Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Flori pentru Algernon by Daniel Keyes

165 reviews

ma_kale_a's review against another edition

4.5

emotional sad medium-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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism

Minor: Animal death

jenniferbbookdragon's review against another edition

5.0

challenging emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Complicated

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I first read Flowers for Algernon as a teen in the early 1980s, and it still packs the same emotional punch to the gut more than 50 years later.  Charlie's journey reveals a lot about how we treat people with intellectual disabilities,  and while some things have changed,  much of it still rings true. Another piece I didn't appreciate on my first read is that those on either extreme of the intelligence spectrum are isolated by their difference. Those with very high IQs are just better at hiding it.
Be prepared to cry, but it is worth it. Charlie's story reveals how vulnerable we all are and how important it is to recognize the humanity in others,  even when it is hard to see our commonality. 

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse, Emotional abuse, Physical abuse, Grief, Abandonment

Moderate: Animal death, Cursing, Sexual content, Medical content, Alcohol

pk1's review against another edition

5.0

emotional sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

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I cried.

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Forced institutionalization, Grief

aidamaria_reads's review against another edition

4.25

challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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So much food for thought. I wish we’d seen a little more from Algernon though, not just from a scientific point of view. He’s definitely not the main focus of the story (and I don’t think he’s supposed to be), but to name the book after him and assign him very little ‘page time’ is criminal. 🐁

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Alcoholism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Domestic abuse, Infidelity, Suicidal thoughts, Medical content, Dementia, Toxic friendship, Abandonment

zermillion's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Because this was written in the early 60s, the use of a more derogatory term for mentally disabled folks is very common. The term is never used as an insult or in an intentionally derogatory manner and instead just more of the common adjective to use at the time. It is something that took me a bit to come to terms with while reading.

beklovesbooks's review against another edition

2.0

challenging dark

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I originally read excerpts in high school and really liked this book. I didn’t like the unabridged version as much. So much lust and sex and weird stuff about becoming one with the universe or something. Kind of creepy about voyeurism and out of body experiences , The whole thing is really sad. I don’t need to read it again. What I am intrigued by is the idea of scaling the writing to go from retardation to average to college graduate to genius and back down again incrementally.

Editing on further reflection: it’s a crazy male fantasy of a nude next door neighbor who only wants dancing and sex and no strings, voyeurism and a messed up fantasy of her saying things like don’t disappoint me again at his inability to perform sexually. And then the other girlfriend is fine with his affair, and the other woman  even though she wants him too. It could have had such a different more wholesome focus and impact.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Bullying, Emotional abuse, Alcohol

Moderate: Animal death, Mental illness, Physical abuse, Sexual content, Dementia, Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Minor: Animal cruelty, Child abuse, Incest, Forced institutionalization, Excrement, Stalking, Toxic friendship, Injury/Injury detail

samanthalmccue's review against another edition

5.0

emotional inspiring reflective 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: Complicated

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Content Warnings

Moderate: Animal death, Child abuse, Death, Grief

another_dahlia's review against another edition

4.25

challenging dark emotional fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: No

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Animal death, Bullying, Child abuse, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, Dementia, Grief, Medical trauma, Abandonment

emma_books1's review against another edition

3.75

challenging emotional reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Ableism, Bullying, Child abuse

Minor: Animal death, Suicidal thoughts

love_is_sour_grapes's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional inspiring sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Animal cruelty, Animal death, Death, Mental illness, Suicide, Forced institutionalization