I was already a fan of John Green months before I even read one of his books.
For
those of you who haven’t read a Green book, John is one half of the
YouTube sensation, “The Vlog Brothers” In 2007, John Green and his
younger brother Hank decided to communicate for a year using only daily
YouTube posts. If they violated the rules, one was allowed to punish
the other in a humorous way. One of the more memorable punishments was
Hank forcing John to drink a blenderized Happy Meal.
By Daniella Choynowski,
Senior Staff Writer
I was already a fan of John Green months before I even read one of his books.
For those of you who haven’t read a Green book, John is one half of the YouTube sensation, “The Vlog Brothers” In 2007, John Green and his younger brother Hank decided to communicate for a year using only daily YouTube posts. If they violated the rules, one was allowed to punish the other in a humorous way. One of the more memorable punishments was Hank forcing John to drink a blenderized Happy Meal.
As crazy as the punishments sound, most of the video project, called “Brotherhood 2.0,” consisted of intellectual humor. John once discussed the crisis in Georgia with peanut butter smeared all over his face.
Other themes were original songs by Hank, the most popular being “Accio Deathly Hallows,” and “Give Peeps a Chance,” (during which Hank tried to give away Peeps on a street corner (as challenged by John).
The project won the brothers the 2008 YouTube award for most subscribed viewers. They still continue to post weekly. As of October 24th, Hank was challenged to attend the “Sex and the City” movie dressed as Carrie Bradshaw and record the footage for viewers.
Enough about The Vlog Brothers. What I’m, really supposed to be writing about is John Green’s new book “Paper Towns, “ which has become so popular in the last two weeks since its release that the studio and producers of “Juno” have optioned the movie rights.
“Paper Towns” consists of three parts, each of which is written with a very different tone. The first begins as a night of revenge for Margo Spiegelman, who drags her neighbor Quentin into the fiasco. The two trek around central Florida for an entire night while Margo executes payback on everyone who’s done her wrong, leaving a Zorro style “M” at each scene. The night concludes with breaking-and-entering SeaWorld, heaven for Quentin as he lies on the grass with the girl he has loved since he was 9 years old.
Knowing that he is either going to get his butt kicked for the shenanigans or be a legend, Quentin heads to school only to discover that Margo has dissapeared. This is nothing new, since Margo has left home many times, once even to join the circus. Only this time, Margo doesn’t come back. She leaves a series of clues behind for Quentin to discover her motivation.
What is a Paper Town? For many, high school was one. Everything was petty, all about being popular and getting the girl/guy. People live their shallow lives everyday, and the worst part about it is that they enjoy it. Everything is either about image or the future: going to high school to get into college, to get a job, to earn money, to be able to send your kinds to college so they can get good jobs and support families. There is no time spent enjoying the here and now. People. Margo believes, never really live. The substance of life is as thin as paper. After a while, there’s no hope of breaking free. “YOU WILL GO TO THE PAPER TOWNS AND YOU WILL NEVER COME BACK” (149).
Rather than sink even further into her paper life, Margo made a clean break, reminiscent of lyrics from Springsteen’s “Born to Run.”
Baby, this town rips the bones from your back.
It’s a deathtrap, it’s a suicide wrap.
We gotta get out while we’re young.
Green’s trademark of zany and witty humor is rampant in “Paper Towns.” At one point, Quentin’s friend Radar (nicknamed after the M*A*S*H character) screams “IT IS NOT MY FAULT MY PARENTS OWN THE WORLD’S LARGEST COLLECTION OF BLACK SANTAS!!!” (22). Throughout even his youtube posts, Green has always tried to broaden his audience’s literary horizons. A central clue in the quest to find Margo is a selection from Walt Whitman’s “Leaves of Grass” called “Song of Myself.”
We know these characters: the boy who makes ‘your mom’ jokes all the time, the nerd who spends all his time on wikipedia (called the “omnictionary”). But these are not stock characters. Quentin and his friends are realistic portrayals of people we all know, which made the story hit home that much harder.
I wouldn’t say that “Paper Towns” has a happy ending. It is actually quite sad. I was left thinking about my own life how shallow it may actually be. As crazy as Margo seemed at times to me, she has a point. Years from now, are you going to regret wasting your life, or will you be able to say you lived it to the fullest?