Rating: 
Summary: A stunning first novel capturing the ups and downs of youth
Review: Teen angst combined with stark realism make this novel one of the strongest tales of high school existence I've ever read. Charlie, the main character of the novel, suffers from the usual anxieties of a high school freshman. But Charlie is not necessarily typical: he's very sensitive, and very disturbed by previous events from his young life.The way the story is laid out (like letters Charlie is writing to an unknown friend) is beautiful, and the dialogue is extremely realistic. My only complaint is that the story ended too soon. I look forward to the other stories Chbosky will tell, and hopefully, future tales will include Charlie and his travails.
Rating:
Summary: It Truly Touched Me -- what can I say?
Review:
In this day and age when people are so cynical and cruel, it was a pleasure to read a book from the point of view of a genuinely nice person. Charlie is a "wallflower," meaning he stands back timidly watching others live life, afraid to participate. In the course of the novel, we watch Charlie grow: make friends, go to parties, participate, even fall in love -- in other words, come out of his shell. And by the end we discover why Charlie is unable to participate in life until now; we come to understand the source of his pain. I truly loved this book; and I don't care if other people put it down! The chapters are written in letter format, and the writing is smooth and unpretentious. This is definitely the best book I've read since THE LOSERS CLUB: Complete Restored Edition by Richard Perez. And I discovered both books on Amazon. Anyway, if you like genuinely beautiful people, I'm sure you'll love the protagonist of this novel. You may even shed a tear for Charlie...bottom line: you'll be moved!
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Summary: This book changed my whole out look...
Review: This book changed my whole out look on what people can realy go through in highschool and reading it as a freshman it opened my eyes to reality...it also helped me understand how my freinds felt when they came out of the closet to me and everybody else...lets just say i was the accepting one of the bunch. Thank you Stephen Chbosky for writting this book it realy did help me understand everything alot better.
Rating: 
Summary: A technical flop, and a great read...
Review: I probably wouldn't have written this, Amy, unless I thought you'd read it as well, so here it is...
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
(four stars)
"A Technical Flop and a Great Read"
First off, I will say that this is pulp. It's not high literature. The fact that this is being treated as such by the reviewers on this site confuses the hell out of me. If you want downer brilliant art, try reading Doesteovsky's Brother's Karamazov, or Hemingway's Farewell to Arms... or any of the books that Charlie reads off of Bill in the course of the book.
So I wouldn't call it art. To think it is is to sort of miss the point. This book fails terribly on all technical levels.
The prose are weak and simplistic. They are written by a 15 year old, but he's supposed to be a literary genius. He reads Fountainhead by Ayn Rand in less than a week while maintaining a 4.0 grade average, and hanging out with his disfucntional friends nearly every day.
The problems are all straight out of after school specials.
Teen abortion: Which was done as a boring plot device to waste pages and didn't do much to move the story along.
Drug use: (Which the author portrayed in the most ridiculous over the top manner. The LSD scene involved something as absurd as someone doing a line of crystal meth and then taking a nice relaxing nap. But this is not Electric Koolaid Acid Test or a Timiothy Leary book, so this misses the point.)
Homosexual love affairs/homophobia/hate crime: Out of all the teen melodrama stuff in the book, this part really works. It's been done to death, but done well here.
Sexual abuse: done in the standard hackneyed manner
...and so on...
But here's the rub for you high browers out there that were giving this one and two stars... you didn't get the point.
This book, like The Stranger and all the other books, if you folks didn't get it, had a large part to do with the structure of the book.
Ludwig Wittgenstein used to say that pulp books had more and richer philosophy than that which came from the ivory towers of academia.
You just have to look for it.
Let's take one of the books Bill gives Charlie, and look at it briefly.
The Stranger by Albert Camus.
All the complaints against this book can be put on to The Stranger, and those of you that maligned Perks and say you liked The Stranger probably only say so because you think you should like it.
The plot of The Stranger can be summed up almost entirely in three sentences.
A man commits a murder.
A man goes to trial.
A man is executed.
Now this is the important part of The Stranger and Wallflower.. (even though I wouldn't actually compare them directly on merit. I highly doubt that Wallflower will be taught in university literature or philosophy classes a hundred years from now, but it's the same idea)
The important part is that you're seeing these cliche events through the eyes of the narrator. In both cases deeply disturbed people in very different ways.
Charlie, the main in wallflowers, is weak, nervous, frail, and has no self perspective. If people hate him, he hates himself. If people love him, he feels great, etc. He sobs very often at what would be fairly trivial events for most people. He's hyperliterate to almost the point of absurdity. He's frightened by many things. And he finds exaltation in things as simple as a song by the Smiths or how a friend looks dressed up as Doctor Fraken Furtur...
The story isn't about the plot, it's about seeing the cliches that we're used to in this current zeitgeist (as was the case with Camus and the then over used cliche of the murder/trial novel) through the eyes of a truly unusual individual.
That's the art, and that's the philosophy.
So stop complaining about the prose or the lack of originality in the plot. That's not the point.
