A review by jayisreading
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

emotional reflective sad medium-paced

2.75

Well, here’s an unpopular opinion, but I didn’t think this was as emotional of a read as many people seem to have found it. I honestly took issue with the portrayal of mental disability in this book, which definitely isn’t the worst, but something about it rubbed me the wrong way. It seemed as though Keyes went back and forth between showing Charlie pity or sympathy. And, to me at least, it read more as pitying the protagonist. On another note, the way women were written in this book was atrocious, and, relatedly, relationships.

That being said, the epistolary approach was really interesting and added a particular dimension to how Charlie was working with the level of his intelligence. At the end of the day, though, this book is really of its time and I sincerely don’t understand how it continues to grab the attention of so many readers today. 
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