Reviews

From the first few pages you immediately feel so much empathy for Charlie. I was on the verge of tears many times throughout and sobbed at the end!! This is one of those books that makes you really care for its characters and miss them when you finish it.

The book is a series of Charlies reports, documenting his experience during and after the experiment as his intelligence begins to grow. The gradual progression of his grammar and language in these is perfect! I loved how his entries slowly became these really beautiful and insightful reflections that reminded me a little bit of Good Will Hunting and that famous speech Robin Williams gives.

In my top 3 modern classics for sure!!!
(maybe also in my top 3 books of all time too?)

corrin_reads's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging emotional reflective sad

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

There were times that I wasn't sure about how mentally disabled people are represented in the book (as could maybe be expected of a book from 40+ years ago), but all the same, I think the book does do a good job of making you think about how our society treats individuals based on education and intellectual ability.

aecinf's review against another edition

Go to review page

5.0

Makes you stop and think about human nature and how people of different education levels interact. Very thought-provoking.

krisphobic's review against another edition

Go to review page

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

God where do I begin…

The thing that really stood out to me was the fact he ended up where he was in the beginning. I loved reading the ending, as Charlie slowly loses the memory of his knowledge. Unable to read what he wrote before…you can see his grammar and spelling deteriorate and directly mirror how it was in the beginning of the book. I’m sorta a sucker for things like that…ending up where you started.

I also liked how Charlie directly mirrored Algernon. When you’re able to pinpoint when Algernon starts to act up, you can see Charlie exhibiting the same behaviour a little later on in the book. When he gets mad, defensive over himself, and wanting to shut himself off from others – Algernon displays the same behaviours and mannerisms as him a few logs before Charlie starts to do all these things.

From the beginning of the book, I liked that you can see Charlie gradually learn how to read and write properly as a result of his operation. I think that it was…sorta…hollowing to see him slowly lose the connection he has for others. When he realised that people were laughing at him and not with him broke my heart. Paraphrasing one of the quotes I read in the book; “The more knowledge you have, the less heart you have” …or something like that.

Seeing him get frustrated with himself when he’s unable to remember what he should know and what he’s just learnt just made me…sad. And – this is the big one – seeing himself in the 3rd person. I won’t talk about myself for this, but seeing him call his younger, more naive self Charlie and how his knowledge has made him detached to his own sense of self really hit deep.

Anyways, I usually don’t like…science fiction…it doesn’t interest me, but Flowers For Algernon is different. Read it. It's one of my favorite books now and i plan to reread it when I'm free from exams...

jaimarie's review against another edition

Go to review page

4.0

This is not my typical kind of book, but OMG, I loved it! It felt so real, I found myself feeling sad for Charlie, loving him, hating him, understanding him, and finally admiring him... Such a good book! <3

geereadsbooks's review against another edition

Go to review page

challenging dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

More...