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4.19 AVERAGE
4.19 AVERAGE
really enjoyed this book, was different to books I’ve read recently but thought it was so raw and complex. very sad and I held tears in a few times but I really connected with the narrator and found it so moving and real the way he was trying to navigate all these complex changes, feelings, relationships and trauma. didn’t expect the ending and it really was quite heartbreaking. would defo recommend this book but it is very sad
Just as amazing as when I first read it if not better. Captured coming of age perfectly. I guess this stays as one of my fav books
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
It is always a beautiful experience when you get to "see" the world through a different perspective and especially when you are so different from a character like Charlie. I'm introspective too but pragmatical and I've never been the "sensitive" person which made this read even more special. I even made a Spotify playlist of the mix tape Charlie gives to Patrick and it goes great while reading the letters. Great book.
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
emotional
funny
hopeful
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I went through this book with the thought in my head that if I had only read this 8 years ago, I would have really enjoyed Charlie's story. It's a heavy book, one that tackles a lot of issues, like sex, casual drug use, mental illness, suicide and molestation. But it also portrays the angst and tumult of adolescence so truthfully, I somewhat suspect that Mr. Chbosky may have had this ghostwritten by an actual 15 year old.
And therein lies my first problem with Perks. Have you looked back on some of the stuff you wrote as a teenager? I have, and let me tell you, it wasn't exactly Shakespeare. Chbosky's decision to make this book a epistolary, first-person narrative has made me suffer 213 pages of terrible, flashback-inducing teenage writing that makes me want to travel back in time and steal all of past!me's pens and paper so I don't inflict the same sort of clunky cliches on an unsuspecting world. While Chbosky can be given some credit for keeping his character's voice authentic, I propose that for the sake of my poor sanity, that some suspension of disbelief would have made this book a little easier to read.
Chbosky has all these great turns of phrase that stick with you:
But these paltry nuggets are hidden in paragraph upon paragraph of mind-meltingly teenager-ish prose. Mr. Chbosky, why??
If the prose is hard to read, it certainly doesn't make my second problem any easier: Charlie.
As an exercise, I propose that we read the first chapters of Flowers for Algernon and The Perks of Being A Wallflower.
Don't they seem eerily similar to one another? Even though one is supposed to severely mentally handicapped and the other is a 'gifted' teenager?
And that is my point. I understand that Charlie is supposed to be emotionally stunted, highly introverted, and, but for the first half, and on-and-off for the second half until the end chapter, he sounds like a ten-year-old in a high schooler's world. Literally, all I could think during some passages was "Charlie is literally too stupid to live".
Verdict:
-If you like YA novels and '90s alternative music, read this book. Bring some patience and a soothing cup of tea for when the characters become too stupid or emotionally over-the-top,
-If you have a limited amount of patience for teenage dumbassery, don't read this book. Just don't. (Maybe watch the movie if you like Emma Watson)
And therein lies my first problem with Perks. Have you looked back on some of the stuff you wrote as a teenager? I have, and let me tell you, it wasn't exactly Shakespeare. Chbosky's decision to make this book a epistolary, first-person narrative has made me suffer 213 pages of terrible, flashback-inducing teenage writing that makes me want to travel back in time and steal all of past!me's pens and paper so I don't inflict the same sort of clunky cliches on an unsuspecting world. While Chbosky can be given some credit for keeping his character's voice authentic, I propose that for the sake of my poor sanity, that some suspension of disbelief would have made this book a little easier to read.
Chbosky has all these great turns of phrase that stick with you:
"We accept the love we think we deserve"
"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite"
But these paltry nuggets are hidden in paragraph upon paragraph of mind-meltingly teenager-ish prose. Mr. Chbosky, why??
If the prose is hard to read, it certainly doesn't make my second problem any easier: Charlie.
As an exercise, I propose that we read the first chapters of Flowers for Algernon and The Perks of Being A Wallflower.
Don't they seem eerily similar to one another? Even though one is supposed to severely mentally handicapped and the other is a 'gifted' teenager?
And that is my point. I understand that Charlie is supposed to be emotionally stunted, highly introverted, and
Spoiler
traumatized from being molestedVerdict:
-If you like YA novels and '90s alternative music, read this book. Bring some patience and a soothing cup of tea for when the characters become too stupid or emotionally over-the-top,
-If you have a limited amount of patience for teenage dumbassery, don't read this book. Just don't. (Maybe watch the movie if you like Emma Watson)
emotional
funny
hopeful
lighthearted
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced