My first John Green book was The Fault In Our Stars. I was crying at the end of it, like I cry at the end of every book. Then I was curious at Looking for Alaska. ( I will write about them too.) Finally I chose to read Paper Towns.
To be honest, I saw the film first. I usually don’t watch the film first, then read the book. If I do watch the film, I don’t read the book. But now, I made an exception. And I didn’t regret it. There are a lot of similarities between the book and the film, although the end is different. The whole story goes by Quentin’s perspective, a boy, who is straight A at school and a good kid. Margo has a key role in the story too, but this boy’s will-power, his „changing” stands in the centre of the book.
Quentin and Margo were neighbors, they were really good friends when they were little kids. One day they discover a body next to the road, a man’s body, who committed suicide. At this part, we can see the differences between the two main characters. While Quentin wants to go home to tell his parents, Margo wants to see the body closer. After that we have a time jump, and we see that the two friends got separated from each other. Quentin is the quiet kid, and Margo is known by her adventurous stories. She is the cool girl, who can manipulate the whole school. Quentin’s platonic love for Margo is still unbreakable. Then, one night, Margo appears at Quentin’s window. Just like when they were kids. After their adventurous night, Margo disappears…
I liked, when Margo talks about Orlando as a paper town. „Everyone demented with the mania of owning things. All the things paper-thin and paper-frail. And all the people, too.” If we think about it, the world is just like this. At least there are a lot of people, who takes for granted everything, like friendship or relationship. You can’t own a person. You can't take for granted them. Every feelings should be cherished. You have to keep in touch with your friends, ask them how they are and not because the politeness, but because you really want to know it. Listen to them when they are sad, angry, helpless, and try to help them. That’s what friendship about. You can’t take for granted your love in your relationship. There isn’t matter how much a girl loves a boy, or a boy loves a girl, if these feelings aren’t watered, they won’t stay together forever. Because, you know, I believe in love forever. All you have to give is enough attention, caring, and love. Not owning.
The story introduces us the real friendship. Quentin is helped by his two friends, Ben and Radar. They support Quentin even when they see no chance to find Margo. From Margo’s cool friends (4 people) only one wants to find her, and say sorry to her.
As the story goes, our boy changes a lot. He starts to act like Margo. He goes into lost buildings, misses school. And the most important thing is: he follows his heart. In real life, most people stops their plans when they clash to the first difficulty. It isn’t right. You have your life to live it. You don’t need anything else, but will-power. Most people don’t have this will-power. Just like I don’t have. But at least… I’m trying. :)
„You know your problem, Quentin? You keep expecting people not to be themselves. I mean, I could hate you for being massively unpunctual and for never being interested in anything other than Margo Roth Spiegelman, and for, like, never asking me about how it’s going with my girlfriend—but I don’t give a shit, man, because you’re you. My parents have a shit ton of black Santas, but that’s okay. They’re them. I’m too obsessed with a reference Web site to answer my phone sometimes when my friends call, or my girlfriend. That’s okay, too. That’s me. You like me anyway. And I like you. You’re funny, and you’re smart, and you may show up late, but you always show up eventually.” – It is hard not to notice the missing of caring, but the true friendship won’t ruin by this. Even though I still say that we have to talk to our friends sometimes about them. Ask them how their lives are going. The quoted part shows another problem too: accepting others. We have to accept each other, mostly the fact, that no one can acts like us. We can’t change someone according to our needs just because we would do something differently as they do. That is another thing I also have to learn. Because it’s true, that the person I think of right now is always late, but he always shows up eventually. :)
Quentin’s parents are psychologists. I was always interested in this world, because I loved listen to the people and gave them advice. A lot of people I talked to said that they felt something special when they were talking to me: like we would know each other for years. I would like to quote from Quentin’s dad now: „…humans lack good mirrors. It’s so hard for anyone to show us how we look, and so hard for us to show anyone how we feel.” – Well, lots of us put on a mask, because we are afraid of showing to others our real-self. Why? Because we can’t accept each other. I had a relationship, where my partner didn’t show his real soul, just because I am a fragile, kind girl who has – as he said – „that kind of job, which needs a really smart person”. He showed himself as a kind, helpful boy. After the break-up, the mask fell down. And I realized, that I was in love with a fictional character. It isn’t about that I couldn’t fall in love with his real-self, but to be honest, lies are killing my feelings. You can’t build a relationship with lies. What I want to say with this quote is that every time you have to show your real-self. Be faithful to yourself, and trust yourself!
