Why I Dislike 13 Reasons Why
13 Reasons Why by Jay Asher is NOT a book I enjoyed. At all. I think the novel is shallow, Hannah Baker sounds like a girl who only cares about herself and is so stuck in her own head that it's like all of the negative things that happen to her define her life. The characters are ill-developed, they are not explained, there is no second side of the story that I think is extremely important to the plot. Before I get too into it, the book has a lot of flaws. But, from what I've seen of the Netflix series, it's pretty good. I still don't like the story, but the show is much more detailed and portrayed a lot more appropriately than the book, in my opinion. I will go into detail about the comparison between the book and the show as well as what I like and dislike about each.
In the book, 13 Reasons Why, I want to talk about the issues with the character Hannah Baker. Before I start off, I want to say that I'm not trying to make any rash or harsh opinions about suicide. It's not up to me to decide if suicide is justified or not and I mean no disrespect to anyone who has killed themselves. What I do think, is that the book makes Hannah seem extremely self-centered and out-right unintelligent. Asher doesn't go into any detail about Baker's emotions and what she feels during this harsh time in her life. He doesn't make a major point to say that she's depressed and she doesn't go into what that means, all we see is that so-and-so hurt Hannah's feelings and after it happened enough, she decided that her life was over. I also don't like how there's only one side of the story told. It is about Hannah after all and the tragedy that is her death, but all of the characters are completely static. There's no growth in the book at all; even the voice telling the story, Clay, is very boring and his narration isn't original or exciting at all. I even felt as if it was quite unnecessary at times. One of my biggest problems with the book is that it seems to glorify suicide. Granted, I think it's probably hard to write about suicide without it sounding glorified just because the writer should want justice for the character, but that's a problem if it sounds or seems glorified. The purpose of the actual tapes that Hannah uses is likely meant to just be a new idea that was brought to the book for entertainment purposed and originality, but it's also "cute" and "quirky" which is not a good message to spread about a girl who took her own life. Also, the whole idea of a girl seeking revenge against her peers who she claims made her choose to kill herself seems childish. Bullying is a horrible problem and there's no way to justify it, but kids are mean. They have always been mean and I think that there will always be mean kids as long as there are mean people who are raising them. A lot of girls and boys are taken advantage of, so many kids have had it worse than Hannah Baker and have made it through their lives, so what does this book tell kids who are having a hard time at home or an even worse time than Hannah Baker was? It tells them that if they want to get back at those who hurt them, killing yourself is the answer. I understand the good and bad in this book and try my best to see both sides, but I can't stand it and I think that it is rightfully controversial. I don't believe in depriving kids from hard to read stories, but if I had to pick a book to personally ban, it would be this one.
On the other hand, we have 13 Reasons Why the show. The show is extremely better than the book, mostly because it's executed well. Unlike the book, all of the characters have deeper back stories. The show doesn't justify their actions through giving them back-stories, it only shows that there ARE in fact, two sides to every story. Sometimes, kids are just mean to be mean, but it's because they are bullied themselves. Some kids don't feel like they're enough, there is a void there, and so they are mean. This recognition is important for kids to realize, not everyone's life is perfect and mean people have a reason for being mean. That doesn't mean it's right, it just means that they are taking their pain out on someone else. I think that this show does a good job at making that point and showing it through each character. Another reason the show is better is because it stresses the importance of the role of parents and adults in the lives of younger generations. In the book, Hannah's parents are rarely mentioned, its as if this child had no choice in her decision or anyone to go to at all, which I know is how a lot of kids feel, but that's the problem. Kids need to know and be told that their parents care, and in most cases, that's true. Adults need to be someone that you can go to and the fact that the guidance administrator failed Hannah, is a true crime. The role of adults in the show is very important and the fact that that's not in the book is wrong. In conclusion, I don't like 13 Reasons Why at all, but I will admit that the show is way better than the book.
