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danchuchie 's review for:
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky
I’ve been waiting to read this book since I saw the movie for the first time when it came out but I had been putting it off each year. Finally, last year I decided to read the book and I don’t regret it. The book follows the story of Charlie, a boy who tells his story of what it is like to grow up during high school. The most impressive thing, to me, is that Charlie’s story is told not only by his own perspective but through letters that he sends to us, specifically. Each chapter has a combination of letters and normal book chapters and it feels more personal and more intimate than I’ve ever read. By Charlie telling his story to us, specifically, it adds a whole new level of intimacy. Through his telling, we figure out what he feels like when he experiments with drugs and alcohol for the first time, when he has his first kiss, his first girlfriend. The most impressive is the constant reminder of his aunt and the memories he has with her. Without spoiling the book for those who have not read it nor seen the movie, it is a story that starts sweet and gentle but as the story progresses, we can see that his aunt has more of an impact in him that cared to realize.
The writing in this book is simple. It is letters written by a 15/16 year old boy and the simple but good writing makes it more believable that he is truly writing you a letter. He often addresses you personally, which made me wish Charlie was a real person outside of book so I could write him back. The structure, as I said before, is one of kind, one that I’ve never seen and I loved it. A good mixture between normal book structure and letters can be a difficult thing to accomplish but Stephen Chbosky does it perfectly. I must confess, this is not the kind of book that I normally read but as soon as I finished it, I wanted to start again. I wanted to know more about Charlie’s life after the book ended, I wanted to communicate with Charlie.
This book had much more of an impact in me that I anticipated. I already knew the story but reading it felt more intimate and personal, it reached within me and it resonated with me in a lot of aspects of high school and life in general. It will always be a book that I will always recommend. I feel like if I had read this book when I was 16 or 17, maybe it would’ve impacted me even more. It is truly one of those books that, once you finish, you want to stay still and just embrace what the book has given you... because once in our lifetime, most of us have been Charlie.
So, to all the Charlies out there, please know you’re not alone and there is truly perks of being a wallflower.
The writing in this book is simple. It is letters written by a 15/16 year old boy and the simple but good writing makes it more believable that he is truly writing you a letter. He often addresses you personally, which made me wish Charlie was a real person outside of book so I could write him back. The structure, as I said before, is one of kind, one that I’ve never seen and I loved it. A good mixture between normal book structure and letters can be a difficult thing to accomplish but Stephen Chbosky does it perfectly. I must confess, this is not the kind of book that I normally read but as soon as I finished it, I wanted to start again. I wanted to know more about Charlie’s life after the book ended, I wanted to communicate with Charlie.
This book had much more of an impact in me that I anticipated. I already knew the story but reading it felt more intimate and personal, it reached within me and it resonated with me in a lot of aspects of high school and life in general. It will always be a book that I will always recommend. I feel like if I had read this book when I was 16 or 17, maybe it would’ve impacted me even more. It is truly one of those books that, once you finish, you want to stay still and just embrace what the book has given you... because once in our lifetime, most of us have been Charlie.
So, to all the Charlies out there, please know you’re not alone and there is truly perks of being a wallflower.