeps coming up is some odd explorer guy’s biography. So I figured I’d actually bother to ask (after about the eightieth time of searching to be met with disappointment).
Hey actually i got my audio version from http://www.audible.com and it’s really good like the narrator’s got a good tone of voice and is captivating , not one of those high pitched annoying ones lol
Why did you choose Indian Springs to be the setting? Is it because the two schools were similar? Did you do anything that Miles (Pudge) or his friends did in the story? I know the school, by the way, so it was very easy to visualize the setting.
Probably because it was easy for him to base Miles’ school of his own school. I always find things like that difficult to write about, especially if you didn’t go to a ‘normal’ school (John-boarding school, me-weird different system to everywhere else) it’s always easier to write from experience, especially if your experience is very different to other people’s :)
Hey, doing a school project, and uhhhh…. tired. Where does/did Alaska live? I’m making her a fake ticket that unrealistically could have saved her life. THANK YOUUU
She lived in Vine Station, Alabama
What does this mean?
” ‘You spend your whole life stuck in the labrynth, thinking how you’ll escape one day, and how awesome it will be, and imagining that future keeps you going, but you never do it. You just use the future to escape the present.’ “
We all have dreams and wishes, but we should control our dreams, using our own hard work and ability to see it actualized. More often than not, we use dreams as a form or escapism, and it can be a false sense of optimism for the future. I think the essence is that we have to work towards actually achieving them, instead of hoping it will be true
Thank you. Just thank you.
In LFA why does COFFEE TABLE always appear in small caps text?
I believe COFFEE TABLE appears in small caps text to indicate that it is the COFFEE TABLE that The Colonel had made, rather than a normal coffee table.
Because there was a large piece of something taped across it on which the words “COFFEE TABLE” were written in all caps so from then on they refer to it as COFFEE TABLE, all caps.
What is the situation with the Looking for Alaska film?
Paramont Pictures took it up, but because of lack of interset they selved it for the time being. They did not see a enough people intrested. It makes me sad too.
John Green, you had an Alaska. I know you did – or else you would have said you did not have an Alaska of your own. It is difficult to write about someone so special unless you have already experienced the love and loss. It is okay, however, for I too have had an Alaska of my own, and now she is gone.
I think a lot of people had an Alaska, I know I did. And I’ve read the book six times since the day she died.
What are the titles of your books in other language? And I mean evreything, I want to own a copy of evrey book in evrey language they have been publisheld. Well, at least in the languages I know.
I have googled around but its hard to find out. Thanks
The Dutch title is: “Het grote misschien.” Which means “the great perhaps” :)
In French : “Qui es-tu, Alaska ?” (which means : “Who are you, Alaska ?”) :]
Also, John : for LFA : Thank You. Forever, Thank You.
The German title is “Eine wie Alaska” (Meaning: “Someone like Alaska”…I really wish, they would have picked something more fitting.)
the polish title is “Szukając Alaski”, which actually means exactly “Looking for Alaska”.
The Spanish title is “Buscando a Alaska” which is a direct translation :)
In portuguese it is “Quem é você, Alasca?”, which means “Who are you, Alaska?”. Same as french, then!
Amazing. Just simply amazing. It captivated me in every way possible. I think this is possibly the best book i’ve ever read, and the best book ever written.
I feel like “Looking For Alaska” changed my life. I haven’t lived much, and that’s a pretty drastic statement, but I feel like I had some kind of connection with the story. After I first read the book, I would carry it around with me wherever I went. I would read the same lines over and over and over again and they gave me such a sense of comfort, and instilled in me the idea of “a Great Perhaps”. I wasn’t depressed or anything, and this book didn’t save my life, but I was certainly lost and “Looking For Alaska” shed just a little bit of light. It gave me a sense of hope, and the story felt so personal. I went through and highlighted all my favorite phrases and lines, and completely used up two highlighters. But after that every page was highlighted and my copy of the book looked like some markers threw up on it.. To be honest I could have highlighted every single line of every single page. I love this book. Thank you John Green.
I feel exactly the same. I also carried my copy around, and highlighted all my favourite lines (I love the fox hat lines.)
I love this book so much, thank you John Green, you inspired me to be a writer.
what page is the “if people were rain, i was a drizzle and she was a hurricane” quote come from?” i read the book but now i cant seem to find the quote and i desperately need it for a school project!
