So, I just finished reading Paper Towns by John Green. It's just over 300 pages, was released in late 2008, and won the Edgar Award that year. I'm familiar with John Green and the work he does (as an author and otherwise), but I haven't actually read a novel of his until now. I found this book absolutely mesmerizing. So mesmerizing, in fact, that I read the entire thing in one sitting. I stood up once to turn on the air conditioning, but the rest of my time was spent reading this book, until I was finished.
Now, I'm not afraid to admit that I'm not a bookworm. You can thank my high school for that. The sectioned out reading schedule, deadlines, testing, and questioning had mostly turned me off from reading books in my spare time. The only 'classic' novel I've enjoyed reading in English class was Catcher in the Rye. Those points might be contributing factors to why I enjoyed this book so much. One, because I could read it at my own leisure and at my own pace, unlike school, and two, Green is profoundly influenced by the writings of JD Salinger and has a few similar symbolic qualities in his works.
To summarize the plot, the main protagonist, Quentin Jacobsen (aged 17), has recently started having a sizable friendly relationship with the girl he's been in love with for a decade. One night just a few weeks from their graduation, the girl, Margo Roth Spiegelman, climbs in through Quentin's bedroom window and takes him on a very memorable and vandalous adventure through the suburbs of Orlando. However, she mysteriously disappears the next day, seemingly run away from home. Since she is a legal adult and her parents have no interest in searching for her, Quentin follows Margo's trail of vague clues in an attempt to find her.
Green's prose is unreal to me. He has a knack for describing situations and feelings perfectly. I was nodding my head often, agreeing with the stances he takes, and the way he injects his characters and situations with life. His writing style is thoughtful in how he includes and paints detail, genuine in the way he lets the characters speak and act, and satisfying with his subtle insinuation of what could've happened to Margo, plus the way he drives the rising action and climax toward the end of the book.
Lots of symbolism, lots of neat, recognizable gems, and plenty of relatable moments all come together to make this a very profound read for me. What recognizable gems and relatable moments am I talking about? Well, I understand a lot of Green's inside jokes and references that he scatters throughout the book, like the multiple references to the band The Mountain Goats and the clever inclusion of Woody Guthrie's 'This Machine Kills Fascists' slogan. Also, I'm not much younger than Quentin is, so it's almost comforting to read about somebody with such a similar situation to me.
This book takes the title for 'my favorite book'. Really.
So yeah, I think that's all I have to say about this book.