Margo wasn’t that girl everybody knew. When Quentin and his friends arrives at Agloe, they find Margo at the barn, the only building in Agloe. (It’s a difference between the book and the film!!!) At first, Margo acts like the girl they knew. (The mask is still on.) Her best friend, Lacey, who came to say sorry to Margo, gets really disappointed in the girl after she sees, that Margo isn’t really care how she felt worried about her. Like it would be naturally. At the end, only Quentin stays with Margo. That is the time, when the mask falls down. Margo starts screaming at the boy, she cries that she didn’t want them to look for her. Quentin faces with a different girl; Margo isn’t the girl anymore, who he was imagining about, who he thought he knew. She was a fragile girl, who thought about committing suicide too. Knowing these he still cares, still stays. When they calm down, Margo tells the whole story, beginning with their childhood. Finally she calls herself a paper girl. „People love the idea of a paper girl. They always have. And the worst thing is that I loved it, too. I cultivated it, you know? Because it’s kind of great, being an idea that everybody likes. But I could never be the idea to myself, not all the way.” This was the problem with my relationship I was talking about too. Humans can’t wear a mask for so long, they can’t act a role for years or for months. And they don’t have to.
It was really thought-provoking Quentin’s monologue at the end of the book:
„The strings make pain seem more fatal than it is, I think. We’re not as frail as the strings would make us believe. And I like the grass, too. The grass got me to you, helped me to imagine you as an actual person. But we’re not different sprouts from the same plant. I can’t be you. You can’t be me. You can imagine another well—but never quite perfectly, you know? Maybe it’s more like you said before, all of us being cracked open. Like, each of us starts out as a watertight vessel. And these things happen—these people leave us, or don’t love us, or don’t get us, or we don’t get them, and we lose and fail and hurt one another. And the vessel starts to crack open in places. And I mean, yeah, once the vessel cracks open, the end becomes inevitable. Once it starts to rain inside the Osprey, it will never be remodeled. But there is all this time between when the cracks start to open up and when we finally fall apart. And it’s only in that time that we can see one another, because we see out of ourselves through our cracks and into others through theirs. When did we see each other face-to-face? Not until you saw into my cracks and I saw into yours. Before that, we were just looking at ideas of each other, like looking at your window shade but never seeing inside. But once the vessel cracks, the light can get in. The light can get out.”
To sum up, this book was instructive for me, because it shows how important friendship is. It shows that we don’t have to put on masks. We have to accept and love everybody for themselves. (Maybe it is the most important thing I have to learn.) And even though I show my real me in a friendship or in a relationship, I feel myself as a paper girl sometimes too. Sometimes I feel I have to live as people want me to live. Because I am an accountant, I can’t do some things, like partying hard. Sometimes I realize that my tattoes don’t fit in the picture which the people around me made about me. Everybody thinks that I am a kind, cute, loveable girl. And actually I am, but I also have mistakes. I can be evil, I can be really bad, I can hurt really hard the ones I love. I was drunk, not only once, and I didn’t regret my tattoes, because they mean a lot to me. So yeah, I have many mistakes, but one thing is sure: if I get to love someone, I will always love that someone. I am sensitive, I always cry at everything. And even if I tried to change it, I couldn’t do it. But knowing this story, I don’t want to change myself anymore. Because that is just who I am. And as Quentin said, if anyone can’t live with your real you, then accept this fact, accept yourself, and let you walk your own way not crossing their way. But if you find someone, who can love you for who you are, stays with you no matter how hard you are, be faithful for them. Because they will build you, guide you on your way in life!
