Paper Towns

by John Green

[clementine]

The first time I read through all of John Green's books, Looking For Alaska was my favourite. I was going through my pretentious "Books are not deep unless they involve death" phase, I think. (I still seem to have an affinity for books that involve death, but I can enjoy those that don't.)

John Green wrote Paper Towns as a conscious response to LFA, and I think that shows. The characters are more complex and realistic, and the Manic Pixie Dream Girl aspect is really explored and subverted - and much more successfully so than in LFA.

Since we're talking about characters, can I just say that Lacey is amazing? She's a perfect example of what I'm talking about here: you think she's going to be one way, and then she kind of is, but she's also completely different. She's a real person, she's not some caricature of a popular, pretty high school girl. Margo, in fact, is the closest character to a caricature, and that's because she makes herself into one.

I think what's so magnificent about Paper Towns is that it is both achingly beautiful and emotional and nostalgic and all those sorts of things and then side-splittingly funny. You'd be hard-pressed to find a more hilarious and enjoyable road trip in all of film and literature. Not that I have read every book and seen every movie, but damn is that a good road trip.

I always think John Green does a fantastic job of weaving metaphor and literary references into his text. I loved the way he included Leaves of Grass, I loved the strings, I loved the mirror, and I absolutely adored the cracks and the light. (In fact, my grad quote was "It is saying these things that keeps us from falling apart. And maybe by imagining these futures we can make them real, and maybe not, but either way we must imagine them. The light rushes out and floods in." I just like that a lot.)

Whatever, whatever, you all know I love John Green and I think it's pretty difficult to find better YA. Paper Towns was definitely better the second time, with its highly enjoyable cast of characters, surprising details, and emotional depth.