Rating:
Summary: Touching, insightful, honest
Review: I picked this book up one night and didn't go to bed until I'd finished it, it was just too hard to set aside. An easy, fast read that nonetheless contains page after page of writing that's stuck with me long after finishing it. As others have said, the main character Charlie speaks openly and honestly - often painfully so; his voice is a sweetly odd combination of naivety and blunt insightfulness that rings remarkably true. Oftentimes he'd hit upon episodes or comments that took me immediately back to my own high school years, leaving me with a sweet sense of nostalgia despite - or maybe in part because of - some of the darker happenings he encountered. The only part of the book I had any problem with occurs very near the end, there's a "revelation" that comes out that felt rather unnecessary in that it seems to try to "explain" things that to me didn't really need any explanation; even that revelation, however, works on some level and while not the most successful part of the story for me, neither did it take away from my overall enjoyment. A great book overall and one well worth reading!
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Summary: I really GOT INTO this book!
Review:
THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER is a short, haunting novel is about the dilemma of passivity and growing up. The protagonist, Charlie, is entering a new world. He's entering high school for the first time and he learns about who he is to the rest of the world. Charlie is a wallflower. He's different from everyone else and he shares his feelings and thoughts to us through letters. This book is more intimate than a diary, though we don't know where Charlie lives, or who he's writing to. Charlie goes through uncharted territory, living his life and running from it all at the same time. It's a great coming-of-age story. It shows the hardships and trials of growing up in life, and competing to fit in. This novel demonstrates what it's like to grow up through a teenager's mind. Along with THE LOSERS' CLUB: Complete Restored Edition by Richard Perez, this is one of the best books I've read in ages.
Rating:
Summary: Everything I've Ever Wanted to Say
Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower is the most intimate and truthful novel I have ever read. It is not often that an author can captivate a teenage reader, but I believe Stephen Chbosky has done it with his debut novel. Charlie is unique, yet incredibly easy to identify with. I know that I was certainly able to relate to several of his encounters. The intense crush you cannot get over; the unfamiliar, more mature experiences that come with high school; those two best friends and that infinite drive - I felt as if I were watching my own life happen on paper. Charlie seems to say everything I would like to, but can't express.
Because the song was that great and because we all really paid attention to it. Five minutes of a lifetime were truly spent, and we felt young in a good way. I have since bought the record, and I would tell you what it was, but truthfully, it's not the same unless you're driving to your first real party, and you're sitting in the middle seat of a pickup with two nice people when it starts to rain. 33
That is one of my favorite quotes from the book and I'm sharing it because when I read it, I had a distinct flashback directly followed by a fulfilling moment, where I had finally found the words to describe my life. This type of moment continued to occur until the last page of the book. I loved how Chbosky tied every theme he touched on in with one another. What I took away from the book was a sense of comfort that at least one adult understands my generation and one kid goes through what I go through. Sure, he's fiction, but to be honest, I forgot that while I was reading because that is how realistic the novel is. Coming from a girl who normally regards reading as a burden, this book was different from any other I've read and I could not put it down, nor could I stop quoting it. The Perks of Being A Wallflower was a quick read that I wish lasted much longer.
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Summary: The Perks of Being A Wallflower
Review: The book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower was a good book. This book was also very similar to the book "A Catcher in the Rye." This book takes you through the life of a boy, that as you read more and more you grow to think that you know everything about him, but then after reading it you realize that you never really understood anything about him. This book has interesting characters, a descriptive plot, and a good theme to go along with all of that. I recommend this book to many readers, because it is an excellent book to read! -Greg
Rating:
Summary: Wow
Review: Last year when I was in AP English 11, my teacher recommended this book to one of my best friends. After she finished reading it, she could not stop raving about how awesome it was (and this is coming from a girl that apsolutly HATES books). For almost a year she kept bugging me to read it, but I could not get past the $13.00 price tag. One day I found the novel used at my library, and I picked it up. I started reading the book durring my first period Anatomy class, and I didn't stop until 1 o'clock in the morning when I finished the book (I got into a lot of trouble showing up the next day with none of my homework done), but it was that great of a book.
The story follows a very naive boy named Charlie, and how he survive's his freshman year of high school be befriending a couple of outcast senior, that bring him into the world. On top of that though he has to deal with all the problems that plague him at home as well.
This book is very layered a rich, and takes a few reads to be fully comprehended on the outside what seems like a charming novel about a boy growing up turns into a bittersweat cautionary tale, finally becoming a devestating psychological breakdown of the character. And It is the small detail that really make this book what it is. I made the mistake of skimming a few of the "slow pages" which later made it impossible to comprehend the future plot.
This is a definate must read for anyone who has gone through the peril of their freshman year of high school, and eventhough it may be over alot of people's heads, it will still make an impact none the less...
And don't forget to read the hidden ending on the last page!
Rating:
Summary: My Review
Review: When I first started reading this book I thought, wow I don't need to read this, I live this. Almost every teenager would probably agree. But the books becomes so much more than that. It all starts out with this boy named Charlie who is writing letters to this person who's name is never mentioned. But basically the book covers every aspect of life as a teenager. From Charlie's first date to the first time he did drugs. I think that maybe some adults should read this book. It could answer every question every parent would ever ask. The book spans Charlie's freshman year and me, being a freshman, completely understood and felt and still do feel like Charlie sometimes. This is probably the best book I have ever read and would recommend it to all ages. Everyone at some point in their life is a "Charlie".
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