Paper Towns

As a Nerdfighter, I would like to say french the lama! This book certainly decreases worldsuck! If you’re not a Nerdfighter and very confused, Paper Towns, written by novelist, vlogger, and co-creator of Nerdfighteria John Green, is, in other words, an excellent book. It’s the story of a high school senior named Q and his friends Radar, Ben and Stacey as they attempt to unravel the mystery surrounding the disappearance of Margo Roth Speigleman after a night of adventure with Q. Green is using the novel to put forth the idea that we can never truly, fully understand one another. Green sees the idolization of Margo that takes place in the novel as an unfortunate problem and that often times our perceptions of other people are just a mirror reflection of ourselves and what we want to see. And even when we shatter the mirror in an attempt to understand a person, we can never fully do so, never fully comprehend or essentially become that person. In Paper Towns, Green is attempting to endow these ideals upon the readers and encourage them to really think about someone and discover more about them before claiming we truly know them. There are many examples of characters mis-imagining other characters. The most substantial is of the situation of Margo. Before she embarks on her journey, everyone perceives her as a spectacular suburban hero, the stuff of legends. After she left, Q, Ben, Radar and Stacey (Margo’s longtime best friend) begin to discover a very different Margo than the one they thought they knew. Also, as Q reads “Song of Myself” by Walt Whitman, he disagrees with the notion that one could in a way become another via the grass roots that connect everyone. However Q finds that he simply doesn’t possess that skill, as shown by his inability to understand Margo’s motives, whereabouts, and emotional wellbeing on her perpetual journey. “Song of Myself” is central to the novel’s plot and theme of perception. In it, Q reads about how everything is connected through a very intricate system of grass roots. In the poem, Whitman, observes the people around him, and eventually comes to truly know them, to get into their heads, to be them. As Q applies Whitman’s methods to discover the real Margo, he finds that although he can know her, he surely cannot be her. Green’s argument is very convincing. The amount of commentary on people’s perspectives on other people is immense, as they are always finding different personalities of their friends. The perception theme transcends people alone. Just as Green says in the novel (indirectly through Margo), “we don’t suffer from a shortage of metaphors… but you have to be careful about which metaphor you choose, because it matters” (Green Pg 301). Paper Towns is an amazing work of literature that’s philosophically stimulating as well as filled to the brim with humor. Although it’s technically a young adult novel, it’s content can be enjoyed by people of any age. It’s excellent, read it!

After reading The Fault in our Stars 2 years ago I had high hopes for this book. Especially as it is now a motion picture. However the book fell short of expectations for me. I felt Q was over obsessed and the hunt for Margo all too vague. Did not enjoy how they ended up finding her and her attitude made me dislike the character emmensily and therefore Q too for loving her. The end had a slight high note but not enough to turn it around for me.

This was my first John Green book that I read. If he never wrote another novel besides this one, he would still be my favorite author. This book beautifully blends humor, mystery, adventure, poetry, and real life (with some fictiotious circumstances) and molds it into a masterpeice. His humor is at his best in this novel, with jokes, funny circumstances, and hilarious one liners at every turn. And yet, he doesnt make the book a joke. He supplies a plot that keeps you from putting down the book, and after you are done, you end up learning something about people, about humans, and about life. I recomenned this to anybody, but mostly teens like myself. Definently top five for my favorite books. An awesome book made by a made of awesome author.