In the book, 13 Reasons Why, I want to talk about the issues with the character Hannah Baker. Before I start off, I want to say that I'm not trying to make any rash or harsh opinions about suicide. It's not up to me to decide if suicide is justified or not and I mean no disrespect to anyone who has killed themselves. What I do think, is that the book makes Hannah seem extremely self-centered and out-right unintelligent. Asher doesn't go into any detail about Baker's emotions and what she feels during this harsh time in her life. He doesn't make a major point to say that she's depressed and she doesn't go into what that means, all we see is that so-and-so hurt Hannah's feelings and after it happened enough, she decided that her life was over. I also don't like how there's only one side of the story told. It is about Hannah after all and the tragedy that is her death, but all of the characters are completely static. There's no growth in the book at all; even the voice telling the story, Clay, is very boring and his narration isn't original or exciting at all. I even felt as if it was quite unnecessary at times. One of my biggest problems with the book is that it seems to glorify suicide. Granted, I think it's probably hard to write about suicide without it sounding glorified just because the writer should want justice for the character, but that's a problem if it sounds or seems glorified. The purpose of the actual tapes that Hannah uses is likely meant to just be a new idea that was brought to the book for entertainment purposed and originality, but it's also "cute" and "quirky" which is not a good message to spread about a girl who took her own life. Also, the whole idea of a girl seeking revenge against her peers who she claims made her choose to kill herself seems childish. Bullying is a horrible problem and there's no way to justify it, but kids are mean. They have always been mean and I think that there will always be mean kids as long as there are mean people who are raising them. A lot of girls and boys are taken advantage of, so many kids have had it worse than Hannah Baker and have made it through their lives, so what does this book tell kids who are having a hard time at home or an even worse time than Hannah Baker was? It tells them that if they want to get back at those who hurt them, killing yourself is the answer. I understand the good and bad in this book and try my best to see both sides, but I can't stand it and I think that it is rightfully controversial. I don't believe in depriving kids from hard to read stories, but if I had to pick a book to personally ban, it would be this one.
On the other hand, we have 13 Reasons Why the show. The show is extremely better than the book, mostly because it's executed well. Unlike the book, all of the characters have deeper back stories. The show doesn't justify their actions through giving them back-stories, it only shows that there ARE in fact, two sides to every story. Sometimes, kids are just mean to be mean, but it's because they are bullied themselves. Some kids don't feel like they're enough, there is a void there, and so they are mean. This recognition is important for kids to realize, not everyone's life is perfect and mean people have a reason for being mean. That doesn't mean it's right, it just means that they are taking their pain out on someone else. I think that this show does a good job at making that point and showing it through each character. Another reason the show is better is because it stresses the importance of the role of parents and adults in the lives of younger generations. In the book, Hannah's parents are rarely mentioned, its as if this child had no choice in her decision or anyone to go to at all, which I know is how a lot of kids feel, but that's the problem. Kids need to know and be told that their parents care, and in most cases, that's true. Adults need to be someone that you can go to and the fact that the guidance administrator failed Hannah, is a true crime. The role of adults in the show is very important and the fact that that's not in the book is wrong. In conclusion, I don't like 13 Reasons Why at all, but I will admit that the show is way better than the book.
I agree with the reasons of dislike for this novel. As I reading I almost felt guilty because I question if Hannah in all 13 cases was really the victim, or if she created issues for herself. I do the think the series is better because it consist of other characters involvement and not so much in a negative light.
ReplyDeleteAlthough I've always supported this book/show, I agree with some of the points you bring up about the book. I think Hannah's character IS supposed to be insufferable at times. There is definitely also a continuum when it comes to the tapes (some are wayyy more forgivable than others). I think Asher's main point with the novel was to show readers that they never know what is going on in someone's life and how even little things can effect them (especially when they snowball into huge things as in Hannah's case). I agree that the show does a wayyyyyyyyyyyyy (I can't stress this enough) better job at exploring each character more fully so viewers can see whether or not they are forgivable and what their home life is. The show makes each character (except Bryce) more sympathetic and shows Hannah's faults more clearly too.
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