Paper Towns is a piece of fiction by John Green. It can be called as a suspense. I would even call it an emotional suspense.
When you read something moving, you can no longer elaborate on it dispassionately. So I’m not really reviewing but actually going into a discussion about the book. As far as the review portion is concerned, my verdict is, it should be read. Though it might make you feel as frustrated as I felt when I finally put it down. But the whole aura of emotional thriller and the underlying quest of finding the physical person and the person will stimulate your mind. The ending was a bit of a letdown.
That is why, I say this is not a review. I can’t opine on things without mentioning what those things are. So, go read the book and then come back here and agree/disagree with me.
There are many things to criticize in this book. Some people behave very unnaturally. There’s much of what teens ‘should’ consider cool. For instance, I saw nothing bad in Q’s parents. They were devoted to him. So why should the author applaud him for lying to them? It seems he wasn’t quite sure if teens can be honest to their parents.
The whole vandalism thing in the beginning was also nothing to write home about.
He overdid the infatuation thing. He could ‘smell’ her in spite of algae and all the romanticism…I realize it was put there to look like it, but still!
And the overriding question. Was the end natural? He loved her enough to chase after her and do everything, not feel angry at her when he finds her (his reaction was way too cool, he was an angel about it all!) and then – when it came to it, he didn’t love her enough to go with her? Mighty unbelievable to me.
Why couldn’t he just ask his parents to help him fly out to the place? Again moot question in the story but valid if you think logically about it after shutting the book.
The character of Margo isn’t justified. That’s the only word I can use. It isn’t justified and so that’s why Q isn’t justified in loving her. Even though that is the point. Still, in the end, he does love her. Or they would have parted with not too many regrets. The waters are muddy here.
However, the ideas in the book are like emotional tantalizers. You do get immersed in the story. Into the book. Brilliant, clever writing. Convincing, clearly depicted characters. It leaves you with more questions than answers. Maybe that’s the point. But in the end, just like it is said in the book…the planning is more fun than reaching…so was the reading more fun than the ending. Q becomes somewhat of a paper boy because he did what a real person wouldn’t and in exalting him, the story was defeated.
going back to Margo, I couldn’t forgive her for her behavior. Were her parents so nasty that she had to be like that? What did I miss? I had the idea that the author went too much into child mind…real and imagined hurts. A teen is more capable of reasoning and evaluation or so I think. She was just a girl. That’s the protagonist’s discovery. But doesn’t he live in the real world? Girls are not like that. So, just a girl wasn’t her either.
Well, it’s a mystery isn’t it? However, I have read whodunits tying up plots more tidily than it did. It manages to hold interest for 300 odd pages. It has some very good quotes and observations. I wish there could have been a big revelation at the end tying everything together. Even with the downsized twist and some overdone moments, it makes to the recommended category.
I give it four stars.
Have you read the book? What are your thoughts on it?