John green paper towns plot. John Green - paper cities. What is the book "Paper Towns" about?

John Green

Paper cities

With gratitude to Julie Strauss-Gabel, without whom none of this would have happened.

Then we went outside and saw that she had already lit a candle; I really liked the face she carved out of the pumpkin: from a distance it seemed like sparks were sparkling in her eyes.

“Halloween”, Katrina Vandenberg, from the collection “Atlas”.

They say that a friend cannot destroy a friend.

What do they know about it?

From a song by the Mountain Goats.

My opinion is this: some miracle happens to every person in life. Well, that is, of course, it is unlikely that I will be struck by lightning, or receive a Nobel Prize, or become the dictator of a small nation living on some island in the Pacific Ocean, or contract incurable terminal ear cancer, or suddenly spontaneously combust. But, if you look at all these extraordinary phenomena together, most likely, at least something unlikely happens to everyone. I, for example, could get caught in a rain of frogs. Or land on Mars. Marry the Queen of England or hang out alone at sea for several months, on the brink of life and death. But something else happened to me. Among all the many residents of Florida, I happened to be Margot Roth Spiegelman's neighbor.

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 built on the site of the base, because that is how the free 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 buildings was completed. Margot and I were two years old at the time.

Even before Jefferson Park became Pleasantville, even before it became a Navy base, it actually belonged to one Jefferson, or rather, Dr. Jefferson Jefferson. An entire school in Orlando was named after Dr. Jefferson Jefferson, there is also a large charitable organization named after him, but the most interesting thing is that Dr. Jefferson Jefferson was not any “doctor”: incredible, but true. He sold orange juice all his life. And then he suddenly became rich and became an influential man. 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 object.

So, Margot and I were nine. Our parents were friends, so she and I sometimes played together, riding our bikes past dead-end streets into Jefferson Park itself, the main attraction of our area.

When they told me that Margot would come soon, I was always terribly worried, because I considered her the most divine of God's creatures in the entire history of mankind. That very morning she was wearing white shorts and a pink T-shirt with a green dragon with flames of orange sparkles coming out of its mouth. Now it’s difficult to explain why this T-shirt seemed so amazing to me that day.

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

At that time, I fancied myself an inventor, and when Margot and I, having abandoned 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, launching them circle around the Earth so that here we can become like on Saturn. (I still think it would be cool, but making a cannon that would launch stones into Earth orbit turns out to be quite difficult.)

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

Quentin,” Margot said quietly and calmly.

She was pointing somewhere with her finger. That's when I saw What not this way.

A few steps in front of us was an oak tree. Thick, knobby, terribly old. He always stood here. 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. This is what I saw for the first time. And a pool of blood spilled around him. Blood flowed from the mouth, although the stream had almost dried up. The man opened his mouth strangely. Flies sat quietly on his pale forehead.

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

And while I was taking these two steps back, Margot just as slowly and carefully stepped forward.

His eyes are open,” she stated.

“We have to go back home,” I answered.

“I thought they were dying with their eyes closed,” she continued.

Margon needs to go home and tell her parents.

She took another step forward. If she reached 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 didn’t want to leave Margot alone with a corpse that could come to life and rush at her at any moment, but I also wasn’t able to stay there and discuss the circumstances of his death in the smallest detail. I plucked up my courage, stepped forward and grabbed her hand.

Margonado come home now!

“Okay, fine,” she agreed.

We ran to the bikes, my breath caught as if with delight, only it was not delight. We sat down, and I let Margot go first because I was bursting into tears and didn’t want her to see it. The soles of her purple sneakers were stained with blood. His blood. This dead guy.

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

My mom and dad are psychotherapists, so, by definition, I don’t have psychological problems. When I woke up, my mother and I had a long conversation about the life expectancy of a person, that death is also part of the life cycle, but at the age of nine I don’t have to think much about this phase, in general, I felt better. Honestly, I’ve never really thought about this topic. This says a lot, because in principle I know how to drive.

John Green

Paper cities

With gratitude to Julie Strauss-Gabel, without whom none of this would have happened.

Then we went outside and saw that she had already lit a candle; I really liked the face she carved out of the pumpkin: from a distance it seemed like sparks were sparkling in her eyes.

“Halloween”, Katrina Vandenberg, from the collection “Atlas”.

They say that a friend cannot destroy a friend.

What do they know about it?

From a song by the Mountain Goats.

