JOHN GREEN’S “PAPERTOWNS”: GEEK-BOY AS ROMANTIC HERO, AND SO MUCH MORE

RATING GUIDE:

 

5 – A keeper!   

4 – Very good

3 –  Passable

2 –  I’d rather read a telephone book

1 – An absolute bomb.  Read at your own risk!

“Paper Towns” is the third book in my John Green Reading Marathon.  The story is told from the point of view of a teenaged boy named Quentin (“Q” for short).  Apart from an unusual, horrific incident in his childhood (he stumbles across a corpse, of all things), Q seems like your everyday, garden variety Geek-Boy next door … until his then-childhood friend (and unrequited love) and now-Popular Girl Margo suddenly vanishes.  Now, Q, his friends Radar and Ben and Margo’s friend Lacey find themselves in a game that’s not funny at all; for they are now in a race against time to find Margo … alive.

As in the case of “Looking For Alaska,” John Green makes use of a stereotypical character we all know as the protagonist --- the Invisible Geek Boy (Q in this book, Miles in “Looking For Alaska”) who is in love with another stereotypical character, the beautiful, enigmatic, complicated, Self-Obsessed Bitch (Margo in this book, Alaska in “Looking For Alaska”). However, there is nothing stereotypical at all about this book.  Just like actual “paper towns,” John’s book is very different, and so much more than what we might perceive or expect it to be.

Rightly or wrongly, we have been trained to make assumptions and have certain expectations about people.  For instance, there’s nothing heroic or romantic about invisible geek boys like Q, or that the only kind of bed popular girls like Margo will lie in is a bed of roses.  But by the time I was done reading the book, I had fallen in love with Q and his friends and I realized how wonderful, how liberating it was to be “ordinary,” and that being pretty or popular was not a guarantee of a happy life.  In fact, being that kind of person was a trap in itself.

John Green delivered the commencement speech during the graduation rites of Butler University in 2013.  In his speech, John spoke about the hero’s journey not as a journey from strength to weakness, but in weakness to strength.  About the value of being a nobody, he said, “For in learning how to be a nobody, you will learn how not to be a jerk.”  He also spoke of the need to develop empathy, that other people aren’t “simply one thing or the other,” but “contain multitudes”. 

Here is the video of his speech, which I found in YouTube :

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BLQ4Tswr1Ss

These reminders that John Green gave to the graduates of Butler University are repeated in this book.  Through Q, Margo and the other wonderful characters of this book, John Green reminds us that we must look beyond the surface, to learn how to look beyond stereotypes.  To make an effort in truly getting to know the people we come in contact with and develop an empathy for what they are going through and what they are about.

It is these profound and relevant reminders, gift-wrapped and hidden so expertly in seemingly ordinary characters that make John Green and his books so special.  These are the types of books that not just remind us of our own teenage selves, or present to us what it’s like to be a young person in today’s world.  These are the types of books that challenge us to be better people, no matter who we are.

Definitely a keeper!

RATING:  5

JOHN GREEN’S “LOOKING FOR ALASKA”: FINDING THE MEANING OF LIFE IN THE EYES OF FIRST-WORLD TEENS

RATING GUIDE:

 

5 – A keeper!   

4 – Very good

3 –  Passable

2 –  I’d rather read a telephone book

1 – An absolute bomb.  Read at your own risk!

 

The first John Green book I ever read was “The Fault in our Stars” (you can still check out my review of this book at http://thefilipinareader.blogspot.com/2013/05/john-greens-fault-in-our-stars-classic.html).  After that magical literary encounter, I promised I would read every book John Green has ever written, or will write, from now on.  I don’t think I’ve ever come across any writer who writes such interesting, funny, profound, life-changing stories …

If authors had groupies, then I must say I am a true blue John Green groupie. 

“Looking For Alaska” is the first John Green book I read after “The Fault in our Stars,” and I was curious to find out what my reaction to it would be.  While it is not as mind-blowing and heart-rending as “The Fault in our Stars,” it does come pretty close.

“Looking For Alaska” is told from the viewpoint of Miles, a teenager with a pretty interesting “hobby”.  Miles loves reading biographies, and actually remembers the last words many famous people reportedly said before they croaked. It’s a hobby that hardly seems to make any sense, until Miles leaves home for boarding school.  It is while studying at this boarding school that Miles experiences friendship and love for the first time and learns all about life and death, and the value of family and friends from the people around him.

When you read a book, you can’t help but have your experience colored by your own experiences … so I can’t help but read Looking For Alaska from the point of view of a grown-up who lives in the Philippines, also known as “A Developing Nation,” or “The Third World” (if you want to be a little politically incorrect). 

It’s hard not to feel sad for the young characters in this novel, especially Alaska.  Sad and annoyed.  You would think that these young folk, who (supposedly) have brains, have youth and beauty on their side, have families and/or the means to study would feel a little grateful and do a little more with the resources and opportunities they have, the life that they have.  Instead, you find some of the characters pranking, smoking and fucking their way into feeling more alive and feeling anything that resembles belonging.  As if their life means nothing.  To me, nothing is as sadder (and as infuriating) as a person who can’t see the good in his/her life. 