To be honest, I saw the film first. I usually don’t watch the film first, then read the book. If I do watch the film, I don’t read the book. But now, I made an exception. And I didn’t regret it. There are a lot of similarities between the book and the film, although the end is different. The whole story goes by Quentin’s perspective, a boy, who is straight A at school and a good kid. Margo has a key role in the story too, but this boy’s will-power, his „changing” stands in the centre of the book.
Quentin and Margo were neighbors, they were really good friends when they were little kids. One day they discover a body next to the road, a man’s body, who committed suicide. At this part, we can see the differences between the two main characters. While Quentin wants to go home to tell his parents, Margo wants to see the body closer. After that we have a time jump, and we see that the two friends got separated from each other. Quentin is the quiet kid, and Margo is known by her adventurous stories. She is the cool girl, who can manipulate the whole school. Quentin’s platonic love for Margo is still unbreakable. Then, one night, Margo appears at Quentin’s window. Just like when they were kids. After their adventurous night, Margo disappears…
I liked, when Margo talks about Orlando as a paper town. „Everyone demented with the mania of owning things. All the things paper-thin and paper-frail. And all the people, too.” If we think about it, the world is just like this. At least there are a lot of people, who takes for granted everything, like friendship or relationship. You can’t own a person. You can't take for granted them. Every feelings should be cherished. You have to keep in touch with your friends, ask them how they are and not because the politeness, but because you really want to know it. Listen to them when they are sad, angry, helpless, and try to help them. That’s what friendship about. You can’t take for granted your love in your relationship. There isn’t matter how much a girl loves a boy, or a boy loves a girl, if these feelings aren’t watered, they won’t stay together forever. Because, you know, I believe in love forever. All you have to give is enough attention, caring, and love. Not owning.
The story introduces us the real friendship. Quentin is helped by his two friends, Ben and Radar. They support Quentin even when they see no chance to find Margo. From Margo’s cool friends (4 people) only one wants to find her, and say sorry to her.
As the story goes, our boy changes a lot. He starts to act like Margo. He goes into lost buildings, misses school. And the most important thing is: he follows his heart. In real life, most people stops their plans when they clash to the first difficulty. It isn’t right. You have your life to live it. You don’t need anything else, but will-power. Most people don’t have this will-power. Just like I don’t have. But at least… I’m trying. :)
„You know your problem, Quentin? You keep expecting people not to be themselves. I mean, I could hate you for being massively unpunctual and for never being interested in anything other than Margo Roth Spiegelman, and for, like, never asking me about how it’s going with my girlfriend—but I don’t give a shit, man, because you’re you. My parents have a shit ton of black Santas, but that’s okay. They’re them. I’m too obsessed with a reference Web site to answer my phone sometimes when my friends call, or my girlfriend. That’s okay, too. That’s me. You like me anyway. And I like you. You’re funny, and you’re smart, and you may show up late, but you always show up eventually.” – It is hard not to notice the missing of caring, but the true friendship won’t ruin by this. Even though I still say that we have to talk to our friends sometimes about them. Ask them how their lives are going. The quoted part shows another problem too: accepting others. We have to accept each other, mostly the fact, that no one can acts like us. We can’t change someone according to our needs just because we would do something differently as they do. That is another thing I also have to learn. Because it’s true, that the person I think of right now is always late, but he always shows up eventually. :)
Quentin’s parents are psychologists. I was always interested in this world, because I loved listen to the people and gave them advice. A lot of people I talked to said that they felt something special when they were talking to me: like we would know each other for years. I would like to quote from Quentin’s dad now: „…humans lack good mirrors. It’s so hard for anyone to show us how we look, and so hard for us to show anyone how we feel.” – Well, lots of us put on a mask, because we are afraid of showing to others our real-self. Why? Because we can’t accept each other. I had a relationship, where my partner didn’t show his real soul, just because I am a fragile, kind girl who has – as he said – „that kind of job, which needs a really smart person”. He showed himself as a kind, helpful boy. After the break-up, the mask fell down. And I realized, that I was in love with a fictional character. It isn’t about that I couldn’t fall in love with his real-self, but to be honest, lies are killing my feelings. You can’t build a relationship with lies. What I want to say with this quote is that every time you have to show your real-self. Be faithful to yourself, and trust yourself!