My opinion is this: some miracle happens to every person in life. Well, that is, of course, it is unlikely that I will be struck by lightning, or receive a Nobel Prize, or become the dictator of a small nation living on some island in the Pacific Ocean, or contract incurable terminal ear cancer, or suddenly spontaneously combust. But, if you look at all these extraordinary phenomena together, most likely, at least something unlikely happens to everyone. I, for example, could get caught in a rain of frogs. Or land on Mars. Marry the Queen of England or hang out alone at sea for several months, on the brink of life and death. But something else happened to me. Among all the many residents of Florida, I happened to be Margot Roth Spiegelman's neighbor.

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 built on the site of the base, because that is how the free 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 buildings was completed. Margot and I were two years old at the time.

Even before Jefferson Park became Pleasantville, even before it became a Navy base, it actually belonged to one Jefferson, or rather, Dr. Jefferson Jefferson. An entire school in Orlando was named after Dr. Jefferson Jefferson, there is also a large charitable organization named after him, but the most interesting thing is that Dr. Jefferson Jefferson was not any “doctor”: incredible, but true. He sold orange juice all his life. And then he suddenly became rich and became an influential man. 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 object.

So, Margot and I were nine. Our parents were friends, so she and I sometimes played together, riding our bikes past dead-end streets into Jefferson Park itself, the main attraction of our area.

When they told me that Margot would come soon, I was always terribly worried, because I considered her the most divine of God's creatures in the entire history of mankind. That very morning she was wearing white shorts and a pink T-shirt with a green dragon with flames of orange sparkles coming out of its mouth. Now it’s difficult to explain why this T-shirt seemed so amazing to me that day.

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

At that time, I fancied myself an inventor, and when Margot and I, having abandoned 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, launching them circle around the Earth so that here we can become like on Saturn. (I still think it would be cool, but making a cannon that would launch stones into Earth orbit turns out to be quite difficult.)

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

Quentin,” Margot said quietly and calmly.

She was pointing somewhere with her finger. That's when I saw What not this way.

A few steps in front of us was an oak tree. Thick, knobby, terribly old. He always stood here. 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. This is what I saw for the first time. And a pool of blood spilled around him. Blood flowed from the mouth, although the stream had almost dried up. The man opened his mouth strangely. Flies sat quietly on his pale forehead.

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

And while I was taking these two steps back, Margot just as slowly and carefully stepped forward.

His eyes are open,” she stated.

“We have to go back home,” I answered.

“I thought they were dying with their eyes closed,” she continued.

Margon needs to go home and tell her parents.

She took another step forward. If she reached 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 didn’t want to leave Margot alone with a corpse that could come to life and rush at her at any moment, but I also wasn’t able to stay there and discuss the circumstances of his death in the smallest detail. I plucked up my courage, stepped forward and grabbed her hand.

Margonado come home now!

“Okay, fine,” she agreed.

We ran to the bikes, my breath caught as if with delight, only it was not delight. We sat down, and I let Margot go first because I was bursting into tears and didn’t want her to see it. The soles of her purple sneakers were stained with blood. His blood. This dead guy.

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

My mom and dad are psychotherapists, so, by definition, I don’t have psychological problems. When I woke up, my mother and I had a long conversation about the life expectancy of a person, that death is also part of the life cycle, but at the age of nine I don’t have to think much about this phase, in general, I felt better. Honestly, I’ve never really thought about this topic. This says a lot, because in principle I know how to drive.

This summer there was another premiere at the cinema based on John Green's bestseller "Paper Towns". The book actually had very mixed reviews: some sang its praises, others argued that it was second-rate literature aimed at teenagers, and the deeper meaning in it was more than far-fetched. Needless to say that after the film the judgments were very similar? Only criticism of the acting was added, and fan opinions were divided between “this is brilliant” and the crowning “it wasn’t like that in the book.” After the latter, the question of what happened in the book is of particular interest. Did John Green actually write something remarkable in these lines? After all, people were hooked by something about this book.

What is the book "Paper Towns" about?

Reviews of the book, as already mentioned, are very mixed. It is difficult to tell from them what happened in the popular novel. Every now and then the name of Margo Roth Spiegelman flashes among the opinions, but the ignorant cannot understand what the fans of “Paper Towns” are talking about. It is worth telling the plot briefly.

Plot

High school student and almost-graduate Q Jacobsen and the “queen of the school” Margot Roth Spiegelman are neighbors. As children, they often walked and were friends. But as they grew older, their opinions began to differ somewhat: the calm, cautious Q and the restless Margot, for whom there are no limits or barriers. At one point, their paths simply diverged - without any quarrels or arguments, it just happens. Many years have passed, and Margot Roth Spiegelman has become someone who is impossible not to notice, and Q has become (or remains?) just a freak, head over heels in love with his “queen”.

