John Green - Paper Towns. Paper cities John Green's novel paper cities

These are the facts: I bumped into a dead guy. A cute little nine-year-old boy, that is, me, and my even smaller and much nicer girlfriend found a dead man in the park, whose mouth was bleeding, and when we rushed home, my girlfriend's cute little sneakers were in his very blood. Very dramatic, of course, and all the cases, but what of that? I didn't know him. Every damn day, people I don't know die. If every misfortune that occurs in this world drove me to a nervous breakdown, I would have gone off the rails long ago.

At nine in the evening I went to my room, getting ready to go to bed - on schedule. Mom tucked me a blanket, said that she loved me, I told her "see you tomorrow," she also told me "see you tomorrow," turned off the light and closed the door so that there was only a small gap.

Turning on my side, I saw Margot Roth Spiegelman: she was standing in the street, literally pressing her nose to the window. I got up, opened it, now we were separated only by a mosquito net, because of which it seemed that her face was in a small dot.

I've done an investigation, ”she said in a serious tone.

Although the grid made it difficult to see it properly, I still saw in Margot's hands a small notepad and a pencil with denticles from the teeth near the rubber band.

She looked at her notes:

Mrs. Feldman of Jefferson Court said his name was Robert Joyner. And that he lived on Jefferson Road in an apartment at a house with a deli.I went there and found a bunch of police officers, one of them asked me what, from the school newspaper, I replied that we didn’t have our own newspaper at school, and he said that if I am not a journalist, he can answer my questions. It turned out that Robert Joyner was thirty-six years old. He's a lawyer. I was not allowed into his apartment, but I went to his neighbor named Juanita Alvarez on the pretext that I wanted to borrow a glass of sugar from her, and she said that this Robert Joyner shot himself with a pistol. I asked why, and it turned out that his wife wanted to divorce him and this upset him very much.

That was the end of Margot's story, and I stood and looked at her in silence: her face, gray from the moonlight, was shattered by the window mesh into thousands of tiny dots. Her big round eyes darted from me to the notebook and back.

Many people get divorced without suicide, - I commented.

- I know, she answered excitedly. - I just the same said Juanita Alvarez. And she answered ... - Margot turned the page. “… That Mr. Joyner was not an easy man. I asked what it meant, and she simply offered to pray for him and told her to bring sugar to my mother, I told her: “Forget the sugar” and left.

I said nothing again. I wanted her to keep talking - her quiet voice sounded the excitement of a person who was getting closer to solving some important question, and this gave me the feeling that something very important was happening.

It seems to me that I, perhaps, understand why he did it, - finally said Margot.

He probably had all the threads in his soul cut off, - she explained.

Thinking what to this you can answer, I pressed the latch and took out the mesh separating us from the window. I put it on the floor, but Margot didn't let me say anything. She, practically burying her face in me, ordered: "Close the window," and I obeyed. I thought she was going to leave, but she stayed and continued to look at me. I waved my hand at her and smiled, but it seemed to me that she was looking at something behind me, at something so terrible that her blood drained from her face, and I was so scared that I did not dare to turn around and look. what is there. But behind me, of course, there was nothing like that - except, perhaps, that dead man.

I stopped waving. Margot and I looked at each other through the glass, our faces on the same level. I do not remember how it all ended - I went to bed or she left. This memory has no end to me. We just stand and stare at each other for ages.

Margot loved all kinds of riddles. Subsequently, I often thought that maybe that's why she herself became a mystery girl.

Part one

The longest day of my life was in no hurry to start: I woke up late, took a long shower, so I had to have breakfast that Wednesday at 7:17 in my mother's minivan.

I usually go to school with my best friend Ben Starling, but he came out on time that day, so he couldn't pick me up. “Arrive on time” meant “half an hour before the call”. The first thirty minutes of the school day was the most significant point in the schedule of our social life: we gathered at the back door to the rehearsal room and talked. Many of my friends played in the school band, so we spent most of our free time within twenty feet of their rehearsal room. But I myself did not play, because the bear stepped on my ear, crushing it so that sometimes I could be mistaken for a deaf person. I was twenty minutes late, which meant that I would still arrive ten minutes before the start of the first lesson.

On the way, my mother started talking about school, exams and graduation.

I'm not interested in prom, ”I reminded her as she turned the corner.

I was holding a plate of cereal with dynamic G-forces in mind. I already had experience.

I think it’s okay if you go there with a girl with whom you just have friendly relations. You can invite Cassie Zadkins.