Margo wasn’t that girl everybody knew. When Quentin and his friends arrives at Agloe, they find Margo at the barn, the only building in Agloe. (It’s a difference between the book and the film!!!) At first, Margo acts like the girl they knew. (The mask is still on.) Her best friend, Lacey, who came to say sorry to Margo, gets really disappointed in the girl after she sees, that Margo isn’t really care how she felt worried about her. Like it would be naturally. At the end, only Quentin stays with Margo. That is the time, when the mask falls down. Margo starts screaming at the boy, she cries that she didn’t want them to look for her. Quentin faces with a different girl; Margo isn’t the girl anymore, who he was imagining about, who he thought he knew. She was a fragile girl, who thought about committing suicide too. Knowing these he still cares, still stays. When they calm down, Margo tells the whole story, beginning with their childhood. Finally she calls herself a paper girl. „People love the idea of a paper girl. They always have. And the worst thing is that I loved it, too. I cultivated it, you know? Because it’s kind of great, being an idea that everybody likes. But I could never be the idea to myself, not all the way.” This was the problem with my relationship I was talking about too. Humans can’t wear a mask for so long, they can’t act a role for years or for months. And they don’t have to.
It was really thought-provoking Quentin’s monologue at the end of the book:
„The strings make pain seem more fatal than it is, I think. We’re not as frail as the strings would make us believe. And I like the grass, too. The grass got me to you, helped me to imagine you as an actual person. But we’re not different sprouts from the same plant. I can’t be you. You can’t be me. You can imagine another well—but never quite perfectly, you know? Maybe it’s more like you said before, all of us being cracked open. Like, each of us starts out as a watertight vessel. And these things happen—these people leave us, or don’t love us, or don’t get us, or we don’t get them, and we lose and fail and hurt one another. And the vessel starts to crack open in places. And I mean, yeah, once the vessel cracks open, the end becomes inevitable. Once it starts to rain inside the Osprey, it will never be remodeled. But there is all this time between when the cracks start to open up and when we finally fall apart. And it’s only in that time that we can see one another, because we see out of ourselves through our cracks and into others through theirs. When did we see each other face-to-face? Not until you saw into my cracks and I saw into yours. Before that, we were just looking at ideas of each other, like looking at your window shade but never seeing inside. But once the vessel cracks, the light can get in. The light can get out.”
To sum up, this book was instructive for me, because it shows how important friendship is. It shows that we don’t have to put on masks. We have to accept and love everybody for themselves. (Maybe it is the most important thing I have to learn.) And even though I show my real me in a friendship or in a relationship, I feel myself as a paper girl sometimes too. Sometimes I feel I have to live as people want me to live. Because I am an accountant, I can’t do some things, like partying hard. Sometimes I realize that my tattoes don’t fit in the picture which the people around me made about me. Everybody thinks that I am a kind, cute, loveable girl. And actually I am, but I also have mistakes. I can be evil, I can be really bad, I can hurt really hard the ones I love. I was drunk, not only once, and I didn’t regret my tattoes, because they mean a lot to me. So yeah, I have many mistakes, but one thing is sure: if I get to love someone, I will always love that someone. I am sensitive, I always cry at everything. And even if I tried to change it, I couldn’t do it. But knowing this story, I don’t want to change myself anymore. Because that is just who I am. And as Quentin said, if anyone can’t live with your real you, then accept this fact, accept yourself, and let you walk your own way not crossing their way. But if you find someone, who can love you for who you are, stays with you no matter how hard you are, be faithful for them. Because they will build you, guide you on your way in life!
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