Flowers for Algernon
Ratings1,008
Average rating4.3
Oh my. Not sure what to write. Brilliant piece of work. But believe what it says on the cover, it is absolutely heartbreaking.
Definitely not an easy read, as far as the subject matter. Makes you truly think about things, that's for sure.
Merged review:
Definitely not an easy read, as far as the subject matter. Makes you truly think about things, that's for sure.
I enjoyed the begging quarter and the end, but the majority of it seemed too long, often redundant, and a bit predictable.
Merged review:
I enjoyed the begging quarter and the end, but the majority of it seemed too long, often redundant, and a bit predictable.
Español
Flores para Algernon es una novela de ciencia ficción social que nos narra la historia de nuestro protagonista Charlie, un hombre con un trastorno intelectual que se somete a un novedoso y experimental tratamiento que promete aumentar su IQ. Pero esta historia va mas haya de eso ya que mediante recuerdos y sueños registrados en su diario (reportes de progreso) uno llega a conocer a Charlie de manera profunda y entender sus motivaciones y metas. No tengo mucho mas que decir de este libro ya que como pueden ver por la calificación me encanto, sentí la historia muy íntima, humana y desgarradora al punto donde comienzas a sentir a Charlie como una persona real.
English
Flowers for Algernon is a social science fiction novel that tells the story of our protagonist Charlie, a man with an intellectual disability who undergoes an innovative and even experimental treatment that promises to increase his IQ. But this story is more than that since through memories and dreams recorded in his diary (progress reports) one gets to know Charlie in a deep way and understand his motivations and goals. I don't have much more to say about this book because as you can see from the rating, I loved it, I felt the story very intimate, human and heartbreaking to the point where you start to feel Charlie as a real person.
Such an amazingly original story. So sad and heartfelt. I can't imagine what it would be like to walk in Charlie's shoes or anyone who has that kind of mental disability. What do they think, what do they see, how do they interpret their surroundings and people making fun of them?
When I was in High School, during the worst years of my life, I began to form a terrible distaste for reading. My teacher was awful as an educator and as a person. I refused to read the books we were discussing in class because I knew I would resent them and dislike them regardless of their quality.
Flowers of Algernon was one of the books that was in our list of recommended books to read in our final year. I read the blurb and knew just how much I would love it. Even when all of my love for reading was almost entirely extinguished, I knew this would be a book that I will enjoy. So I didn't read it.
I read it today on the 12th of April, 2021. Since the day I first refused to read Flowers for Algernon, I grew and changed; I am not the same person anymore. Yet, past me was correct in every way. I loved every second of this book. I only wish I had the chance to read it those many years ago.
I remember watching this movie but have always wanted to read the book. I also remember the movie made me cry and twist my heart every which way but reading it added a whole new level. This is such a good, yet heart breaking book.
There's not much I can say about this book that wouldn't do it a disservice so I'll just say that Charlie's story will stay with me for a while.
Such a moving story. This was a book highly recommended to me by 2 friends and had put it off for a long time. I think the fact that I was prepared for the ending made it easier to read it, if not, it would be a tear-jerker for sure. Charlie is an amazing human being although a fictional character he will make us see all types of people differently. The highly intelligent to those that aren't, we all have the same thing in common we're human and at the end of the day, we all need some sort of human connection. Be kind to one another!
Merged review:
Such a moving story. This was a book highly recommended to me by 2 friends and had put it off for a long time. I think the fact that I was prepared for the ending made it easier to read it, if not, it would be a tear-jerker for sure. Charlie is an amazing human being although a fictional character he will make us see all types of people differently. The highly intelligent to those that aren't, we all have the same thing in common we're human and at the end of the day, we all need some sort of human connection. Be kind to one another!
Solid book but overrated. People are saying they cried their eyes out but I actually couldn't wait for the book to end. In a way my experience may have been spoiled because the publisher decided to write some key plot points on the back of the book. S.o.b.
I think this book got over-hyped for me from all the Goodreads reviews. Good concept, straightforward writing. It's sad but not that sad.
4,5 stars
Inspiring and uplifting while being depressing at the same time. In Flowers for Algernon, we see a relatively young man with a severe learning disability, named Charlie Gordon, receive a new chance at life after an experimental operation, first successfully performed on a rat named Algernon, meant to increase his intelligence significantly. As Charlie struggles to get to grips with being on the other end of the spectrum once again, we get to see his journey of trying to understand his sexuality, emotions, thoughts and ever-increasing intellect. As Algernon starts deteriorating and acting erratically, Charlie begins to hurry, for he fears the same may happen to him.
I???d recommend this to anyone who is interesting in seeing the world from a mentally disabled person???s perspective, whose perception of the world is radically different than that of a genius.
???Its easy to make frends if you let pepul laff at you.???