What is the climax?

One fine night, Margot climbs into Q’s window and offers him the most incredible adventure of his life - to punish and take revenge on her offenders. The couple makes their raid magnificently and ends the night on the highest floor of the tallest building in the city, where Margot Roth Spiegelman, in fact, utters the famous phrase that gives the book its title - "Paper Towns." The book has, as expected, contradictory reviews on this particular issue: there are those who admire the thoughtful “this is a paper town... paper people in paper houses,” and there are also those who claim: in fact, this is the author, John Green , only gave his heroine a little pathos, but this does not speak at all about her wisdom, and indeed the wisdom of the book itself.

The climax is that the next morning Margot Roth Spiegelman disappears. Well, knight Q Jacobsen decides to nobly find her. The book “Paper Towns” itself can tell you how it all ends.

Reviews

John Michael Green's book, in principle, is gripping with its plot - it has the intrigue that is so necessary so that the reader does not get bored. Curious characters. A couple of fun secondary characters. Claim for wise thoughts.

What do readers think about all this?

Reviews of the book Paper Towns assure that the book is good for the audience for which it was written: school-age teenagers will enjoy the humor inserted into place and somewhat naive situations that surprise older readers.

Reviewers pay much attention to how the author constructed the ending. It can safely be called open: John Green does not pose direct questions, he is thought-provoking, and the reader becomes interested in finding the answers himself.

This style is not alien to Green: a similar thing can be seen in the less famous “Looking for Alaska.”

Advantages

“Paper Cities” is a book whose reviews are as interesting to read as the work itself. Its advantages are called a simple syllable - this book is light, you can read it overnight and be satisfied with such a valuable acquisition. Also, high-quality humor, of which, by the way, there is plenty, and an unhackneyed plot are taken as merits. This is the honest truth: in “Paper Towns” there are no clichés either in terms of events or characters, which is very pleasing. After all, this is modern prose, and it is sometimes difficult for young authors to resist using what has already been time-tested.

Flaws

Unfortunately, the advantages, which are such because they are suitable for a teenage audience, come down to precisely this drawback - a narrow age category. For young readers, John Michael Green's book "Paper Towns" is too full of adult events, they will not understand it; for adults it is naive and simple-minded. This also causes an illogical sequence of events, and sometimes even strange behavior of the characters.

On average, a book is given a score of about 6-7 points out of a possible ten.

Positive opinions

Many people read “Paper Towns” after the sensational “The Fault in Our Stars” and received equally vivid impressions, although the books are essentially different. Rave reviews are often directed towards Margot Roth Spiegelman - an unusual heroine in contrast to the ordinary Q Jacobson. Readers assure that the book is ideal for fans of romance, adventure and detective novels.

It's no surprise that many of the "Cities" fans are girls. They fell in love with their insight and philosophical overtones. Loving mysteries, they happily accepted the understatement in the finale.

In our crazy high-speed world, the advantages of the work include its small volume. This is exactly what some reviews say.

"Paper Towns" (John Green) is a fairly popular book, so there were many reviews and opinions on it. Readers assure that the book can be called very kind; it makes you think about your attitude towards your loved ones, towards the world, towards the notorious stereotypical rules of society.

The moral of this story is...

There are several main takeaways that come to the fore after reading the book.

Firstly, the one that Margot Roth Spiegelman herself asks, speaking about her worldview - she calls everything paper, and the reader thinks: maybe it really is paper? Maybe he himself is paper?

Secondly, the one that arises immediately after the finale: stereotypes, what are they? What boundaries have we come to terms with long ago? Maybe it's time to let go of these stupid rules?

Thirdly, the one that appears after some reflection on the work "Paper Towns" (John Green). Reviews of the book do not always take this conclusion into account. And it lies in this: if you run faster, you still won’t be able to escape. Wasn't Margot's attempt to escape to an immediately adult (in her understanding) version of herself more than stupid? Has she built her own instead of the illusions of this world that she doesn’t like, which is in fact no better?

Fourthly, the one that is least noticeable among the reviews: the problem of idealizing the image of the “queen” Margot Roth Spiegelman. Quentin (Q) Jacobsen made her an idol, and fans of “Paper Towns” also include her there. This is wrong, because the author himself points out in the finale how important it is to see not the image of a person created in your head, but to try to discern the true essence. It is always easier to love fiction, giving the character any qualities you like. Such an ideal. And the problem of such illusory love, which is important, is relevant not only for teenagers, but also in adulthood. Moreover, the older a person is, the more painful it is for him to give up such a habit.