Yes I could invite Cassie Zadkins - she's just great, and sweet, and pleasant, but she was not lucky with the last name.

It's not just that I don't like the idea of ​​going to prom. I also don’t like those people who like the idea of ​​going to prom, ”I explained, although it was, in fact, not true. Ben, for example, was raving about this prom.

Mom drove up to the school, and on the speed bump I held the plate, which, however, was already almost empty. I looked at the senior parking lot. Margot Roth Spiegelman's silver Honda stood in its usual place. Mom drove into a dead end at the rehearsal room and kissed me on the cheek. Ben and the rest of my friends stood in a semicircle.

I walked towards them, and the semicircle accepted me, becoming a little larger. They discussed my ex, Susie Cheng. She played the cello, and now decided to make a splash by dating a baseball player named Teddy Mack. I didn't even know if it was a real name or a nickname. But be that as it may, Susie decided to go to prom with him, with this Teddy Mack. Another blow of fate.

Quentin (Kew) Jacobsen has been in love with his neighbor Margot Roth Spiegelman since childhood. Once the children were friends, but with age, their characters and interests began to change. Margot and Kew were too different, their paths went their separate ways. The main character is still in love, but does not dare to resume communication.

Prom is approaching, which Kew does not intend to attend. A few weeks before this event, the young man's life had changed dramatically. One day, Margot comes into his room through the window. The girl asks for help to take revenge on her enemies. Kew readily agrees. The next day, it becomes known that Margot has disappeared. Neither friends nor parents know what caused her disappearance. Only Quentin finds some messages left by his friend and goes to look for her.

Most of the book is devoted to finding the main character. For many readers, the final chapter turned out to be a mystery. Only one thing remains clear - Kew and Margot are too different to link their fates.

Characteristics of the characters

Kew Jacobsen

The author notes that the main characters once had some similarities, which allowed them to be friends. Gradually, Kew turned into a boring young man, busy exclusively with his studies. To emphasize the difference between the characters, the author makes Kew exaggeratedly positive. A shy teenager lives an uninteresting gray life, monitors his progress at school, refuses to participate in social events. His only entertainment was computer games.

Quentin never stopped loving Margot. In his fantasies, he sees himself next to this girl. At the same time, the main character does not insist on making his dreams come true. His fantasies are more like a feature film, where the story ends with the connection of lovers. Further life remains somewhere behind the scenes.

Seeing no future with Margot, Kew tries to imagine his life without her. He will certainly receive a decent education at a prestigious college and become a lawyer. Quentin will marry a decent girl and live like hundreds of other middle-class Americans. The adventure, which Margot persuades him, becomes the hope that life can still flow in a different direction. However, having gone a long way of searching, Kew realizes that his beloved girl was completely different from what he imagined her to be. Quentin attributed qualities to Margot that she did not have, ignoring what really was. He loved the image, not the real person.

Despite some disappointments, Kew's little adventure isn't useless. The girl he loved made him see life outside the usual world and understand that not everything can be planned. Improvisations make our life brighter and richer.

The main character appears to those around her as a bright, attractive and most popular girl in her school. She loves to break the rules, because she believes that no rules really exist. They were invented by people in order to somehow streamline their everyday life. Rules are only needed to justify your routine. Their observance is proof that a person lives "like all normal people."

Even in childhood, Margot thought a lot about life. The reality surrounding her seems to her to be on paper. Parents, acquaintances, relatives and friends seem to run in circles. Life is too fleeting to waste on boredom. But nobody wants to stop and think.

The main character is not just an individualist. She is a real egocentric. She sees everyone around her as stereotyped, as if they came off the assembly line. They all want the same thing. Men dream of their own home, car, exemplary family and dizzying careers. Young girls want to successfully marry in order to shift the concern for financial well-being onto the shoulders of their husbands. Margot considers herself not like everyone else. She is special and does not intend to devote her life to a routine. The girl is taking radical steps to rid herself of a gray future.

main idea

The author tries to question the generally accepted rules of "real" life. Do you really need to adjust your life to the general concepts of happiness? There are probably some alternatives. To find your way, you need to follow the call of your heart.

Analysis of the work

The novel "Paper Cities", a summary of which tells about the transformation of the inner world of the heroes, is called by many readers a book for teenagers. However, this is not entirely true.

Reader audience
American teenagers became the main characters of the novel. But we should not forget that exactly the same people with similar thoughts can live in other countries. Plus, they don't have to be teenagers. Every man in his thirties and every woman in his forties was once an eighteen-year-old boy and girl.

