So since my beginning this blog, I have been almost completely MIA. Shame on me, I know. I had been on this reading slump, self induced, as a result of purchasing an obscene amount of books and having absolutely no idea which book to start with. I began reading Fragments by Dan Wells, the sequel to Partials and then decided to take a break from that world. So, I picked up Me and Earl and the Dying Girl by Jesse Andrews instead. I read that book in a day and a half.
It is quite difficult to explain exactly what this book is about, suffice it to say that it is about a boy named Greg who spends his high school career not really being friends with anyone, a floater at best, acquaintances with everyone. This is by no means bad for him though, he prefers it this way. The only "friend" that he does have is a boy named, Earl. Although, as Greg states, they are more like "business partners", both boys enjoy making movies. This changes when Greg's mom makes Greg begin spending time with a girl named Rachel whom Greg went to Hebrew school with. Rachel has been diagnosed with leukemia and being a pushy mom, she insists that Greg be a good "friend" to her.
The book pretty much takes off from there. Given the synopsis of this book you would think it was some kind of heartwarming, coming-of-age, falling in love...blah blah blah novel, and in doing so, you would be wrong. This book is absolutely hilarious. I busted out laughing on multiple occasions. Greg explains many times that although he should feel bad for Rachel, or he should care more about her and the fact that she is going to die, (not a spoiler, within the first 2 pages or so, we find out that Rachel is going to die) He simply doesn't. He tells us that if Rachel didn't have cancer, he wouldn't talk to her, likewise, if she was cured or went into remission, he is unsure of whether or not he would remain friends with her.
I don't think that you are supposed to particularly like Greg, or Earl for that matter, as much as you are supposed to understand that life isn't always simple. You don't always get a fairy tale ending, you don't always fall in love. This book is brutally honest, and I really appreciated that about it. I highly recommend this book. It is phenomenal, I did give it a 5 out 5 stars on Goodreads.
I leave you with three quotes from this book, all equally deep and completely honest.
"You can't wrap your head around not living. You can't actually believe that you're not gonna be alive." -Earl
"And they just left this dead person in a wheelchair lying around? It was like, "Oh yeah, that's Gilbert. He's been there for three days! We find that he's a helpful reminder of WHAT HAPPENS TO ALL LIVING THINGS."" -Greg
""This was a human being, dying. This was the only time there was going to someone with those eyes, those ears and that way of breathing through her mouth and that way of building up right before a monster laugh with her eyebrows all raised and her nostrils flaring a little bit, this was the only time there was every going to be that person, living in the world, and now that was almost over, and I couldn't deal with it." - Greg
Happy reading!
Rachel
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