Negative opinions

The intricacies of the light and the complex, the insignificant and the serious - that’s what the book “Paper Towns” is all about. It has not only good reviews. Those who did not like the work found enough shortcomings in it.

It is argued that despite the fact that John Green's books are called "life-changing", in reality they are not. Margot is too perfect, Quentin is too ordinary.

The meaning in the work is obscured by the too vulgar and vulgar conversations of friends and comrades, who do not seem to feel an ounce of shame for the things they said.

The plot eventually becomes so muddled that the ending is not so much open and unsaid as it is unconvincing. The character should not closely correlate with the reader, but it should be written in such a way that the hero’s choice can be understood, even if everyone else in the work could not understand and accept it. Green's light syllable did not cope with this task.

There are also complaints about the syllable to the author. "Paper Towns" is a book whose reviews always begin with how the author writes. And not everyone is happy with his simple style. In addition, some even complain that in the middle the work, instead of being exciting, becomes monotonous and boring. This suggests that John Green failed to make the transition from light to serious successfully.

Is there a consensus?

Unfortunately, no, there is no consensus. The book "Paper Towns" (John Green) has received mixed reviews from customers. As always: some lemons, some lemon boxes. And for every person who puts “Paper Towns” on the altar, there will be someone who would prefer to throw it away and write off that their money and time were wasted. Well, to form your own opinion, you just have to read it!

“Paper Towns” a summary of the book will remind you of what this novel is about.

"Paper Cities" summary

The story in the first 2 chapters is told from the perspective of high school student Quentin Jacobsen. The last chapter is told in third person.

Paper Towns begins with a prologue. The action there takes place nine years before the events of the novel. When Quentin Jacobsen and Margo Roth Spiegelman were nine years old, they found a dead man in a nearby park. Margot found out that Robert Joyner (that was the man's name) committed suicide due to a divorce from his wife. This experience bonds Quentin and Margot. But from then on, he and Margot no longer communicated.

In the first part, Margot is already a popular girl; she has not communicated with Quentin since she was nine years old. And Quentin Jacobsen is a 17-year-old boy who is a senior at Orlando High School. He loved his childhood best friend, Margot, all his life. Quentin is a smart boy, but Margot doesn’t accept nerds into her company.

A few weeks before graduating from high school, Margo appears at Quentin's window in the middle of the night. She asks you to help her take revenge on the guy who cheated on her. She turned to him because she did not have a car and he had to help her implement the 11 points of her plan and take revenge on friends who had offended her. Margot and Quentin creatively break into their friends' houses and cars, causing damage to them. Their night of mischief and revenge culminates at the Sea World water park.

Part two covers the last few weeks of school. After a night of adventure, Margot disappears. This is not the first time she has run away from home. This time her parents decide not to look for her. However, she left clues for Quentin, and he intends to piece them together to find out where she went.

Quentin turns to his friends Radar and Ben, and Margot's friend, Lacey, for help in trying to find her. They end up going on a journey to find or "rescue" her. Margo left the keys in Walt Whitman's Leaves of Grass. Along the way, Quentin realizes that Margot is not really what he thought he knew.

Margot's vague clues led Quentin and his friends to an old, abandoned shopping mall where Margot spent some time. In the mini-hall, they find maps and other clues that help them guess where Margot was planning the route.

Quentin begins to explore Margot's obsession with what she calls "paper towns," or pseudo-suburban suburban developments that were abandoned before they were fully built. Quentin makes short trips to all such structures he can find in Central Florida to see if she is there, but does not find her.

During his quest, Quentin seeks out a group of prodigies who can restore order to the chaos that is the high school's social hierarchy and earns some respect from the popular crowd. Quentin is more obsessed with finding Margot than his friends because Margot is the center of Quentin's universe, while Radar and Ben are more concerned about school, their girlfriends, and final exams. On graduation night, Quentin, uninterested in going to prom, plans to spend the night in an abandoned mall at Margot's hideout. He fell asleep there, but woke up to drive his friends after the prom.

Quentin continues his search, he cannot think about graduation or exams when his mind is constantly occupied with thoughts of Margot. On the morning of graduation, Quentin discovers that Margot left a clue on the Radar website, that she is in the "paper town" of Agloya, near New York City, and she will be there until May 29 at noon. This gives Quentin only twenty-four hours to get there. Quentin, Radar, Ben and Lacey skipped graduation and travel to Agloi in the minibus that Quentin's parents gave him for graduation.

