Augustus Waters.
Okay right about now you're probably scratching your head thinking "What the heck? I LOVED AUGUSTUS WATERS HOW IS HE A FLAW?!?!" Oh but it's not him. I loved Augustus Waters too. It's his name that just.... well cracks me up. I was so tempted to ask John Green why he picked the name Augustus when I was at the Tour de Nerdfighting in Phoenix because the name to me is just hilarious. Either you've realized by now why I find his name funny or you're still confused so allow me to explain.
It's not that I don't like the name Augustus. It's the fact that out of all the books I've read in my life there are only two with characters named Augustus:
and
Now you can probably see where I'm going with this! Honestly when I first found out that the swoonworthy guy in TFiOS was named Augustus I laughed out loud because the first image to pop into my head was not some terribly attractive and dashing gent like the book describes ala Drew Roy:
Note: I picked this guy because he was one of the first images to pop up when I Googled Augustus Waters and I didn't have time to find the "perfect" Augustus. That's not to say he isn't actually really cute though... >.<
No instead the first image to pop into my head was this:
Yep. Unfortunate but true. :P
You would think that Augustus' nickname Gus would have helped the situation but instead whenever they called him that I would picture this:
Not that Gus Gus from Disney's Cinderella isn't cute and all, but he's certainly no swoonworthy teen boy!
Anyway this post has been random, and fun, and 100% true and I hope you got a laugh out of it!
I feel like this whole Augustus Gloop/Augustus Waters thing needs to be remedied by me searching high and low on the internet for my a picture of a guy who fits my perfect Augustus.... Too creepy and obsessive? Probably. >.<
Please tell me I'm not the only one who thought of Augustus Gloop at least once! XD
Julia :)
I haven't read the book yet but Augustus makes me think of Charlie and the Chocolate Factory too. Cringing-ly so. :/
ReplyDeleteHahaha! That is too funny. I never made that connection when reading it, so sorry about that. :)
ReplyDeleteJohn said at a TdN stop that he chose the name very intentionally (I'm paraphrasing):
ReplyDelete* Augustus is a Roman emperor- it's grand and serious like Augustus is/tries to be.
* Gus is a relatable goofy boy next door
* He chose the name precisely because it's 2 names, two sort of sides to him and/or two ways to look at him. (remember when hazel talks about his goofy smile? remember when he says 'you used to call me Augustus' after she calls him Gus when he's in a more vulnerable state?).
Lots of metaphorical resonance!
and there was someone in John's acknowledgments with the last name Waters.
Oh good to know! I figured the name had a lot of meaning behind it but I never got a chance to ask John about it so thanks for telling me! That makes a ton of sense. I also know he picked the last name Waters because water was a big symbol in the book especially with Hazel and the water filling her lungs. :)
DeleteYou just made my day! This is one of the funniest things I've ever seen!! Thanks for the laugh.
ReplyDeleteLOL. You know, I have no qualms with the name Augustus Waters. I like it in an old-fashioned kind of way. My problem is the nickname. Gus. Yuck. Yeah, it's not very attractive. But at least Augustus sounds refined. For me, the name definitely fits for a really hot nerd.
ReplyDeleteI love his name..
ReplyDeleteI love Augustus Gloop! Although when I hear the nickname Gus, I think of the cat from Cats that Ian McKellen played!
ReplyDelete