Very short but brilliantly written. Very creative and emotional.
Merged review:
Very short but brilliantly written. Very creative and emotional.
.jpg&width=40&height=40&type=webp){kind=small}
Heartbreaking and thought provoking.
I'm fairly sure I saw the film adaptation of Flowers for Algernon with Matthew Modine when I was in my 20s so I had a general idea of the basis of the story: a man with an exceptionally low IQ undergoes an experiment, his IQ soares, crescendos and then descends rapidly.
However the book really explored a much more interesting aspect of the character development: as his IQ increases beyond the level of everyone around him, his emotional level and experience struggles to keep up, if at all.
As Charlie Gordon gets more and more access to his mind and recalls (and accounts) his childhood memories, we see how badly he was treated and how heartbreaking his childhood was. The book is as much a psychological exploration of his childhood as it is a sci-fi - and for that it makes for a really heartfelt story.
There is one, large, aspect that doesn't track. Bare with me because I know Keyes wrote the book was written in 1966 (based off his short story written in 1958), but Charlie's emotional feelings towards Alice (and women in general) doesn't quite make sense.
Charlie had severe learning disabilities. He struggled to understand a lot of context in the world around him and we know that he has an emotional of a child.
If a child, a boy in particular, were to, suddenly, today have their IQ accelerated, their behaviour towards women and girls wouldn't suddenly be that of an adult man. Specifically they wouldn't behave like the men that expect women to pay them attention, or expect women to be sexually available just because they engaged in conversation. This behaviour isn't part of men's DNA.
Yet Charlie's character behaves this way when his IQ jumps. And yes, I'm overthinking it, but the fun thing about reading a great sci-fi is that it lets me ask more interesting questions about my world. And yes, this is rather woke thing to bring up about a book!
On the flip side, something I loved about the book is when Charlie does go back into his memories, it made me ask the question: do we have the ability for 100% recall?
Is it possible that we all have photographic memories but the majority of us can't access that part of our mind. If we do have the ability, doesn't that suggest that memory recall, for the most minute detail, is entirely possible - even to recall the details in something that was in our peripheral vision some decades ago?
If we do indeed have this ability, assuming Charlie's operation can unlock this part of our mind, does this mean we can potentially time travel inside our mind as those recalled memories become so visceral that they become reality during that recall.
Very cool stuff.
Then within the sci-fi and the character study of Charlie's psyche, we have the heartbreaking story of his childhood and whether it's possible for forgiveness all those decades later. Beautiful stuff.
It's a classic for a reason, one of the best books I've read in a while. Can't wait to see the movie now.
The progression of Charlie Gordon (and Algernon!) is written just fantastically - it is an incredibly bittersweet story of gaining intelligence and still desire so much more. Highly recommended.
The book is very interesting and exquisitely written. The character depth is impressive and the psychological insights very moving. Only 4 starts because the story itself is phoned in and you can already guess how it is going to end after one third of the book. The story is mostly a pretext to elaborate on the main themes.
Merged review:
The book is very interesting and exquisitely written. The character depth is impressive and the psychological insights very moving. Only 4 starts because the story itself is phoned in and you can already guess how it is going to end after one third of the book. The story is mostly a pretext to elaborate on the main themes.
This is a challenging book to review. It is a very engaging read that raises a number of questions of ethics and how we treat each other. What I think I appreciate the most is Charlie's continual message that he is human and has always been human, despite the scientists treating him as an experiment.
No es para nada tan emotiva como aseguran varios comentarios que leí, sin embargo si que es una buena novela, con una profundidad psicológica muy creíble y un desarrollo de personaje atrapante. Muy recomendada.
This book is classified as a science fiction. That is not enough. It cannot be any more human, any more compelling a tale of raw emotions and feelings.
The protagonist is the subject of a science experiment to enhance his intelligence. His journey from a mental age of a young child to that of a genius, is the journey of growing up and finding the harshness of the real world. It is easy to understand the narrator as he goes through his various phases. The story forces the reader to ponder over the ethics of scientific proceedings. Draw your own conclusions.
Audio book, 9 hours, perfectly narrated by Jeff Woodman. This was an amazingly captivating story about transformation and self discovery. I cared for the main characters, and the story was neither too short or too long.
Merged review:
Audio book, 9 hours, perfectly narrated by Jeff Woodman. This was an amazingly captivating story about transformation and self discovery. I cared for the main characters, and the story was neither too short or too long.
4.5 stars. “I don't know what's worse: to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you've always wanted to be, and feel alone.” - that sums this up perfectly. So glad I finally got around to reading this classic.
Merged review:
4.5 stars. “I don't know what's worse: to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you've always wanted to be, and feel alone.” - that sums this up perfectly. So glad I finally got around to reading this classic.