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A review by criticalgayze
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.5
I have always referenced The Perks of Being a Wallflower as a pivotal text in my development as a reader and as a Queer person. It was one of the only books I reread as a young adult, and I often cited it as my favorite book of all time before the publication of Red, White, & Royal Blue.
For an upcoming episode of my podcast Let's Unpack That, my cohost and I are talking about pivotal media around our own coming out, so I revisited this book for the discussion. Of course, like everything from your youth, there is the dual discussion of historical contextualization around when you read it and the rose-colored glasses of youth that mean that this was very likely never to hold up as well in a 2022 landscape where I am now more than twice the age I was when I first read the book.
What still holds up is Chbosky's ability to turn a phrase. For a book that, as you can see below this review, comes with a deluge of content warnings, there is truly a compelling beauty here. Charlie is an incredibly tender and earnest voice, and I think that, minus the missing element of social media, the activities these kids get into and have happen to them stand up as being as relatable today as the 1991 setting, the 1999 publication, or my 2007-ish original reading.
Where the novel is weak it is mainly due to Charlie's passive involvement as a narrator. The novel is not about Charlie as much as it is the things he sees from his vantage point as a "wallflower," and this leaves a book that is low on narrative impact although it creates a beautiful snapshot of this "year in a life." Within this lens, I think there is also some narrative critique to be made of Charlie's (and Chbosky's) Queer voyeurism as both the storyteller and the story author are heterosexual men inhabiting largely Queer safe spaces.
I am left with a sort of nebulous wonderment of what about this novel shaped and what was merely in conversation with the youth I would go onto have and am in store for many longer internalized conversations.
Quotes:
It is now my favorite book of all time, but then again, I always think that until I read another book. (9)
For an upcoming episode of my podcast Let's Unpack That, my cohost and I are talking about pivotal media around our own coming out, so I revisited this book for the discussion. Of course, like everything from your youth, there is the dual discussion of historical contextualization around when you read it and the rose-colored glasses of youth that mean that this was very likely never to hold up as well in a 2022 landscape where I am now more than twice the age I was when I first read the book.
What still holds up is Chbosky's ability to turn a phrase. For a book that, as you can see below this review, comes with a deluge of content warnings, there is truly a compelling beauty here. Charlie is an incredibly tender and earnest voice, and I think that, minus the missing element of social media, the activities these kids get into and have happen to them stand up as being as relatable today as the 1991 setting, the 1999 publication, or my 2007-ish original reading.
Where the novel is weak it is mainly due to Charlie's passive involvement as a narrator. The novel is not about Charlie as much as it is the things he sees from his vantage point as a "wallflower," and this leaves a book that is low on narrative impact although it creates a beautiful snapshot of this "year in a life." Within this lens, I think there is also some narrative critique to be made of Charlie's (and Chbosky's) Queer voyeurism as both the storyteller and the story author are heterosexual men inhabiting largely Queer safe spaces.
I am left with a sort of nebulous wonderment of what about this novel shaped and what was merely in conversation with the youth I would go onto have and am in store for many longer internalized conversations.
Quotes:
It is now my favorite book of all time, but then again, I always think that until I read another book. (9)
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual violence, Alcohol, Child abuse, Drug use, Homophobia, Toxic relationship, Car accident, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Pedophilia, Physical abuse, and Sexual assault
Moderate: Abortion, Alcoholism, Rape, Sexual assault, and Suicide
Minor: Bullying, Domestic abuse, and Murder