Dear You,
I got the book Paper Towns for my birthday, I had already read it but I love second reads and I loved that this time I had the ability to write and highlight all over this beautiful book.
I don't write in all of my books. In my copy of City of Bones you will not find a single mark or scratch because I like that I kept the integrity of the books so pristine. However my favorite thing about the author John Green is despite the plot of his books being realistic fiction involving teenagers and their various unique stories, there is always some hidden nuggets of wisdom. Little quotes that can change lives. If you don't know they're there it's easy to pass by them, but they are so brilliant.
Some of my favorites are...
"life has become the future. Every moment of your life is lived for the future"
"When you say nasty things about people, you should never say the true ones, because you can't really fully and honestly take those back, you know?"
"leaving feels good and pure only when you leave something important, something that mattered to you. Pulling life out by the roots"
"Nothing ever happens like you imagine it will... But then again, if you don't imagine, nothing ever happens at all"
I could write entire posts about each of these quotes and maybe one day I will but for now I'll just leave them at that. But they are so beautiful and true and relatable to my own life.
There were these overwhelming intellectually stimulating concepts throughout the book as well. I admire John Green so very much for these...
The first is the title of the book: Paper Towns. The idea that everyone is so 2 dimensional and follow the rules and traditions set by society in the most simple way. That every town of people is just as boring and easily categorized as any other. It's a terrifying thought that we, as humans, really are that boring and simple.
I think it's well explained by the quote "People love the idea of a paper girl". And that is completely and utterly true. When I tell people of my extraordinary dreams, I'm judged beyond belief because I'm not simple. I don't want to be a paper girl and live my days like everyone else. People want everyone to be normal, to be put into the same college-marriage-kids box.
But the truth is while some wonderful people really want that, not everyone does. And it's so unfair to like one group of people and not the other because they chose two different and equally fulfilling paths. Whatever people want to do with their lives is their business. If people want a normal life that doesn't make them boring and if they don't want one that doesn't make them wrong. Which leads into the next concept...
This concept is one that I've thought about on multiple occasions, that it's "difficult to understand that other people are human beings in the same ways that we are". We imagine everyone else as 2 dimensions. We see the outside, seemingly perfect lives of all the humans around us but in actuality, most people have just as many problems as everyone else. It's just hard to imagine that everyone else has issues and struggles and feelings and thoughts like we do.
"It is easy to forget how full the world is of people, full to bursting, and each of them imaginable and consistently misimagined". I constantly struggle with this idea and constantly remind myself of the fact that I don't know everyone else. One either has to put one's self in another's shoes or do what the main protagonist of the book, Quentin, figured out. "I must ask the wounded man where he is hurt, because I cannot become the wounded man" when speaking about Whitman's understanding of empathy and 3 dimensionality of another human being.
I love these ideas so very much and hold them very close. Rereading the book gave me a new perspective on everything about it. When simply focusing on the plot, these concepts passed by my head faster than wind but now I see how the seemingly simple plot gives way to all of these complex concepts and beautiful epiphanies. And this book is getting a movie. This was a very thought-filled book so I'm excited to see how they manifest these into a movie but I'm sure it'll be great!
Anyways, this may be my longest post ever but I loved being able to explain my thoughts and the brilliant concepts in this book, I could talk about them forever. Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Have a Wonderful Day!
Mia B
If you wanted to be really awesome you could check out my New Youtube Video :)
"life has become the future. Every moment of your life is lived for the future"
"When you say nasty things about people, you should never say the true ones, because you can't really fully and honestly take those back, you know?"
"leaving feels good and pure only when you leave something important, something that mattered to you. Pulling life out by the roots"
"Nothing ever happens like you imagine it will... But then again, if you don't imagine, nothing ever happens at all"
I could write entire posts about each of these quotes and maybe one day I will but for now I'll just leave them at that. But they are so beautiful and true and relatable to my own life.
There were these overwhelming intellectually stimulating concepts throughout the book as well. I admire John Green so very much for these...
The first is the title of the book: Paper Towns. The idea that everyone is so 2 dimensional and follow the rules and traditions set by society in the most simple way. That every town of people is just as boring and easily categorized as any other. It's a terrifying thought that we, as humans, really are that boring and simple.
I think it's well explained by the quote "People love the idea of a paper girl". And that is completely and utterly true. When I tell people of my extraordinary dreams, I'm judged beyond belief because I'm not simple. I don't want to be a paper girl and live my days like everyone else. People want everyone to be normal, to be put into the same college-marriage-kids box.
But the truth is while some wonderful people really want that, not everyone does. And it's so unfair to like one group of people and not the other because they chose two different and equally fulfilling paths. Whatever people want to do with their lives is their business. If people want a normal life that doesn't make them boring and if they don't want one that doesn't make them wrong. Which leads into the next concept...
This concept is one that I've thought about on multiple occasions, that it's "difficult to understand that other people are human beings in the same ways that we are". We imagine everyone else as 2 dimensions. We see the outside, seemingly perfect lives of all the humans around us but in actuality, most people have just as many problems as everyone else. It's just hard to imagine that everyone else has issues and struggles and feelings and thoughts like we do.
"It is easy to forget how full the world is of people, full to bursting, and each of them imaginable and consistently misimagined". I constantly struggle with this idea and constantly remind myself of the fact that I don't know everyone else. One either has to put one's self in another's shoes or do what the main protagonist of the book, Quentin, figured out. "I must ask the wounded man where he is hurt, because I cannot become the wounded man" when speaking about Whitman's understanding of empathy and 3 dimensionality of another human being.
I love these ideas so very much and hold them very close. Rereading the book gave me a new perspective on everything about it. When simply focusing on the plot, these concepts passed by my head faster than wind but now I see how the seemingly simple plot gives way to all of these complex concepts and beautiful epiphanies. And this book is getting a movie. This was a very thought-filled book so I'm excited to see how they manifest these into a movie but I'm sure it'll be great!
Anyways, this may be my longest post ever but I loved being able to explain my thoughts and the brilliant concepts in this book, I could talk about them forever. Leave your thoughts in the comments below!
Have a Wonderful Day!
Mia B
If you wanted to be really awesome you could check out my New Youtube Video :)
