Hey! Isn’t that one of the Crash Course guys?
This past Tuesday, September 2nd, author John Green came to speak at the Leid Center of Kansas as a part of the University of Kansas’s Common Book Experience for his selected essay collection The Anthropocene Reviewed. What a mouthful of a title! John Green is a multi–award winning novelist of countless cross-genre titles including The Fault in Our Stars, Turtles All the Way Down, and his recent non-fiction debut Everything is Tuberculosis, though he may be better known by our generation as one-half of the infamous Vlogbrothers and Crash Course YouTube channels.
Mid-book tour for Everything is Tuberculosis, John Green took a step back to discuss his collection of essays, The Anthropocene Reviewed, that aims to rank different facets of humanity on the 5-star scale the internet has come to love. From velociraptors to Diet Dr Pepper, Green captures the complexities of the planet we live on and the people who inhabit it while emphasizing the value of remaining hopeful.
I was lucky enough to snag myself a front row seat in the sold out auditorium, so let’s talk about it! In the nature of The Anthropocene Reviewed, I will be reviewing the biggest takeaways of the evening that scored a 5-star rating on the humanity scale in my book.
Literature is alive
★★★★★
“The feeling that literature is not distant, not ancient, but is alive in my life is magical.” – John Green
An apt topic for an audience of college students and staff, Green emphasized the importance of literature, research and education. He recalled his own college experience and his notion of jumping over ‘nonessential’ hurtles to reach his destination. Looking back, he now appreciates the opportunity he had to conduct research and interact with knowledge. He particularly spotlighted authors, such as Nobel Prize-winning Toni Morrison, to illustrate that impactful literature is currently be written in our modern era. Important, extraordinary, and educational literature is not stuck in the generations of Shakespeare and Tolstoy. Literature is as alive and thriving as ever before!
Opportunity never ceases
★★★★★
“I was in my twenties, and I remember thinking how could someone so old do something so new? Now that I am, myself, so old, doing something new continues to be this incredibly exciting thing” – John Green
When asked if he has different advice for writers starting out in their teenage years or when they are 60, Green replied with the quote above. Opportunity does not cease to exist with age or, as Green puts it, when the zombie that is adulthood finally catches up to you. It is important to remember that no matter what your age or what you struggle with, there will always be opportunities to write. Green referenced his own journey of writing one of his characters with OCD, a diagnosis he shares with the protagonist, in Turtles All the Way Down. He appreciated the opportunity to use his own experiences to create a relatable fictional character for others, and encourages others to do the same. Writing has no age limit or personal criteria to fill. There is always the opportunity to write.
There is always hope
★★★★★
“That is really what I wanted to accomplish with the book… I wanted people to say, ‘Okay, hope is the right response to consciousness'” – John Green
As the evening came to a close, Green gave one final piece of advice: there is always hope to be found in humanity if you just look for it. He recognizes that in our modern world, it is extremely difficult to differentiate from the wonder and the monstrosity of humanity. Despite this, it remains true that despair does not define the sum of all human experience. He captured this idea through a quotation from Emily Dickinson’s poem “‘Hope is the thing with feathers,” reciting, “And sings the tune without the words/And never stops – at all.” This is a fitting reminder, as global turmoil continuous to increase, to take the time to seek the good in one another and in ourselves.
Conclusions
I know this event will be crystalized as one of the most inspiring events in KU Common Book history. As a somewhat-writer myself, I will be looking back on this evening and the passion it embodied for decades to come. As we learned, literature can be a guiding light for opportunity and hope within the lives of college students and beyond. It turns out that your online heroes can be just as moving, and memorable, in person. Do not forget to go out and get yourself a copy of The Anthropocene Reviewed!