An Abundance of Katherines: A far-from-solid review

Preface: What I mean by review in this blog, I admit, is not really a 'real' review. It's just a recollection of memories, feelings, and thoughts that I remember after finishing one book. Unlike real reviews, I don't dissect each plot and each character, and just let the words in my head flow freely, expressing my opinions about that very book. So forgive my clumsiness in writing and reviewing, and I hope my fellow readers can get something out of it. :)

Image: todrawamockingbird.com

I'm still in the middle of exploring John Green's writings, picking up one book after another, and my choice after Looking for Alaska fell for An Abundance of Katherines. It took me a while to finish reading it, and I can solely blame my low-motivated self for that. 

An Abundance of Katherines, later on will be replaced by AAK for practicality, tells us the story of Collin Singleton, a boy prodigy, who finds himself stuck with girls named Katherine for girlfriends. He has dated a total of 19 'Katherine,' and his last break-up has certainly brought him down to a completely different level. As a prodigy, he has the need to feel special, to receive recognition from others, more importantly, to achieve something and become a genius. He has the fear of being left behind, neglected and forgotten, and the break up doesn't help. He decides to take a road trip with his one and only best friend, Hassan Harbish. Together they end up in Tennessee, where they meet Lindsey Lee Wells, and stay at her place while doing part-time job for Lindsey's mother. 

Collin, an anagram-loving seventeen-year-old boy, having been dumped 19 times by Katherines, believes he can reach a 'Eureka' moment and finally feel like he's really special by creating a formula, about dumpers and dumpees, that can predict the relationship of any two persons, how long they will last and who will be the dumper and the dumpee. He calls his theorem the "Theorem of Underlying Katherine Probability," which he tries hard to finish during his stay in Tennessee. 

In the end he has perfected his theorem, he has proven his theorem worked for all his past relationships, but turns out he cannot make the theorem work to predict the future, as he finally realized, that the future can't be foreseen because there are too many factors affecting it. He also has broken free from the Katherine 'obsession' by having a relationship with Lindsey. Being special, after all, is a state of mind. 

Reading AAK is a joy and a trial in its own way. I really like Collin's whimsical mind and all the stories of Katherines. I think of Hassan as the perfect sidekick that really lighten up the mood of the book, with Lindsey as the girl that is just right to 'fix' Collin somehow. But all the wordy words about the theorems, all the curves and formula presented just didn't make sense for me until the end, as I am fully aware I suck at Math and numbers. The formula, which the main story is revolved around, has proven to be just the thing that was hindering me to be fully drowned in the world of one Collin Singleton. 

Above all, AAK is one and another solid book from John Green, the more reasons why I will continue to read his other books, cannot wait to see the other characters he has created with his beautiful mind. Luckily, I know what I'm going after next, Paper Town.