Soundtrack: The Fault In Our Stars

It wasn't too long ago, when I read The Fault In Our Stars, a book, so insightful, honest, raw and deeply moving. The writing was simple, not at all in a bad way, but in a feel good way, in which there were hardly any complications in words or difficulty of words that got in the way of getting to the point and the heart of the story. This book left me in awe, not overwhelmed with incomprehensible notions, but fully engaged and moved by the life lessons I had gained just by reading the story of Hazel Grace and Augustus Waters. It is a story of love, of friendship, of family, of surviving, of dying, of believing and doubting and much much more.

The story though taking on a serious matter is full of humor, the kind that is refreshing and almost uplifting, the kind that magnifies the ugly truth, and makes it easier for us to accept it. There are more than one side to this story, in the perspective it is told and the view in which the characters see their situation and the world around them, each one equally truthfully, each one revealing as many answers and questions, each one as significant and thought provoking. I love how strongly my heart beat for all the characters, how their story gravitated right to the core of my heart, even shattered it but also pieced it back together again. I love how the author, John Green, challenged my way of thinking, my philosophies, affirming it, questioning it, expanding it. Immediately after reading the final page of the book, I texted my youngest brother, who introduced me to this book. One text led to a series of long texts, exchanging our feelings of sentiment towards the book, the characters, the author, exchanging quote after quote, that we found so memorable from this book. There is an endless amount of quotes in this book, that will change you, move you and worth sharing and repeating over and over again.

"I fell in love the way you fall asleep: slowly, and then all at once."

"You don't get to choose if you get hurt in this world... but you do have some say in who hurts you. 

I like my choices."

"My thoughts are stars I can't fathom into constellations."

"The fault, dear Brutus, is not in our stars but in ourselves."

"All salvation is temporary," Augustus shot back. "I bought them a minute. Maybe that's the minute that buys them an hour, which is the hour that buys them a year. No one is gonna buy them forever, Hazel Grace, but my life bought them a minute. And that's not nothing."

"Sometimes people don't understand the promises they're making when they make them," I said.
Isaac shot me a look. "Right, of course. But you keep the promise anyway. That's what love is. Love is keeping the promise anyway."

"That's the thing about pain. It demands to be felt."

"We're likely to hurt the universe as we are to help it, and we're not likely to do either."

"The world, 'he said, 'is not a wish-granting factory."

"Some infinites are bigger than other infinities. I can not tell you how grateful I am for our little infinity.
You gave me forever within the numbered days, and I'm grateful."

Last week, during a trip to California, my little brother and I went to see the movie version of The Fault In Our Stars. It seemed appropriate and perfectly fitting that we saw it together and shared this experience together. We watched the showing before the midnight show time of this movie, on the night before its' release date... We watched it as soon as we possibly could because we couldn't wait another day longer! I loved reading the book. I loved watching the movie and though movies are always being compared to the book and often times, it is criticized for not being quite as good as the book, something about being able to sit back and watch this story unfold, allowing myself to appreciate the given visuals presented to me on screen, embracing the chosen actors to play such iconic characters, was actually very liberating, definitely entertaining and worth every second in that movie theater. 

I took the movie experience like a joy ride, driving with no hurry, anticipation or expectation, a ride in which you allow yourself to take in the scenery, accepting everything you see as what it is, taking in every thought, feeling and experience, without too many questions or resistance. It was a tranquil, almost therapeutic experience. I embraced it and I enjoyed it. As I sat in the movie theater, taking in every scene, every dialogue, every picture projected on that big screen, I also found myself entranced by the music. I believe the choice of songs, compiled together to make up the soundtrack to The Fault In Our Stars, was one of the most memorable addition to the movie.

Song List

1. All of The Stars ~ Ed Sheeran

2. Simple As This ~ Jake Bugg

3. Let Me In ~ Group Love

4. Tee Shirt ~ Birdy

5. All I Want ~ Kodaline

6. Long Way Down ~ Tom Odell

7. Boom Clap ~ Charli XCX

8. While I'm Alive ~ STRFKR

9. Oblivion ~ Indians

10. Strange Things Will Happen ~ The Radio Dept.

11. BOM FALLE RALLA ~ AFASI & FILTHY

12. Without Words ~ Ray Lamontagne

13. Not About Angels ~ Birdy

14. No One Ever Loved ~ Lykke Li

15. Wait ~ M83

16. Best Shot ~ Birdy & James Young (Bonus Track)

The music to the movie was so good, that I went to every store that I thought could possibly have it and after realizing that aside from itunes, the hard copy release of the CD hasn't made its way to the stores yet, I went ahead and did two orders of it from Barnes & Nobles, while searching for it there during my last store stop. Two days later, two copies of this CD were in store for me to pick up. I was grateful for how quickly they had been delivered to the store and how soon I got to pick them up! One of these CDs I kept for myself and the other, I gave to my brother, as a surprise gift. It was him that motivated me to the read the book. I shared the movie experience with him and it just seemed appropriate to share this soundtrack with him. Unknowingly, I guess he tweeted how much he really wanted this CD... So he was beyond happy that I surprised him with it!