Page eighty-eight! I had it book-marked.
John,
In the hopes that you might read this, I was wondering what you think Alaska’s last words would have been. I know that you said that it’s just as much a mystery to you as it is to Miles as to whether or not it was suicide or an accident, but you must have some sort of idea of what Alaska’s last words would have been.
I think they would have been about the labrynth.
I have a habit of connecting characters in books to people that I know in real life to imagine them better while reading. Literally two minutes after reading LFA for the first time, I realized that I know an Alaska, albeit with a different name, and I know I would be just as devastated as Pudge if I lost her. If there’s anything that I gleaned from this book on the first read through, it’s that life is precious, and that I should tell my friends every day that I love them, because there may be a day coming far too soon where they might never hear it again. So, thank you Mr. Green for this excellent novel, which also inspired me to work harder on the one I’ve been procrastinating on, and DFTBA.
I jump from book to book, especially in the summer. However after reading LFA in the middle of my vacation, I couldn’t start another book for about a month. I spent those weeks mulling over every detail, finding every quote that sparked something within me. Then I wrote my college essay on how LFA truly impacted my life, and got accepted to my first choice with the second most prestigious scholarship offered. Clearly, I am passionate about this book!
I remember sitting in my bed, with my 5 year old sister sleeping next to me, bawling my eyes out and trying desperately not to wake anybody. I connected with every character in this novel, and will never forget how oddly whole I felt when I finished.
This novel speaks true to me in every way, and I have recommended it to all of my friends. Keep writing, John.
what exactly was your intention where you write the book?
Hey John,
I read Looking for Alaska a long time ago and I loved it but I can honestly say i never understood it until now:
Last week my track team got to back school late after our state meet. Someone came speeding through the parking lot going an estimated 95 mph, went through our fence and flipped. Some of us ran over and saw the guy in the car. We called he police but they were too late, he died. Although none of us knew him it still kind of haunts me, was it suicide or an accident? And if it was suicide then why?
I decided to read LFA because two of my favorite people on Twitter were reading it and fell in love with the book. I went to all the bookstores but none of them had it(I live in Portugal), so I decided to get it from Amazon.
The book is amazing. It’s wonderful and it’s my favorite book. I got a little teary-eyed in the end, I must say. I had read on Twitter that Alaska was going to die before I even decided to read the book, so I didn’t cry at that part.
I do believe that Alaska’s death was a mixture of suicide and accident. I don’t think she was planning on killing herself, but she had the opportunity to actually go to her mom right in front of her eyes(when she saw the cars) and she just went straight into it.
Alaska inspires me because she is real in a sense that she’s not influenced.
Hi John my name is lisa and i’m from germany :) jsut wanted to know why do all your characters in looking for alaska smoke? i mean does it have a deeper reason? You know smoking is not that helthy and writing about it may cause kids to smoke
(hope that was english and not blabala englsih :D )
I’d say it’s a matter of rebellion, Miles especially would certainly be in a LOT of trouble of his parents knew he smoked so the freedom of Culver Creek means that he can do things like smoke and drink without his parents knowing. It could also be a part of growing up, trying new things. Then again, I’m only halfway through LFA so I don’t know :D
Hey John I just want to say that I truly enjoyed LFA… It’s one of those books that you remember forever; and every time you look at the book and it’s cover sitting on your shelf it brings back that nostalgic feeling you can’t explain. I feel that in some way I eft a piece of me in between the pages of that book. Your book truly had a big impact on me and in one way or another it sort of changed me (in a good way :P)… So keep those novels coming because you have anxious readers/fans who just can’t wait to get their hands on another one of your novels!
Bought it off iBooks and loved it, John. Cant wait to get another of your works. DFTBA.
Thank you John. That’s all I can possibly say. Thank you for that unbelievable experience.
Hello!
The book “Looking for Alaska” caught my interest, so I was looking for a copy. I noticed that there are some editions each with a different amount of pages. One edition has 221 pages, another 272 etc.. Now I honestly don’t know which one to pick, since I can’t really find detailed descriptions about what’s included additionally.
I’d be glad for a response.
Well for starters if i have a daughter i”m naming her Alaska. Second, the great perhaps as you put it, is something i’ve been dealing with for quite sometime. Your book gave me what i needed to hear and one day soon ill be meeting you face to face. Thank you Brother!
