Turtles All the Way Down: A great book from a fantastic author (James)

     Turtles All the Way Down written by John Green, follows Aza Holmes, a 16 year old girl who suffers from Obsessive Compulsive Disorder and severe anxiety, as she tries to find her neighbor's billionaire fugitive father. However, the goal of this blog isn't to review the book, but rather to compare Aza Holmes to the author, John Green.

    John Green has frequently spoke in the media about his struggles with anxiety and OCD. Growing up, he felt isolated from his classmates and peers. He often had compulsive thoughts and suffered from anxiety. This led to him transferring to a boarding school when he was 14. On an interview he said this about his schooling change "I was really struggling socially, I was really struggling academically, I was a really poor student and it seemed to me like a—like a way out. Like a chance to reinvent myself, a chance to become a different person and not be stuck with all of the memories that everyone, you know, in my school had of me." This quote highlights how he both struggled to fit in, as well as underlining his struggles with anxiety. In fact, the closer you look, the more you realize how closely Aza's character is based off of John Green himself. 

    On a different interview, John Green says this: 

Radio Host: "Thank you for reading that. That's John Green reading from his new novel, which is called "Turtles All The Way Down." So of all the obsessive-compulsive thoughts you could have given your main character, Aza, why did you give her this obsession with C-diff?" (C-Diff: Clostridioides difficile is a bacteria that causes pretty severe symptoms, and is the main focus point of Aza's OCD). Because of her irrational fear of this bacteria, Aza constantly re-opens a wound on her finger, in order for her to sanitize it. 

Green: "Well, partly because I can relate to it. I mean, I needed a place where I could make a connection with Aza in order to write about her, I think. And I've long had a fear of contamination from microorganisms. That's long been one of the kind of focuses of my particular version of obsessive-compulsive disorder." I believe that the reason this book (and so many of his others) is so well written is because of Green's ability to connect so deeply his personal experiences with those of this characters, creating a book with details that wouldn't be possible without first hand experience.

    Though it is not uncommon for authors to draw inspiration from their own lives when creating characters and narratives, in the case of Green, he is able to create an incredibly nuanced and realistic character. By learning about his background, I was able to see how and why John Green wrote this book, and so I hope in writing this blog, I've given you some motivation to learn about the authors of your favorite books. 

More Information: 

https://www.wnycstudios.org/podcasts/deathsexmoney/episodes/john-green-ocd-writing-death-sex-money 

https://www.npr.org/2018/09/14/647848731/for-novelist-john-green-ocd-is-like-an-invasive-weed-inside-his-mind

https://www.nytimes.com/2017/10/10/books/review-john-green-turtles-all-the-way-down.html