Rating: 
Summary: The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Review: I usually pick up books that have to deal with a girl's teenage life. I can always relate to these books and the events a girl goes through as a teenager. My friend, whom I often exchange books with, told me to read The Perks of Being a Wallflower as soon as I can and that I would love it. Well, the next day I picked up a copy and of course started reading it. The one thing that made this book different from other books I have read is that it was from a teenage boy's perspective of high school. This novel is written in letters to an anonymus person of an unknown age and gender. Charlie, the writer of the short letters, is a freshman starting high school. The letters share Charlie's deepest feelings about drugs, girls, mix tapes, and "The Rocky Horror Picture Show". Charlie makes his way into a group of friends, whom are all seniors. They all agree that Charlie is a wallflower because he is shy, but has a very high intelligence level for his age. I excitingly turned every page to find out what would happen next to Charlie and the people in his life. I laughed and smiled with Charlie during times of his first kiss and first girlfriend. I also cried with Charlie several times. For example, when he took his sister to the hospital to get an abortion and he was the only one she had told. Charlie never really says why he started to write these letters, but it is clear to the reader that Charlie is a secretive person and it helps him to let out his feelings to someone that won't judge him. Charlie's letters and new life experiences made this book one of the best and fastest I have ever read. I was uanble to put the book down while reading it.
Rating: 
Summary: A wonderful story on a boy's views of compassion.
Review: This book has forever changed me. The author writes of a boy, who I believe has a mental disability, who encounters so many different things. The book is almost written in diary from which makes it so neat to read. Some of the entries are a little long yet exciting. I'd bet that almost ANY teen would enjoy this book. Charlie (main character) makes 2 very close friends who mean the world to him. His family has a big part on his life yet he isn't as attached to them as he is Patrick and Sam (the 2 friends). With these 2 companions he is introduced to drugs, sex, and so many different thins. Even though he takes drugs he manages to maintain straight A's and a very beautiful perspective of the world. At a very young age he loses a very close relative to him and it makes his life very complicated.
I love this book so much because I can relate so much to the emotions he experiences -minus the drugs, sex, and alcohol. This boy is such a compassionate and a very beautiful expresser. His feelings of people and things are usually quieted and therefore he doesn't get to express himself to others very much. It isn't fare to him, yet he does it out of what he thinks is love for others. I would definitely recommend this book to any teen, anyone going through a rough time fitting in, or anyone interested in compassion. I would only recommend this book to people at least 14 and up. It has some very detailed sexually explicit scenes and uses profane words throughout the book. I would recommend it to mature people. It was very wonderful story to read.
Rating:
Summary: great
Review: very accurate portrayal of teenage depression through the eyes of a boy whose strongest natural instinct is love
Rating:
Summary: Dude can read
Review: Dear Reader, This book is like a good shot of whiskey on a Sunday morning: you need it to get by. You will like this book if you liked Catcher in the Rye or flowers for Algernon or if you are in a Creative Writing course at a four year accredited university. Buy it and then read it that night and call in sick to work the next day and feel great.
Rating: 
Summary: Overrated. The main character is unbelievable
Review: So many things about the lead character (Charlie) don't ring true that after a while it's hard to take the author seriously. Charlie is supposed to be a 14 or 15 year old teen, circa the early 1990s. But his tastes (in poetry, in music, etc.) seem to come straight from a 30-something of that era. Chobsky is clearly trying to give hints and suggestions to his teen audience about what's cool -- through the voice of Charlie. But come on. Charlie makes mix tapes of Smiths AND Procul Harem? Gives gifts like "The Mayor of Castro Street" for Xmas to his friends? Laser Floyd shows? The final episode of M*A*S*H? For a social misfit, he's got taste. I'm sorry, but for a purported school misfit, Charlie has an acumen for culture way beyond his years. After a few chapters of this, in sometimes heavy bathos, the book really feels forced. Sort of a compendium of "what you should know and read if you're a teen". Chobsky even includes handy lists of all the songs on the mix tapes so you can do it yourself. I didn't think it deserved the swallowing praise I see in all these other reviews. Wallflower is no Catcher in the Rye...
