Paper Towns by John Green

Posted on | July 13, 2010 | 20 Comments

John Green’s writing has been described as being privy to “a secret you can’t wait to divulge” and “like a John Hughes film… quirky and funny [mixed with] Sofia Coppola” (both in relation to his first novel, Looking for Alaska); Nymeth -recommendation reliant- is of the belief that “John Green can do no wrong”; my ready-made blurb is that Paper Towns is like Dawson’s Creek minus the incongruous dialogue and the narcissistic, whiny Dawson.

The reason I have opted for a television comparison (much like the film directors point of reference) is that Paper Towns will translate to screen extremely well (it already has a film option); the prose is very cinematic and also vividly realistic. I could envisage myself being there overhearing the pithy exchanges and observing the sugar-fueled road trip. Too infrequently can novelists create a world that you can readily step into as voyeur but John Green is one who can; I experienced events along with Q, as a willing participant caught up in his coming-of-age story.

Quentin Jacobsen (known as “Q” to his friends) has always loved the enigmatic Margo Roth Spiegelman, his next door neighbour and -once-upon-a-time- playmate. One night Margo appears at Q’s window (ahem, are you flash-backing to Joey Potter climbing in Dawson Leery’s window?) and enlists his help in an all-night revenge attack, promising him the best night of his life in return. What ensues is a life-changing night of adventure and ingenuity, Margo style; beyond that night is a mystery that Q embroils himself in -with the help of his friends- when Margo disappears.

Margo always loved mysteries. And in everything that came afterward, I could never stop thinking that maybe she loved mysteries so much that she became one.

For those of you who shy away from the young adult genre, please set aside your preconceptions; Paper Towns is witty, intelligent, illuminating and emotionally captivating. John Green writes truths in all their brutality. Perhaps I have the emotional maturity of a highschool senior but I emotionally connected with this novel and what its characters -at times harshly- learned. I actually had an epiphany with this novel, thanks to Green; we cannot make people into who we want them to be and we cannot expect people to behave the same way we would, which is hardly life-shattering but it took Paper Towns to bring it home to me. At times philosophical, the novel captures the difficulty of growing up; Q and his best friends, Ben and Radar, are on the cusp of adulthood, graduating from highschool and embarking on their futures. Q, Ben and Radar are misfits and Green evokes school in all its harshness and petty injustices; the threesome are exceptionally funny, entertaining to be around, exceedingly loyal, and I would happily extend an offer of friendship to them beyond the confines of the novel. Green creates real characters and the third part of Paper Towns is a hilarious bond-building road trip that I would have gone on in a heartbeat.

Not only does he create real people but makes us realise that we can’t create people into images of who we want them to be, Green also shows us that we dehumanise people that don’t like; whether they are the objects of our love, our esteem or our dislike, we make fictions of people and turn them into characters in our own life stories. The novel’s title refers to towns that only exists on paper: “fictitious towns which are added to a map either for fun or for copyright reasons” (Wikipedia definition); people can lose their sense of self in other people’s imagined version of them and become as fictitious and as unreal as paper towns on a map.

The strength of Paper Towns is difficult to do justice to but suffice to say that I highly recommend it. Incredibly funny and also bittersweet, Paper Towns took me on a journey that I would oft repeat; I’ve been to central Florida with Green and next will be going with him to Alaska.

A favourite passage which showcases Green’s prose-style:

Stranding before this building, I learn something about fear. I learn that it is not the idle fantasies of someone who maybe wants something important to happen to him, even if the important thing is horrible. It is not the disgust of seeing a dead stranger, and not the breathlessness of hearing a shotgun pumped outside of Becca Arrington’s house. This cannot be addressed by breathing exercises. This fear bears no analogy to any fear I knew before. This is the basest of all possible emotions, the feeling that was with us before we existed, before this building existed, before the earth existed. This is the fear that made fish crawl onto dry land and evolve lungs, the fear that teaches us to run, the fear that makes us bury our dead.

Comments

20 Responses to “Paper Towns by John Green”

Verity
July 13th, 2010 @ 4:32 pm

I think you recommended this to me a while ago and I didn’t get around to following it up, so thank you for the reminder!
Steph
July 13th, 2010 @ 5:33 pm

I haven’t read any Green because I’m really not one who picks up YA novels very frequently. But I’ve read so many rave reviews of his work, including those written by people who only occasionally dabble in the YA genre, so I do think he’s an author who I will need to try. I mean, an author who gets compared to John Hughes can never be bad!
tea lady (the glittering burn)
July 13th, 2010 @ 6:58 pm

“Paper Towns is like Dawson’s Creek minus the incongruous dialogue and the narcissistic, whiny Dawson.” Bring it to me now!

