Thursday 21 October 2010

Flowers for Algernon


It is a rare and wonderful thing; to read a book that makes you question the way you look at life. I found Flowers for Algernon to be such a powerful, beautiful and poignant book that I'm not sure I'm quite the same person after reading it.

The main character is Charlie Gordon, a good natured floor sweeper in the local bakery with an IQ of 68. To please his teacher Charlie volunteers for a secretive scientific program designed to turn people like him into super geniuses with IQs in excess of 200. The book is structured into a series of 'progress reports' written by Charlie shortly before and then after his treatment. The whole thing is seen through his eyes only. Right at the beginning of the book the progress reports (or 'progris riports' as Charlie writes) are written as if by a child. Here is an example of a typical passage early in the book:

“My name is Charlie Gordon I werk in Donners bakery where Mr Donner gives me 11 dollars a week and bred or cake if I want. I am 32 yeres old and next munth is my brithday I tolld dr Strauss and prefesser Nemur I cant rite good but he says it dont matter he says I shud rite just like I talk”

As you can imagine it's not easy reading whole reports written like this but they don't last long after his procedure and by page 20 there are visible improvements to his writing. Around the page 40 mark there are hardly any mistakes at all and the length of the reports increases significantly.


Art by Matt Valuckis www.vasinvictor.com

As the story progresses and his intelligence increases Charlie becomes more aware of his surroundings and is able to communicate more effectively both with the reader and with other characters in the book. By halfway through the book he has become unrecognisable not just because of his obvious increase in intelligence but his overall outlook on life and even his personality. He goes from happy-go-lucky Charlie to a Mensa standard genius who is suddenly aware of what the real world is like and that everyone he used to hold as dear friends prior to his operation were actually laughing at him the whole time.

Charlie is a loveable character and I found myself quite fond of him. I desperately wanted him to be happy and believed (as I imagined I was supposed to) that once he gained intelligence it would lead to happiness. It is in this way that Daniel Keyes most effectively challenges stereotypes and prejudices I didn't even know I had. 'How can a person as stupid as that possibly be happy?' In reality even though Charlie was deluded into thinking people were his friends when he had a low IQ he was very happy. When he gained intelligence he also gained self-awareness and a strong insight into his life and his past problems. Loneliness, humiliation, insecurity, paranoia and anger threatened to overwhelm him as he struggled to come to terms with his new mind.

The book is multi-layered and I am certain when I re-read it I will notice other things I didn't see the first time around. Ultimately for me the main question that sprang out of the pages was; Is ignorance bliss? Is it better to go through life happy in the knowledge that everyone was your friend even though they weren't or would you rather be smart enough to know about their falsehood and be aware that the world is full of cruel, ignorant people...it's a good one for discussion I feel.

All in all a wonderful book not bogged down with any technical jargon and packed full of colourful characters and a heart-wrenching story that may or may not change the way you think (I make no guarantees!)

Final verdict 5/5

By Chris

17 comments:

  1. My cousin has been trying to get me to read this for years. Perhaps I should...

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  2. Nice review! It made me think about how long it's been since I read this... maybe it's time for a revisit.

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  3. This is one of my all-time favourite books so I'm really pleased that you enjoyed it. It did change the way I looked at the world - it made me realise that those with mental disabilities are often much happier than the rest of us. That innocence is a gift and I passed this book onto parents with special needs children and they all found it helpful. They realised that the endless happiness their children experienced should be cherished and amired.

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  4. I absolutely adored this one so it makes me happy to see that others did as well :)

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  5. I loved this one too. I wanted so badly to protect Charlie from the world. It broke my heart, but I'm glad I read it.

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  6. I didn't know this book but it's going straight on the TBR. Thanks for the review, it seems like a great book.

    Another book by someone with a low IQ (which stays that way) is Lottery by Patricia Woods. A great book about a low-IQ man who wins the lottery. Suddenly his family want to take better care of him (he was being ignore most of the time beforehand). I can recommend it.

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  7. Great review. What you said at the beginning about not being sure you are the same person after reading it.. that alone makes me want to read it.

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  8. Thanks for your review--I forgot how much I wanted to read this one.

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  9. I didn't know what this book was about before I read this, but regardless it's one I added to my wish list a while ago after having heard praise from many.

    It sounds an interesting read for the ideas it covers.

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  10. @ Amanda: You should definitely get your hands on a copy ASAP, you won't regret it :o)

    @ Jo: It's one I will be r-reading again when I get the time, I was so impressed with it.

    @ Jackie: I think it's wonderful that a work of fiction can have such a positive impact on real-life problems. Especially one as emotive as this. A powerful book.

    @ Clover: I can't believe it took me until now to read it. Jess read it some months ago and recommonded it but it just sat in my TBR pile until last week

    @ Avid Reader: I know what you mean about wanting to protect Charlie, I was heartbroken about what happened in the book but on reflection at least he got some time to experience life to the full

    @ Leeswammes: Thank you for the recommendation, i'll keep an eye out for it.

    @ Ti: I suppose it's a bit of a cliche and I was wary of putting it at the beginning of the review but on reflection I really do think it changed my outlook (in a good way) and i'm sure the lessons it teaches will remain with me

    @ Stephanie: There is no time like the present ;o)

    @ Charlie: It covers lots of ideas but doesn't drown the reader. Its such a good book it deserves a read

    Chris

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  11. Couldn't agree more - it is a wonderful book.

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  12. I finished this recently as well, and like you, loved it. Such a beautiful story, so well written, and it puts forth so many thought-provoking questions and heart-wrenching emotions along with hilarious bits, that it just stayed with me for a really long time after reading it. Think it would make a fantastic book group read!

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  13. This is one of the few books that I read in high school that I still remember very distinctly...I loved it then and am so glad you reminded me how much, as I intend to encourage my college age daughter to read it...

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  14. @ Annabel: I'm glad you think so :o)

    @ Anothercookiecrumbles: I agree, it does give you alot of food for thought and I think it would make an excellent book group read, loads of points for discussion

    @ Thebookgirl: I never got the chance to read it in schools but frankly I think it should be required reading, especially since children can be cruel to those who are different. They could learn alot from this book

    Chris

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  15. It's been a lifetime since I saw this movie, but I do remember it being sad. To answer your question, I think it is particularly tough for high functioning handicapped people to know just enough that they are different, but then not able to participate as fully in life as they would like. I do think ignorance is bliss in their situation.

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  16. This is on the top of my pile, you beat me to it by reading it first! :) everyone gave rave review on this one, I really must get on with the book!

    Great review!

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  17. I read this book almost thirty years ago and I still think of it often. It is heart-changing.

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