I read this book when I was a junior in high school. It really hit home.
I had an Alaska, may she rest in peace.
Thank you for creating this world for us to live in and letting us into your characters minds
Thank you so much for opening my mind up to not only the amazing study of different religions but the amazing message you have put through with this novel. I think in order for Miles to reach his great perhaps and for him to find his place in life, Alaska did inevitably have to die. Alaska may have brought everyone together, but by falling apart brought the group closer again even if they did go their separate ways.
Q. What does Miles realise about the labyrinth ?
He realises, at the end, that only through forgiveness can one survive the labyrinth.
there should be an open casting call for the movie!
CONGRATS, on your ability to convey powerful emotions through words! Your books are unlike any others I`ve read, but being able to make people feel empathy towards someone, fictional or non-fictional, is a great feat. Enjoy finding your own Great Perhaps!
why did you decide to write Looking For Alaska?
i was just wondering where did you get the idea to write this book i mean it doesnt seem like the idea would just pop in your head well it could i wouldnt know im not an author, and do you think u may ever write like i dont how to explain it but a book from like lara’s point of view well along those lines. i got emotionally attached to this book beacause sounds like my life, except i havent died yet,thank u for this book mr green i look forward to reading paper towns
It’s funny how you can randomly choose a book out of the library and it can have such a dramatic effect on you life and make you think about everything in a new way! Thank you John Green:) Thank you!:)
I got the book yesterday, and finished it the same night. I must say this book is absolutely beautiful, and I am so grateful that you wrote the book. I love the way you explained Alaska, and I feel like Alaska was someone I wish I honestly knew, minus the death. I really hope you make a sequel for it, but only time can tell.
Thank you John Green
I’m… Very similar to Alaska in many ways. Ok, not physically – I’m only lucky to have her electrifying green eyes, sort of -, but her personality reminds me of mine. A LOT. And I’m sure that’s not always a good thing.
You broke my heart killing her, John. I started crying so hard…
But LfA it’s definitely the BEST young-adult book I’ve EVER had. Good job.
John Green,
I have read all of your books at least six times each (I’m not kidding). Looking For Alaska, by far, was my favorite. I can’t begin to express how much I fell in love with this book. To be honest, I’m still in love with it. I can’t walk by my bookshelf (which has a copy of all your books on it) without picking it up and reading a couple pages. When I know I’ll be some place other than home for a while, I bring LFA with me. (Even my boyfriend puts it in my bag for me when we’re going to his house for the weekend -so sweet!) I’ve never read a book where fictional characters seemed so real. Almost as if I could I walk into the woods and see them smoking and drinking Strawberry Hill together right now.
I have a feeling that the mystery surrounding Alaska’s death will stay with me for a long time and that I will always wonder about it.
I agree and I pray to the lord the movie comes out soon!
John,
I just spent a beautiful fall day listening to your book while raking leaves, remembering my own youth and rethinking life, relationships, similar experiences, and the labyrinth…
timeless and thought provoking…
Thank you.
I bought Looking For Alaska twice. The first time I brought it home and started reading it. I was ten pages in and had to put the book down and go do my chores. One thing led to another and it was several hours before I was able to return to the book. In that time, it had slid off the bed where I put it and my dog thought it looked like an excellent thing to pee on, and so he did. I was very upset by this and so I did not buy Looking For Alaska again for a long time. Then, about a week ago, I just decided it was time. I read it in almost one day, because I was afraid to put it down. And the point of all this is that it is such a deeply emotionally stirring book that I would probably buy it 50 more times if I needed/could afford to. I’m not going to say the book radically changed my life, but it certainly impacted the way I look at life and the way I look at death, and it was beautiful.
I’m currently reading LFA and read the end of ‘before’ this morning at the riding stable I go to. When I read THAT part(don’t want to write it so I don’t spoiler it for those who haven’t read it yet) I nearly started crying but I was surrounded by people who I know would judge me :( I just sat there for a while, completely numb but it was amazing, it’s rare that a book does that to me and I plan to reread it later so I can break down in privacy
DFTBA, Alicia x
I just wanted to say thank you for this amazing book. There is a before and a after Looking for Alaska. And it will haunt me for a long time. Thank you a gain.
im doing a book report on looking for alaska and i was wondering if you could tell me what the reason was of writing it?
