Palo Alto by James Franco – BOOK REVIEW
I happened to buy this book due
to my love of James Franco and it was one of those quick on the moment things, I
skimmed the reviews on it written by customers who had already bought it and
all I saw was ‘1 out of 5 stars’, ‘not worth it’, ‘don’t buy this book’. So what
I did was ignore the comments and said to myself ‘might as well give it a
chance, when has Mr Franco ever let me down?’ Reading the book and thinking back
on that moment I discovered that the reviews were bad due to the fact they must
have all been written by bitter adults who didn’t have such a radical teenage
experience as the characters do in the book!
Right from the beginning of the
book you get involved, the description is so vivid that for all you know it
could be you as the character. To be honest all I have for the book is praise
so I’ll make the review short. If you can imagine a cross between ‘rebel
without a cause’ and ‘stand by me’ then you’ve got it in one. The struggles,
experiences and existence of teenage life superbly written by Mr Franco, who
you can’t help but thinking throughout the story if he actually experienced
some of these radical things. The story is told in first person by many
different characters from their viewpoints; it amazed me at how perfectly Mr
Franco nailed the perspectives of both the female and male characters; like he
actually got in their heads and understood them.
The way it is written is kind
of like poetry, the whole thing flows and is very blunt and to the point. It is
raw and maybe a bit vulgar at some points. The book is very true to the subject
and balances the fact that teenagers do in fact have underlying problems and
can experience such intense feelings as adults can. If you are a teenager and
want to be understood you will read the book and think, ‘oh I’m not alone after
all’ and I think it could be a great comfort for some of us. Anyone who likes
something a bit different, that pushes the boundaries and goes deeper than the
surface would also enjoy this book.
If like me you have already read
the book and are a fan then I have some good news! The book is going to be made
into a film called ‘Palo Alto Stories’!!!
Directed by Gia Coppola, starring James Franco, Emma Roberts and
Keegan
Allen to name a few ;-)!
Hope you are all excited as I am
!!!!
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