Reviews with content warning for Animal death - Flori pentru Algernon

Reviews tagging 'Animal death'

Flori pentru Algernon by Daniel Keyes

167 reviews

ladystardust1979's review against another edition

4.75

Content Warnings

green_mm's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: No

A fascinating idea explored excruciatingly well. You are there with Charlie, watching first for signs of enhanced intelligence and then for clues about his potential mental decline. You watch him rapidly reach rare heights of genius only to immediately tumble back to his origins, and you meet the different versions of him that he slips into as he moves out of one intellectual level into the next, up and down. Readers get to witness a man look at his past and future in a mirror, and they are asked to accept as Charlie has that the present is a loan from both. This story presents in gripping detail a concept you can easily curl into and ponder expansively.

Content Warnings

haulaway's review against another edition

1.0

dark

This was assigned reading in 8th grade advanced English and it really fucked me up. Like, I had multiple meltdowns over this book.

As a "gifted" kid who was struggling in this particular class, the idea of losing my intelligence was terrifying. Also, the mouse died and I was really sad about it.

Content Warnings

boop123's review against another edition

4.75

challenging emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Definitely one of my favorite reads this year. It's a complex and poignant novel that delves into the human capabilities of developing artificial intelligence, research advancement, and the ethical boundaries behind it. I also loved how intricate Charlie's character was. I empathized with what he's been through given his past and disability, but he also didn't turn out to be a nice guy when he got smart. Although I understand that absorbing so much knowledge in the span of months—for a person who has learned little in a lifetime—is a lot to take in, his emotional intelligence doesn't reflect that growth.

I also loved the first-person point of view writing style, as the story takes us through Charlie's progress reports. It really showcases the author's range of writing abilities. From the writing when Charlie first started, then after the operation, and as he slowly deteriorated, the author depicted it meticulously down to the minutest details.

Overall, such a great read—it's considered a classic for a reason!

Content Warnings

modryzamek's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional reflective 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: No

Content Warnings

twy's review against another edition

4.5

challenging emotional informative inspiring reflective sad 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

Content Warnings

meganchair's review against another edition

5.0

dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

I loved that this is an epistolary novel told from Charlie's point-of-view. The gradual progression of his IQ made me think of a bell curve, and I've never seen any other book with this type of storyline. The ableist language didn't age well, but what can you expect from a novel published in 1959, am I right?

Content Warnings

pantslint's review against another edition

5.0

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Will always be one of my favorite books of all time. It's hard to put into words what Flowers for Algernon makes me feel, but I think everyone should read it at least once in their lifetime.

For his epigraph, Keyes uses an excerpt from Plato's The Republic. I encourage everyone to read "The Allegory of the Cave" (The Republic, Book VII) either before or after reading Flowers for Algernon to better contextualize Charlie's (and Algernon's!) journey.

Content Warnings

epioxy's review against another edition

4.5

emotional funny inspiring reflective sad fast-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

Content Warnings

isd's review against another edition

4.25

emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot or Character Driven: A mix

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I'm not up to speed with the current-day terms on what in this 1966 novel uses, so I'll attempt to avoid using either the ones in the book nor the ones I think we ought to use.

When I started with the book I had no idea what to expect, and it took me a moment to get used to Charlie's writing style. Following his journey and the changes in both his capabilities and traits was pretty interesting. In some ways he changed a lot and fast, and in some ways he had to learn - or should have learned - to behave accordingly, at a more or less equal pace but failed.

Charlie's story was quite sad, especially the very end, but in a way I guess I should call it bittersweet as I had expected much worse as the events unfolded. Your kilometerage may vary.

Content Warnings

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