Publisher: Penguin Books
Price: 870/
Paper Towns instantly establishes a personal connection with readers. This book allows us to probe and uncover the truths about ourselves and our relationships just like the protagonist who ‘finds’ himself (not that he is a lost character in anyway) and loses his blinkered view of others.
As the plot unfolds, we are introduced to the protagonist and narrator Quentin Jacobsen, Q to his friends. Since he was nine, he has been smitten by the fascinating Margo Roth Spiegelman. He describes her as ‘the most fantastically gorgeous creature that God has ever created’. Both of them stumble upon a dead body of Robert Joyner, a 36 years old lawyer. The readers learn that Q and Margo have drifted apart by the time they are in high school and Margo has a new boyfriend. Yet Q’s fascination with Margo remains unabated.
I like how Q builds up an aura of mystique around Margo by referring to her by her full name and describing as a chic cool girl who flouts the norms and lives by unconventional rules. The plot thickens when Margo stages a sudden comeback in Q’s life dressed as a ninja.
At daybreak, she disappears leaving behind a trail of complicated clues. Q with his friends, Radar, Ben and Lacey’s set off on a quest to find Margo. This search comes full circle with Q altering his previous perceptions of Margo.
Margo too has her identity crisis as a ‘paper girl.’ John Green has mysteriously weaved the two sections ‘Grass’ and ‘Vessel’ together to depict Quentin’s path to self-discovery – the search for Margo ends up being a quest wherein Q discovers himself. In the last part after his reunion with Margo, Quentin is finally able to say good-bye to his high-school years and come to terms with the demystification of Margo.
The story is convincing and insightful. The metaphorical meaning behind the title has been brought out beautifully through the well-knit sections. The book has a liberal dose of teenage humour, candour and bittersweet ending
I did find the middle part too stretched out but then the pace quickens up again and ends most meaningfully. Yes, there can be parental objections to the language being inappropriate for pre-teens and those in early teens. Albeit I initially balked at some references, but the compelling plotline helped me gloss over these minor hiccups. As a reader, one might sail through an epiphanic journey about relationships and worldviews– illusory and tinctured with reality.
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