Review: John Green's Amsterdam

Source:  Seventeen Magazine

Of course, I'm not the first one to write about this book. Nor will I be the last. The Fault In Our Stars is the latest masterpiece of the immense popular Young Adult novelist John Green. Green has written several other novels that appeal to the mind of every person coming-of-age, such as An Abundance of Katherines and Paper Towns. But never has one of his novels created such an enormeous hype as TFIOS.


For the few people not knowing what the book is about: Hazel Grace is a 16-year-old teenage girl who happens to have cancer. Knowing that she is unable to live a normal adult life, knowing that the cancer once will come and take her, she tries to make the best of it. Her mother is constantly around her, forcing her to go to the weekly cancer meetings. Hazel is reluctant to go, but attends a couple times more, to please her mother. On one of those days, she encounters Augustus Waters, or Gus, as his parents call him. He also once was a victim of cancer, but seems to be almost clean. As expected from the very beginning, the young couple falls in love, gradually over time. Needless to say, heartbreaking plots will enfold, described in the most wonderful language: we're talking about John Green, for goodness sake.

One of the center plots of the book is the journey to Amsterdam, to meet the author Peter van Houten. Of course, this author doesn't exist (and I don't know if that is a bad thing). John Green doesn't conceal is fascination for our beloved capital: Amsterdam. He depicts the scenery with almost lyrical enthousiasm, elaborating about the canals, the views, the Dutch people. He was in Amsterdam last month, and I believe the happy few who spotted him, almost fainted. Americans seem to love Amsterdam for all American reasons: it is cute, it is small, everything is closeby, and people are free to smoke pot whenever they want. Of course, Amsterdam is not just that. There is more outside the touristic centre. There is life after the canals, so to say. Sadly, most people never go there. John Green is no exception to this. Yet, I think he has a spot-on view about how Amsterdam actually works. He observes, he thinks, he writes. And in this writing, he makes some really clever remarks.

Personally, I loved the words he put into the mouth of the taxi driver Hazel and Gus encounter on their way to their hotel: "Some tourists think Amsterdam is a city of sin, but in truth it is a city of freedom. And in freedom, most people find sin." To me, this perfectly describes the way Amsterdam is: a city of endless possibilities. The way you use them, is up to you. You can fall into misery, or make your stay here the most glorious time of all. 

Needless to say, I am most eager to do the latter.