Review | ‘Hollywood, Ending’: John Green’s first-ever novel for adults
The Hindu · Cris Cris ·
Two narrators reveal Hollywood’s glamor and grit in John Green’s adult debut, exploring fame, loneliness, and the industry’s hidden costs.
The voice of the storyteller can be so taken for granted, unregarded and forgotten in the pursuit of the story, that it might surprise you to have not one but two narrators make their presence felt. This is the case with every page of American author and YouTuber John Green’s new novel, Hollywood, Ending. You are forced to take in one’s presence, as the other leaves, in this detailed and revelatory story about filmmaking in Hollywood.
An author known for his coming-of-age stories, most famously The Fault in Our Stars (2012), Green steps into the adult world with two very young protagonists. Juniper, 22, is the kind who works too hard and asks too many questions, and is obsessed with making it big in Hollywood. She could be Hermione Granger, all grown up, without the detour of having to save the world. Kai is 21, charming and more innocent as a debutant, lavish with his ‘I-love-yous’ but uncharacteristically guarded about his past.
That is, until Juniper steps out of the narrator’s shoes and Kai takes over. The voice-over forces you to look at him closely, turn away from the page and imagine him standing there with his life story. If it is a carefully placed writing technique, it is a very strong one. It makes you realise you might overlook characters who are not given a voice, and you are not inside their head.
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