Probably, they were also unhappy with the world and tried to build their lives so that it would not be similar to the life of their parents. As they get older, young people begin to understand that things are not as simple as they once thought. Probably, the parents also dreamed of more, but could not achieve it.

Kew and Margot are equally unhappy with reality, the city in which they live. But each of them struggles with their own discontent in their own way. Q is trying to be a "good boy." Realizing the impossibility of building his own happiness with Margot, he imposes dreams on himself: studying at a prestigious college, a stable, although not very interesting job, a home. Quentin ignores the inner emptiness and discontent that he experiences, playing the series of his future life in his mind.

Margot doesn't want to put up with the inevitable routine. She must get rid of her by any fate. The girl constantly tries to stand out from the crowd, behaves extravagantly, and sometimes even indecent. But even this is not enough for her to be different from others. Margot leaves home to find herself, once again become the center of attention and distinguish herself from her peers. This is how the path of many famous people began.

Not all readers know that the title of a novel is a term. Paper cities are non-existent settlements mapped. In the novel, this term has received new meanings. On the one hand, settlements similar to those in which the main characters live are called paper cities. Thus, the author tries to emphasize the artificiality, the unnaturalness of the life of ordinary people, mired in a routine. People are heating paper houses with their own future, the author argues. The role of this metaphor is to show that most of us are willing to burn our dreams in order to warm ourselves in the present. Paper cities also symbolize the disembodied illusions that the protagonists of the novel are prone to. A spark of common sense is enough for the paper to flare up, and a handful of ashes remain from a bright alluring dream.

John Greene

Paper cities

Thanks to Julie Strauss-Gable, without whom none of this would have happened.

Then we went out into the street and saw that she had already lit a candle; I really liked the face she carved out of the pumpkin: from afar it seemed that sparks sparkled in her eyes.

Halloween, Katrina Vandenberg, from Atlas.

They say that a friend cannot destroy a friend.

What do they know about this?

From the song of the Mountain Goats group.

My opinion is this: a miracle happens to every person in life. Well, that is, of course, it is unlikely that lightning will hit me or I will receive a Nobel Prize, or become the dictator of a small people living on some island in the Pacific Ocean, or catch an incurable ear cancer in the final stage, or suddenly ignite spontaneously. But, if you look at all these extraordinary phenomena together, most likely, at least something unlikely happens to everyone. For example, I could get caught in a rain of frogs. Or land on Mars. Marry an English queen or hang out alone for several months in the sea, being on the verge of life and death. But something else happened to me. Among all the many residents of Florida, I was the neighbor of Margot Roth Spiegelman.

Jefferson Park, where I live, used to be a navy base. But then it was no longer needed, and the land was returned to the ownership of the municipality of Orlando, Florida, and a huge residential area was rebuilt on the site of the base, because this is how vacant land is now used. And in the end, my parents and Margot's parents bought houses in the neighborhood as soon as the construction of the first objects was completed. Margot and I were two at the time.

Even before Jefferson Park became Pleasantville, even before it became a naval base, it really belonged to a certain Jefferson, more precisely, Dr. Jefferson Jefferson. In honor of Dr. Jefferson Jefferson, a whole school was named in Orlando, there is also a large charitable organization named after him, but the most interesting thing is that Dr. Jefferson Jefferson was not any "doctor": unbelievable, but true. He traded orange juice all his life. And then suddenly he became rich and became an influential person. And then he went to court and changed his name: he put "Jefferson" in the middle, and wrote down the word "doctor" as the first name. And try to argue.

So, Margot and I were nine each. Our parents were friends, so we sometimes played together with her, driving our bikes past dead-end streets to Jefferson Park itself - the main attraction of our area.

When I was told that Margot was coming soon, I was always terribly worried, because I considered her the most divine of the creatures of the Lord in the entire history of mankind. That very morning she was wearing white shorts and a pink T-shirt with a green dragon, from which flames of orange sparkles burst from its mouth. Now it is difficult to explain why this T-shirt seemed so adorable to me that day.

Margot rode the bike standing up, with her straight arms gripping the steering wheel and hanging over it with her whole body, purple sneakers sparkled. It was in March, but the heat was already like in a steam room. The sky was clear, but there was a sour taste in the air, indicating that a storm might break out after a while.