Of course, the definition of a “good life” is always relative.  Just because one has a family and goes to school doesn’t automatically mean one is “happy”.  I suppose my “Third World” perspective will always be different from that of someone who has never been in want (materially or otherwise) of anything. 

I can’t help but compare the teens in John Green’s book to this little boy I saw in a GMA documentary called “Isang Baso Ng Binhi” (I guess the translation would be “A Glass Of Seeds”).  The documentary featured a little boy steeped in poverty.  A boy who, at the tender age of ten, is already so wise beyond his years.  Much wiser, in fact, than many of the grown-ups in this world.  The documentary showed this boy planting trees, which he said … was for his college education.  And there was also a very touching moment in the documentary where the boy wept as journalist Kara David asked him what he wanted.  The boy wanted to help his father finally have the chance to rest, he wanted to take over his parents’ responsibilities and help them.  For someone as young and as hard up as this boy, he had very important reasons to study hard and to live.  He had people to actually live for.  I read “Looking For Alaska” and I thought it was so ironic that these teens who seemed to have it all, actually had nothing.

“Looking For Alaska” provides its readers with a look into what goes on in the minds of hearts of today’s teens.  If you’re looking for sanitized, Disney-perfect teen characters in this book, well, you won’t find any of them here.  These teens swear, smoke, pull pranks on school officials, bully their peers, sleep with each other, etc. and are filled with so much angst you almost expect all of them to go nuts or kill themselves in the end … so I would advise parents to provide guidance if/when their sons or daughters decide to read this book.  This book also deals with the very complex, touchy issue of teen suicide, so parents need to be around if/when their kids decide to discuss this book with them. 

But just because the characters aren’t very wholesome doesn’t mean parents should keep their children from reading this book.  This book is actually a very good springboard for discussion amongst teens and their parents.  And if a reader can look past the teen angst and shenanigans, he or she would actually find himself pondering all these hebigat questions about complex issues like life and death, alienation, sex, suicide … all the issues that give parents palpitations, high blood pressure and migraines.

“Looking For Alaska” is funny, heart-warming, serious, complex, frivolous, deep, moving, profound … life-changing.

Highly recommended.

RATING:  4 1/2

JOHN GREEN’S "THE FAULT IN OUR STARS": A CLASSIC IN THE MAKING

RATING GUIDE:

 

5 – A keeper!   

4 – Very good

3 –  Passable

2 –  I’d rather read a telephone book

1 – An absolute bomb.  Read at your own risk!

I’m in what you would call a Positive Thinking phase right now.  I’ve been reading a lot of books and watching a lot of videos that talk about how you pull things, people and situations in your life based on what you think or want. 

If you’ve been following my blog, you probably know that I’ve been looking for a book that doesn’t feature vampires, witches or other creatures.  Something with heft and substance. Something that will leave me breathless.

I have yet to see an end to the vampire trend in literature (will someone put an end to it already?), but at least, my second wish came true.  I got to read something with heft and substance over the weekend, and yes, it did leave me breathless.  In fact, I’ll go so far as to say I found a book that’s pure magic … and no, you won’t find Harry Potter here. 

"The Fault In Our Stars" is the story of Hazel, a sixteen-year old girl with cancer.  Her illness has made her unable to participate in many of the activities her peers enjoy; she is fairly isolated, and only interacts with her parents and her girl friend.  Cancer has practically turned her into a recluse who prefers books to actual people, until she meets Augustus, a hunky teenager who is also a cancer survivor.  Hazel and Augustus strike up a friendship which blossoms into something much, much more … until cancer threatens to cut it short.

It is hard to list down everything I love about this book, because there’s just A LOT to love. 

I really appreciate John Green’s portrayal of cancer victims as people who are the same as people who don’t have that sickness.  Cancer victims come in all shapes and sizes (hey, he can even be a hunk like Augustus!), they can be as nice or as mean as anyone, and most importantly, they fall in love, too. 

At times, Hazel and Augustus sound a little too smart and witty that you wonder if John Green is on the verge of sounding pretentious, but I’d like to believe they are just “built” that way (after all, they start bonding over books … so nerdy but very sweet, I think!). 

There’s something in every character for you to identify with and love … and that includes Peter Van Houten, the reclusive author who unwittingly binds Hazel and Augustus together.  He’s as mean as hell, but John Green manages to write his character in such a way that one actually feels sorry for him.  Personally, it is Augustus I love the most.  Who wouldn’t fall for a hunky amputee with atrocious bad driving skills and a heart as big as the ocean?  I almost wept for him towards the end of the story. 

This is the first John Green I ever read, and it really surprised me that this was a book for young adults, because this is as much a book for grown-ups as it is for young ones.  It is a book about being a teenager in the 21^st century, but it is also a book that deals with the “heavy” stuff:  illness, death, moving on, the meaning of life, among others.

I don’t think I’ve ever come across a book that portrays the complexities of life in such an original and interesting way.  To capture the good in the worst of moments, or strength and dignity in one’s weakest and most humiliating moments, or joy in the middle of grief … the way John Green accomplished all of those things is simply inspired and brilliant.  It’s as grim as death itself, but it is also as warm as the sun and as joyful as a child’s laugh. 

There are many, many profound, valuable lessons about life in this book, and young adults as well as grown-ups will benefit so much from reading this rare, literary gem that I’m sure will be a classic in no time at all.

RATING:  5