Flowers for Algernon : Student Edition

Rating:
Summary: Beautiful
Review: This is a truly touching, yet often overlooked novel. It follows the progress of a mentally retarded man who is given an operation to increase his IQ. The entire book is written through Charlie's progress reports, written by Charlie himself, as a sort of diary. As Charlie's IQ increases, his spelling improves, he starts to become aware of people's attitude towards him, and he begins to learn how to love. Soon, Charlie's IQ skyrockets. He learns several languages in a matter of days. He composes sonatas, without ever having a music lesson. He understands human emotion more than any other average person. Yet, tragically, the effects of his operation start to wear off. The reader sees Charlie's grammar slowly start to decline. Soon, Charlie is right back where he was when he started, but the reader is certainly not. The first-person writing in this novel truly connects the characters to the reader. I would definitely put this amazing novel on any bookworm's top 10 list. It's on mine!

Rating:
Summary: Incredible.
Review: This is one of my favorite books. It is not an easy read, although it is exceptionally written. Charlie's voice is so authentic and clear it is heartrending; I am brought to tears or near to it each time I re-read the book, and it can be hard to continue without being overwhelmed by compassion and sadness (and even fear from harm and abuse) for all people who are like Charlie. Because Keyes executes his concept so intelligently, the book is not sentimental - it rings raw and true. It is essential reading for anyone desiring to develop a love for humankind.

Rating:
Summary: Still Relevant Thirty Years Later
Review: When I first read Flowers for Algernon over thirty years ago, I was fascinated by the way Charlie, after thirty years of being considered stupid, quickly became smarter and smarter, mastering increasingly difficult subjects and solving complex problems of science, math, and even linguistics. I was less interested in his emotional problems and his social difficulties. I remember the horror of realizing that he was going to lose his mental abilities and that he would be aware of what was happening to him, yet helpless to prevent it.

I found myself recalling the story when I recently helped a relative move into a nursing home. She has an Alzheimer's-like condition that makes it unsafe for her to live on her own or even to go out by herself. She used to be mentally sharp, loved to travel, and took a brisk walk every day. She understands what is happening to her brain and knows there is nothing that she can do about it. She has gone from forgetting little-used words like "ginger-ale" to forgetting everyday words like "calendar" and "TV" and even the name of the street she lived on for the last forty years. She is remarkably philosophical about what is happening to her, explaining to her friends that that's just the way it is.

But it must be terribly frustrating to have your own brain let you down after all these years, and to know that it will keep getting worse, and that no one can do anything to stop it. When I found a copy of Flowers for Algernon, I was hesitant to read it again, afraid it would be too close to home this time. It's a fast-moving story that gets going right away. Soon I was caught up in the changes Charlie is going through and dreading the inevitable ending.

To my surprise, the ending did not leave me feeling helpless and depressed. Although it was a shame that Charlie couldn't remain a genius, he seemed more at peace with his life in the end, and even more mature as a human being. In the story, as in real life, if you have a choice (and most of us do), you should choose to be smarter. If, on the other hand, you really no longer have a choice, there's something to be said for accepting that. (For what it's worth, if it ever comes to it, I will fight it tooth and nail.)