#colin singleton

An Abundance of Katherines by John Green

When I first tried to read this book in 2016, it bored me, I must admit. It was four years ago and I didn’t really know much about heartbreak or math. Now, in 2020, this novel was heartfelt, hopeful, and outstanding.

It was a light read that truly had the power to make you feel good. It was incredibly well-written, not that I’m surprised, having read multiple books by John Green previously. 

What was truly fascinating was the addition of math to this plot, the explanations at the end of the acknowledgments. The attention to detail that the author has while creating this new world is extraordinary. He knows what he is doing, even though he admits he isn’t very good at math. 

The main character, Colin Singleton, whose name is rather hilarious, is a former child prodigy, but pre-genius. He is insecure, which is easily detected by his constant need to be told that he is smart and that he will become a genius. He is completely self-absorbed, until the end of the novel. He doesn’t really know how to act with everyone else in his life, especially any of the eighteen Katherines he had dated. 

He is a sweet and romantic teenager, but ultimately his insecurities tend to ruin most of his attachments to other people, something that I personally find relatable. This novel depicts a boy who doesn’t know what friendship truly is, who doesn’t know how to act and what to say. He somehow seems oblivious to the rest of the world and its interests. 

Colin’s best friend, Hassan, is great. Honestly, he is comedically perfect in most situations, especially when he finds out Katrina is cheating on him. He always finds a way to make everyone laugh. His rhetoric seems religious, but he isn’t the perfect Muslim he’d like to be. In all honesty, he shows the amount of hypocrisy that is present in each human being, whether they know it or not. 

Lindsey is a strong female character and I loved her. The fact that she wasn’t a trophy to be earned was fantastic. She had just as many insecurities as Colin, but they just manifested themselves differently. She was emotional when necessary and calculating when not. Her intelligence never failed and she was honest which is a quality to be admired. 

The plot of the story was well thought out and perfectly portrayed. The setting of the novel was well chosen, a small town in rural America, showing a complex side of what most people think is the land of racism and country music. 

I wonder what would become of us if we had met when we were small you would be my sister friend that I would be too afraid to touch long after the moment we  were in high school and I realized you were a woman

You would be my sister friend and we would get drunk in the kitchen I would be your plus-one to your important business meeting and you would introduce me to the love of my life; then I would call you when she cheated on me my sister-friend my sister-friend

Is the fruit only delicious because it is forbidden? for surely the inside is rotten as sin and though your lips are delicate and soft; your teeth are sharp and filled with cavities

And as the gangrene enters my throat I would whisper ‘my sister-friend’ ‘my sister-friend’

•16th June 2019•

Finished reading this week after having owned the book for years.

John Green continues to make me smile and laugh and then proceed to have an existential crisis.

I loved spending a few hours in Gutshot, Tennesee(is that how it it's spelled?) And I kept put off reading it quickly just so I can spend more time in Gutshot with all the lovely people.