At that time I imagined myself to be an inventor, and when Margot and I, having thrown our bikes, went to the playground, I began to tell her that I was developing a "ringolator", that is, a giant cannon that could shoot large colored stones by launching them circle around the Earth, so that we have here, like on Saturn. (I still think that would be cool, but making a cannon that will launch rocks into Earth's orbit turns out to be quite difficult.)

I often visited this park and knew every corner of it well, so pretty soon I felt that something strange was happening to this world, although I did not immediately notice that exactly it has changed.

Quentin, ”Margot said quietly and calmly.

She was pointing somewhere with her finger. It was then that I saw what not this way.

A few steps in front of us was an oak tree. Thick, gnarled, creepy old. He always stood there. There was a platform on the right. She didn't show up today either. But there, leaning against a tree trunk, sat a man in a gray suit. He didn't move. Here I saw him for the first time. A pool of blood spilled around him. Blood flowed from his mouth, although the trickle was almost dry. The man opened his mouth in a strange way. Flies sat quietly on his pale forehead.

I took two steps back. I remember, for some reason it seemed to me that if I suddenly make any sudden movement, he might wake up and attack me. What if it's a zombie? At that age I already knew that they do not exist, but this dead man really looked like he could come to life at any moment.

And while I took these two steps back, Margot just as slowly and carefully took a step forward.

His eyes are open, - she stated.

I must return home, 'I replied.

I thought they were dying with their eyes closed, - she did not stop.

Margon go back home and tell her parents.

She took another step forward. If she could reach out her hand now, she could touch his leg.

What do you think happened to him? she asked. - Maybe drugs or something like that.

I did not want to leave Margot alone with the corpse, which at any moment could come to life and rush at her, but I was also unable to stay there and discuss the circumstances of his death in great detail. I plucked up my courage, stepped forward and grabbed her hand.

Margonado is home now!

Okay, okay, ”she agreed.

We ran to the bikes, it took my breath away, as if with delight, only it was not delight. We sat down, and I let Margot go ahead because I burst into tears myself and didn't want her to see it. The soles of her purple sneakers were stained with blood. His blood. This dead man.

And then we went home. My parents called 911, sirens sounded in the distance, I asked permission to look at the cars, my mother refused. Then I went to sleep.

My mom and dad are psychotherapists, so, by definition, I have no psychological problems. When I woke up, my mother and I had a pre-long conversation about the life expectancy of a person, about the fact that death is also part of the life cycle, but at the age of nine I don't have to think too much about this phase, in general, I felt better. Honestly, I have never been driven to this topic somehow. This says a lot, because, in principle, I know how to drive.

Hello everyone, dear readers!

Yesterday, as I already told you, I went to the cinema to see the recently released film, that is, to the novelty "Paper Cities". I knew for a long time that this film was coming out, because everywhere this book was very popular with John Green, known as The Fault in the Stars. Going to this film, everyone had expectations that this film would not yield to such a deep and touching film as The Fault in Our Stars, but alas, the expectations were not met. "Paper Cities" - the film turned out to be much simpler than it seemed. So, let's get down to a full analysis - Film "Paper Cities".

"Find me"

Brief plot of the film "Paper Cities":

A graduate of the Kew Jacobsen School since childhood, secretly in love with his beautiful and daring neighbor Margot Roth Spiegelmann. Therefore, when one night she invites him to take part in a "punitive operation" against her offenders, he agrees. But, arriving at school after their nightly adventure, Kew learns that Margot has disappeared, leaving only mysterious messages for him that he must unravel in order to find the girl.

Acquaintance with general information about the film:

Year: 2015.

Country: USA.

Genre: melodrama, adventure.

Duration: 109 minutes (1 hour 49 minutes)

Limitations: 12+.

Actors, roles and characters in the film "Paper Cities":

In this section, I describe a few of my favorite main characters. In this film, of course, the most spectacular was that a famous model was taken on the role, but the entire cast turned out to be good.

• Quentin (real name - Nat Wolff) - the main character of this film, who has been in love since childhood. Quentin is not handsome, but still he played his role very worthily and convincingly. I think he still got used to this role, since he is still young - he is 20 years old. He, of course, as an actor Nat is known from the same "The Fault in the Stars".

  
  

  
  

• Margot (real name - Cara Delevingne) - is also considered as one of the main characters, although as for me, she is just a goal. She is also a very young actress - 22 years old, although as an actress she is a model and what does she do in acting, I don't understand !? (for me it has not yet revealed itself, has not shown itself). Her big filmography is scheduled for 2016, but for now she is known from the film "Anna Karenina". Also this model, which became famous for its eyebrows. In this film, she plays the role of Margot - a girl - a mystery - a riddle - a paper girl who thinks a lot, understands, is not afraid and does.