I never read YA, but this review could tempt me over the brink.
anothercookiecrumbles
July 13th, 2010 @ 8:14 pm

Not read anything by Green yet, although have to say, this does sound tempting. Love the line, “Paper Towns is like Dawson’s Creek minus the incongruous dialogue and the narcissistic, whiny Dawson” – reckon that’s the selling point!
Vasilly
July 13th, 2010 @ 9:15 pm

I’ve always been a little afraid to pick up Green because he’s an author that is so loved by everyone. Maybe it’s time for me to see what’s everyone has been talking about!! I’ll add Paper Towns to my TBR list.
Darren @ Bart's Bookshelf
July 13th, 2010 @ 10:00 pm

I just finished this one (and posted my review a few days ago) Glad I’m not the only one coming to this one late!

You’re spot on, it’s Green’s characters that really make his books zing, and this one is no different. I loved it.
Nadia
July 13th, 2010 @ 10:32 pm

Wow! You sold me on this book! It sounds like my cup of tea. Loved your comparison to Dawson’s Creek – a show that I enjoyed watching in college (and I agree that Dawson was whiny). I’m really looking forward to picking up this book. Thanks! Great review!
Jenny
July 13th, 2010 @ 11:55 pm

I swear this is the fourth Dawson’s Creek reference I’ve failed to get in the past week. I don’t know how I missed out on the whole Dawson’s Creek cultural moment, but I clearly need to rent the DVDs and catch up on that. :p
Tony
July 14th, 2010 @ 12:15 am

Sounds good, but you nearly lost me with the Dawson’s Creek comparison. I may not be the most manly of men, what with all my classic reading, but there’s definitely a line…
Brittanie
July 14th, 2010 @ 12:33 am

I thought this book was good too. I never really watched Dawson’s Creek so that comparison went over my head too.
Jeane
July 14th, 2010 @ 1:18 am

I have read so many good reviews about this one, it’s a wonder I haven’t picked it up yet. Yours is even more compelling!
JoAnn
July 14th, 2010 @ 3:21 am

I read very little YA (only 1 or 2 a year), but so many bloggers seem to love this. I’ll start looking around for it.
Nymeth
July 14th, 2010 @ 8:59 am

I’m so glad you loved it, Claire! And I can’t wait to hear what you think of Looking for Alaska.

This line made me laugh out loud: “Perhaps I have the emotional maturity of a highschool senior… ” I’ve often wondered the same about myself, and it must be *really* true in my case, considering the number of YA books that have a real emotional impact on me
Jackie (Farm Lane Books)
July 14th, 2010 @ 9:25 am

I’ve seen this book around, but you’re the first person to persuade me to add it to the wishlist. I hope that I enjoy it as much as you did.
Simon (Savidge Reads)
July 14th, 2010 @ 1:30 pm

Oooh my iPhone makes me cross I commented on this yesterday and it didnt put it up! Grrr.

Anyways I wanted to say thank you for pointing out what sounds like an interesting read and one I had never heard or, nor the author either. I might get this for my little sister who seems to have developed the book addiction only rather earlier than her big brother… shes twelve!
Jodie
July 14th, 2010 @ 3:07 pm

I have this and I loved ‘Looking for Alaska’, must get on it. It can’t hurt that real people are stories is very relevant to my own interactions with the world and something that intrigues me – some people put such barriers in the way of really knowing others, preferring what they think they know and at the same time I’m still not sure I’ve totally gotten past making up people sometimes, rather than knowing them.
Stephanie
July 15th, 2010 @ 10:35 pm

This was such a charming book for me. I loved the quirky way Green captured adolescence.
Sasha
July 17th, 2010 @ 9:39 pm

What I love about John Green, beyond his novels, is how he’s changing the whole YA reputation to those who don’t read much YA. He’s just so sensitive and spot-on and funny.

I haven’t read this one, but I’m sure I’ll pick it up when I next go to the bookstore. I mean, I think I’ll eventually read all of John Green eventually. :]
Rebecca Reid
July 19th, 2010 @ 1:48 pm

I do shy away from YA (and have strongly disliked the less than half a dozen I’ve read in the past two years) but thanks for the recommendation. When I’m feeling brave I’ll have to give it a try.
softdrink
July 22nd, 2010 @ 4:34 am

I wanted to go on that roadtrip, too. Despite the underlying seriousness of his books, Green always manages to write adventures that I want to fall into.