Literary Adventure discussion

1. John Green derives his book's title from a famous line in Shakespeare's Julius Caesar: "The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars, but in ourselves, that we are underlings." (I,ii,139-140). What does the line mean—and why would Green have used it for his title? Even more important, why would he have altered it to read, "The fault in our stars" rather than ourselves? How does Green's meaning differ from Shakespeare's?

2. How do Hazel and Gus each relate to their cancer? Do they define themselves by it? Do they ignore it? Do they rage at life's unfairness? Most importantly, how do the two confront the big questions of life and death?

3. John Green uses the voice of an adolescent girl to narrate his story. Does he do a convincing job of creating a female character?

4. How do Hazel and Gus change, in spirit, over the course of the novel?

5. What did you make of the book's humor? Is it appropriate...or inappropriate? Green has said he "didn't want to use humor to lighten the mood" or "to pull out the easy joke" when things got hard. But, he said, he likes to write about "clever kids, [and they] tend to be funny even when things are rough." Is his use of humor successful? How did it affect the way you read the book?

I can't imagine what kids and parents go through when illness strikes the family. I though John Green did well with her voice and the kids were realistic in their attitudes.

I take the title to mean it's not our fault when disaster strikes, but rather in our fates, and there is no changing that.