Rating:
Summary: Sadness is Sadness
Review: "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" is one of the best books I have ever read. A confessional of a boy named Charlie who does not really fit in. The story covers his freshman year of high school. Charlie is a likable character, with wisdom beyond his age, who seems to teeter on the knife-edge of depression. Charlie struggles with the normal hurdles of coming of age: crushes, first dates, discovering sex, drug experimentation, loosing oneself in music, parental strife, dealing with death, and making genuine friends. He finds solace in two senior friends and a teacher who sees his intuition and intellect. Charlie does fall into depression toward the end but finds himself again. I was left with a warm feeling knowing Charlie would be okay in the end. This book is "Catcher in the Rye" with a more upbeat ending. A novel that leaves the reader with the ideal that everyone matters. If your life isn't going how you planned, it's okay to feel bad about it, even if your problems pale in comparison to the problems of others. Problems are problems and sadness is sadness and we make it through in the end. I highly recommend this book to everyone.
Rating:
Summary: A wonderful, passionate and heartbreaking story
Review: Possibly the best book I've ever read, The Perks of Being a Wallflower captures exactly what it is to be a teenager. The story itself is raw, Charlie one of the most honest characters I've come across in years. It is my belief that this book outdoes any other coming-of-age story I've ever read, even in its comparison to Catcher in the Rye. Perks is an insightful and vivid journey through the life of a high school freshman, and although people may think, 'There is no way a fifteen year old thinks that way,' there is. With the exception of Salinger, it was hard for me to imagine anyone truly understanding what it is to be a teenager unless they themselves are one, until I read this book. Chbosky has done a wonderful job, this book has changed the way I think and see the world - possibly my life - just in reading it. I love it! Let me also say thanks to the other reviewer who recommended The Losers Club by Richard Perez -- another good one.
Rating:
Summary: A Great One
Review: This 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 by Richard Perez, this is one of the best books I've read in ages.
Rating:
Summary: The perks of reading this book
Review: Being the avid reader i am, i am very paticular about the books i choose. I must say this is one of the better books that ive picked up. It focous's on Charlie, a 14 or 15 year old boy who, to begin with, just isnt very social. He is introduced some people from school and is thrown in the life of fast driving, good music, mix tapes, gay parks, and weed brownies. The book, written in entry/letter form, is easy to follow and easy to relate to. Id say that the age groups to read this book is 7th-11th grade. The fun and yet sensitive book is a must have for any teenager.
Rating:
Summary: READ THIS BOOK!
Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower, written by Stephen Chbosky, is a coming of age story that portrays the teenage life of a boy named Charlie, who is just entering High School. He battles with finding new friends, trying drugs, fitting in, and overall, just finding himself in the world. "I went to the library and checked out a book because I was getting scared . . . The book said that sometimes people take LSD, and they don't really get out of it . . . I started breathing fast in the library" (Chbosky 101). Charlie experimented with LSD, and realized that just because his friends did something, that didn't mean he had to do it too. I highly recommend this book. It's a page turner that has a lot going for it. There is a very clear plot. "I just wish that god or my parents or Sam or my sister or someone would just tell me what's wrong with me" (Chbosky 139). Charlie just wants to know who he is. He's tired of trying to find out on his own, and he's ready to just have someone tell him. Charlie deals with a lot in this coming of age novel. He is the source of the major conflict in the story. "Patrick did call me, but all he said was that Craig got really angry at Sam about me, and I should keep staying away until things got clear" (Chbosky 130). All of Charlie's friends got mad at him when he kissed his true love, Sam, instead of his own girlfriend, in a game of "Truth or Dare". Everyone turned against him, but this was just the beginning. Many things happen to Charlie, that by the end of the story, you feel as though you know him yourself. Read this book! No matter your age or gender, it's one that everyone can enjoy. It's the coming of age story of a boy who is lost, and it portrays a wonderful new perspective if a teenage boy. Adults will learn, or be reminded of what it's actually like to be young, and kids will just understand completely. The Perks of Being a Wallflower, written by Stephen Chbosky, is a well-written, well-rounded novel that I highly recommend!
|