Part three chronicles this epic road trip from Central Florida to upstate New York, which Quentin chronicled hour by hour. The road trip is crazy, they take turns driving, but it's a bonding experience for four friends. When they arrive in Agloi, Margo acts indifferent and cold towards them. Lacey, Ben and Radar get angry and leave, but Quentin stays and talks to Margot. She explains why she feels obligated to cut ties with Orlando and her past, and invites Quentin to go to New York with her. She doesn’t want to live according to the script - home, work, family, children...

They kiss. However, Quentin refuses to stay in Margot's literal and symbolic paper town, and Margot refuses to return to the emotional goals of her life in Orlando.

Quentin (Q) Jacobsen has been in love with his neighbor Margo Roth Spiegelman since childhood. Once upon a time, the children were friends, but as they grew older, their characters and interests began to change. Margot and Q were too different, their paths diverged. The main character is still in love, but does not dare to resume communication.

The prom is approaching, which Q has no intention of going to. A few weeks before this event, the young man’s life changed dramatically. One day Margot climbs into his room through the window. The girl asks for help to take revenge on her enemies. Q 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 the search for the main character. For many readers, the last chapter turned out to be a mystery. Only one thing remains clear - Q and Margot are too different to link their destinies.

Characteristics

Q Jacobsen

The author notes that the main characters once had some similarities, which allowed them to be friends. Gradually, Q turned into a boring young man, busy exclusively with his studies. To emphasize the difference between the characters, the author makes Q exaggeratedly positive. A shy teenager lives an uninteresting, gray life, monitors his progress at school, and refuses to participate in public 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 union of lovers. Further life remains somewhere behind the scenes.

Seeing no future with Margot, Q 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 that Margot persuades him to take becomes a hope that life can still flow in a different direction. However, after going through a long search, Q realizes that the girl he loved was completely different from what he imagined her to be. Quentin ascribed qualities to Margot that she did not have, ignoring what she actually had. He loved the image, not the real person.

Despite some disappointments, Q's little adventure is not a waste of time. The girl he loved made him see life outside the usual world and understand that not everything can be planned. Improvisations make our lives brighter and richer.

The main character appears to others as a bright, attractive and the most popular girl in her school. She loves to break rules because she believes that no rules really exist. People invented them to somehow organize their everyday life. Rules are needed only to justify your routine. Their observance is proof that a person lives “like all normal people.”

Even in her childhood, Margot thought a lot about life. The reality around her seems like paper. Parents, acquaintances, relatives and friends seem to be running in circles. Life is too fleeting to waste it on boredom. But no one wants to stop and think.

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

main idea

The author tries to cast doubt on the generally accepted rules of “real” life. Do you really need to adjust your life to general concepts of happiness? There are probably some alternatives. To find your path, you need to follow your heart.

Analysis of the work

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

Readership
The main characters of the novel are American teenagers. 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 thirty-year-old man and every forty-year-old woman was once an eighteen-year-old boy and girl.

They were probably also dissatisfied with the world and tried to build their lives so that it would not be like the life of their parents. As they get older, young people begin to realize that not everything is as simple as they once thought. Probably, the parents also dreamed of more, but could not achieve it.

Q and Margot are equally dissatisfied with reality, with the city in which they live. But each of them struggles with their discontent in their own way. Q tries to be a "good boy". Realizing the impossibility of building his 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 dissatisfaction he experiences as he replays the series of his future life in his mind.

Margot does not want to put up with the inevitable routine. She must get rid of her by any means necessary. The girl constantly tries to stand out from the crowd, behaves extravagantly, and at times even indecently. But this is not enough for her to be different from others. Margot leaves home to find herself, to once again become the center of everyone's 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 the novel is a term. Paper cities are non-existent settlements marked on a map. In the novel, this term received new meanings. On the one hand, paper towns refer to settlements similar to those in which the main characters live. In this way, the author tries to emphasize the artificiality and unnaturalness of the life of ordinary people, mired in routine. People heat paper houses with their own future, says the author. The purpose of this metaphor is to show that most of us are willing to burn our dreams just to keep ourselves warm in the present. Paper cities also symbolize the ethereal illusions that the main characters of the novel are prone to. One spark of common sense is enough for the paper to burst into flames, and all that remains of a bright, alluring dream is a handful of ashes.