Reviews

Des fleurs pour Algernon by Daniel Keyes

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grace1216's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.75

didireadthat's review against another edition

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emotional inspiring reflective slow-paced

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

4.5

I remember reading this book in high school and could vaguely recall the plot and that it was a pretty emotional book. I’m glad to have reread it now, it is still an impactful book with a unique plot, and given that it was written 60 years ago, I think it’s a good look at how people treat others with low intelligence. Keyes questions what intelligence means to an individual and how we view it in others and how we view it as society. I think this is a great conversational book for a class or a book club.

mathildesbooks's review against another edition

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dark emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

adperfectamconsilium's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful sad 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

5.0

Charlie Gordon and Algernon the mouse broke my heart and left me an emotional mess.

✨✨✨✨✨5 stars

Wait, sorry. I couldn't see through my tears that I hadn't written the rest of the review.

Charlie may only have an IQ of 68 but he's so lovable which makes his dreams that much more heartbreaking.
Written by Charlie as diary entries within his progress reports for an experimental treatment we get a first hand look at his thoughts and feelings and by extension the entire human condition.

The opening entries pre-treatment are short and scrambled. Charlie wishes he could reed and rite gud so he can be smart. He doesn't like not being able to remebir well. His progriss riports are a struggle.

Algernon has had experimental treatment to enhance intelligence. Algernon is now very smart and can solve tasks and mazes in super quick time.
Charlie is signed up as the first human for the treatment.
How he wishes he was smart 😭😭😭

(Wipes tears away)

Where was I? Oh yes, Charlie has the treatment. Does it work? Yes! He gets smarter and smarter.
This is a good thing.

With the intelligence comes memories.
Realisation of how he's been treated by family and co-workers.
This is a bad thing 😭😭😭.

If you know anyone close to you that has learning difficulties this book will hit hard.
It's beautiful. It's important. It's incredibly well written.
And unless you have no feelings it's likely to make you cry.

Charlie's personality changes with the smarts. Getting intelligent so quick isn't a magic answer as he's had no time to develop emotional intelligence.
This causes relationship problems.
Algernon is his best friend 😭.

Charlie learns more and more but then Algernon begins to regress. Is the treatment not permanent? Will Algernon die? What will happen to Charlie?

I've never cried so much over a book as I did with the last sections of this.
My advice. Have a drink close to hand while reading this. It's important to stay hydrated people.