  
  

  
  

• Lacey (real name - Halston Sage) - in the film plays the girlfriend of Margot. I think I did my part well, even though there was little she needed to do - just a few scenes. Known as an actress from many comedies such as "Classmates", "Neighbors. On the Warpath", "For the First Time".

  
  

  
  

• Ben (real name - Austin Abrams) - funny boy throughout the movie, Quentin's friend, loser, looking for someone to go to prom. Goes crazy with every beauty. It is not known at all, his filmography consists of literally 5 minor films, maybe after this film he will gain fame. Although here it partly seems to me that he played just himself and he is not suitable for complex roles.

  
  

  Here is my opinion on the actors from this film.

  Liked movie quotes:

  A man is born as a watertight one-piece vessel. And then all sorts of nonsense happens: they abandon us, or they cannot fall in love, or they do not understand, but we do not understand them, and we lose, let us down, offend each other. And our ship is cracking.

  Do you know what your problem is, Quentin? You still expect people to stop being who they are.

  By imagining the future, we can make it real. Or we cannot, but it is nevertheless necessary to imagine the future.

  It is very difficult for another person to show us how we look from the outside, and it is difficult for us to show how we feel from the inside.

  Some miracle happens to every person in life.

  the film takes about an hour and a half in duration, which is quite enough for viewing and there is no protracted story.

  the film is not just a drama, but, as for me, a comedy, many different jokes and funny actions, the topic of love is touched upon only at the beginning and at the end, that is, in those places where Margot is present, the topic of friendship is slightly touched upon, and everything else is simple comedy.

  the film has good actors, deep thoughts. An interesting plot of the film about paper towns, good comparisons with people and their lives. There is depth in the film, there is something to think about.

  I'm glad that the film did not have a standard plot, that they met and now together, everything is cool and good, although it's a pity, but I liked the unusual ending.

  the film is too similar to the usual, funny American comedy, so I took 1 point and give it a "4".

Paper town for a paper girl, says Margot. - I first learned about Eeglo from the book of "interesting facts", which I read at the age of ten or eleven. And she constantly remembered him. In truth, when I went to SunTrust, including our outing together, I was not thinking that everything was made of paper. I looked down and thought I was paper myself.

. 23rd July another adaptation of his novel comes out, and "Paper cities" are the basis of the future tape.

https://youtu.be/rC2HPFBvWjE

• Name: Paper cities
• Original title: Paper towns
• John Greene
• Genre: Romance, Romance, Detective
• Year: 2008

In the center of the plot is a rather mediocre schoolboy Kew Jacobsen who does not strive to be in the center of everyone's attention, content with a mediocre existence. He prefers routine and computer games to vivid adventures. But everything changes when one night knocks on his window Margot Roth Spiegelman- a cheeky girl who lives next door, with whom Kew is head over heels in love. Margot invites him to take part in the "punitive operation", and this night becomes for the guy the brightest adventure in his life. But in the morning Margot disappears, and Kew decides by all means to find the girl, since she left behind a chain of clues, having solved the secret of which, Kew will be able to find Margot.

In general, the plot is rather prosaic and non-trivial, but the works John Green not valuable for this. IN "Paper cities" you will not find the drama and emotional level that was present in, however, for your audience, the book is just perfect. It reads easily and naturally. Vivid characters and dynamic events skillfully hold the reader's attention, allowing you to spend a cozy evening, following the development of events and trying, together with Kew, to find a solution to Margot's mysterious messages.

In some moments, however, there are rather naive scenes with very strange actions of the main characters. But given the target audience of the work, this disadvantage can easily be counted among the advantages. Readers of school age will be really interested in following the plot.

In addition, the book contains a lot of humor and very apt comparisons, in the spirit of the author! In the process of reading, every now and then there is an involuntary smile, and some moments you want to read aloud. And this happens quite often. Along with this, the narrative also raises social issues (as the title of the book says in the context of the plot). Is material important in a person's life? Should we strive to achieve ghostly, socially imposed conventions? The work leaves these questions open so that the reader himself can draw the necessary conclusion for himself.

• Targeting mainly teenagers
• The presence of illogical situations
• Sometimes strange behavior of characters

Justification of the expectation:7 0%