I’ve tried to start this comment about five times with no real success in expressing what I want to say.
I believe that for everyone, there is a Great Perhaps. For Miles, I believe that Alaska was his. He didn’t really know Alaska, but he believed in what he saw (or what he thought he saw). But he will never truly know who Alaska was and I think for him, it will always be a Great Perhaps.
Looking for Alaska has made me wonder. I think everyone, by the time they kick the bucket, will have met someone who changes them. And I wonder if I’ve met someone who’s been my Great Perhaps, but I don’t think so because you ought to remember someone who made you “different”.
What I really want to say (And I’m not for sure if I’m even really expressing this in a way that will make complete sense to anyone but me) is that Looking for Alasking has given me the concept of a Great Perhaps.
Something I need to believe in, but not necessarily see. Something I need to embrace, but not necessarily know. And something I sure as hell need to work on finding.
Is it possible that the Great Perhaps can find us?
am hello i relly like this book but mi friends but my friends are in a kind of debate whether the death was a suicide alaska or an accident but I’m not next to none I think is something that is up to the reader to Although it is found that it was an accident do not think that is something you can just say so I’d get your opinion to shut once and seizing the moment I would like to ask if the film will be a reality or not.
thanks
This book is wonderful! Just the way he described Pudge is amazing! And the Colonel, just amazing! I am still baffled at the sudden death of Alaska, even though you see it coming when he called the assembly, and it leaves a certain longing inside of me to find out what really happened to her that night and the way he made them seem so real, actually made me shed a few tears in the end. A wonderful book, it deserved this award!
My librarian at my school recommended this to me, primarily because- and I quote- “This book is banned in about 60% of America because of its content, which is pretty cool.” I wasn’t keen on the cover, but I read it anyway because she has amazing taste in books, and as soon as I finished the first chapter, I was hooked. Even though I was in my junior year about to start exam week, I stayed up and finished the whole book in one night, and it had haunted and inspired me ever since.
Not only is LFA exceptionally well written, it is one of those books that you can feel every emotion experienced and have never felt the emotions before in your own life. The pain, the loss, the heartache and the longing are real- you can feel them in your bones.
I felt solidarity with Alaska- the soul haunted by her past and irrevocably damaged. And with Pudge- the boy who longs for what he can never have, and when he gets a chance, he is too chicken to go after what he wants. You fall in love with all the characters, feel and revel the emotions, breathe their breaths and feel their heartbeats as you do your own.
John Green, I want to thank you for doing that which not many people in this world can accomplish, and making me believe again- that life is only what you make of it, that faith makes you strong- not weak, that people do have redeeming qualities; some just take more time to find and more patience to appreciate. This book touched my heart and helped me to find something I had been looking for- for a long time: myself.
Because, in the end, Alaska- I think- is a metaphor for the girl- or boy- who you lost without reason or explanation, and who you look for around every street corner, in every piece on music, in every book or movie you experience- searching in the vain hope of finding them when all rational explanations tell you they are gone. But, still you look, because you know that one day, you may not find them, but it is in your faith and belief that you will find yourself.
So, I have to thank you for helping me and so many others find the person we were looking for.
I doubt you could ever forget to be awesome, because that is what you truly are.
I’ve just finished reading LFA and there’s some questions that the book has raised that I feel need answers. I know we’re supposed to consider the questions as unable to be answered completely because that’s a part of life…
But I was wondering, why are people invincible? I don’t really understand this. If there is a part of us greater than the sum of our parts, what is it?
What are your opinions?
Anyway, I love this book, the way the characters are illustrated is so perfect. I have fallen in love with the idea of Culver Creek and the Colonel and Alaska and Miles and Takumi and Lara (though I wish Alaska and Miles could have found a way to be together). The unfairness of her dying was important though, to the book as a whole, and to dealing with the issue of loss and grief.
This book made me want to go to boarding school, so I commend you, John Green, because you are obviously a great writer if you can do that :)
How come toward the start of the book The Colonel says that The Old Man has only one lung, yet toward the end he refers to his own “lungs” in the plural? Just a thought…
That quote, “We need never be hopeless, because we can never be irreparably broken” You said it meant a lot to a lot of people, but I just hope you know how much impact it had, especially on myself. Also, I plan to get that tattooed on my side.
← Previous Comments