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Summary: You see things.You keep quiet about them.And you understand.
Review: "The perks of being a wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky tells us about a 15-year old boy, who observes his environment, for example people in his school, people on the street or his familly. By writing letters to an anonymous person, he tells and gets to know about his own feelings and becomes more extroverted. Because of new friendships and experiences like taking drugs, he goes through a rollercoaster of emotions.
On the one hand he is a sensitive boy, who's intelligent and loves to write and to read.
On the other hand he takes drugs, has a bad relation to his family and plays with girls.
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Summary: Gripping tale that's so much more than just teen angst
Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of the best books I have ever had the pleasure of reading. I kept hearing everyone rave on and on about it for years...saying how wonderful and touching it was, so I thought I'd go ahead and give it a chance. I'm really glad I finally did. I finished it in one day. In fact, I started reading it at school in one of my classes and I just could NOT put it down. I was done with it by the time my classes ended.I read a lot of books like this...about teen and social issues, and this is definitely one of the best I've ever gotten my hands on. Charlie is such a wonderful character. I practically fell in love with him as I was reading this novel. He's got an amazing personality that really gives you hope...maybe there ARE a few good, decent, and HONEST people left in the world. After finishing this book, I started feeling this intense desire to write. Just write and write and get all of my thoughts out on paper as soon as possible. That's how much this book inspired me. It made me WANT to start journaling again! Some say it's far-fetched and that Charlie's experiences aren't true to life, but I think that everyone can find a little piece of themself in Charlie if they are just willing to look hard enough.
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Summary: A filter or a sponge?
Review: Charlie does not anticipate having a good year as a high school freshman: his best friend killed himself when he was in 8th grade, and he and his other friends have grown apart. In order to get him through this "happy and sad" period, he writes frequent letters to an unidentified person whom he believes will neither pass judgment on him nor try to help him. This rather unlikely device allows the reader of Chbosky's first novel access to his character's intimate thoughts in much the same way a journal would.
Charlie has the good luck to have an English teacher who sees his potential right away, and starts giving Charlie, one at a time, nearly every book from the classic high school reading list, including: A Separate Peace, The Catcher in the Rye, To Kill a Mockingbird, and This Side of Paradise. He also gains the friendship of high school seniors Patrick and Sam, a brother and sister hipster pair who bring Charlie into their circle of friends while drawing him out from his passive state. Charlie is just happy to be part of their group, but by the end of the novel, his friends want him to be more active in his own life: less like a sponge and more like a filter, in the words of his teacher.
Although often compared to Holden Caulfield in The Catcher in the Rye, Charlie is a much sweeter character, though no less intelligent. While Holden rails against the goddamned phonies in the world, Charlie doesn't pass judgment, but rather admits that there are a lot of things he just doesn't understand. Indeed, Charlie occasionally reveals himself as innocent beyond his years
A wide range of issues emerge in Perks, including date rape, teen pregnancy, homosexuality, racism, sexism, unrequited love, molestation, and drug and alcohol abuse, but to his credit Chbosky incorporates these into the lives of Charlie and his friends and family so skillfully that they seem like normal teen issues rather than fodder for an overwrought problem novel. Charlie's letters from adolescence will draw readers into his closely examined life. A darker novel on the effects of childhood molestation on a teen would be America by E.R. Frank (Atheneum, 2002).
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Summary: A trip down memory lane
Review: This book was very touching in a way that most books are not. The main character, Charlie is a very emotional kid, he's a freshman, but he sounds much younger because he is innocent and honest. He offers observations and thoughts about everything he sees around him in a beautiful way. He cries about every other page, and he had me doing the same. This book was nostalgic for me, and I think whether or not you can relate to Charlie, you will find yourself reliving the experience of growing up. Mostly it is about feelings, the ones you wish would last forever that are always outweighed by the ones you wish you never had to have. I recommend this book as a break from the everyday reality to focus on the things that are really important in your life, and the lives of those you love.
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Summary: intimate letters from an interesting wallflower
Review: The life of the protagonist Charlie changes completely during his first year at high school. He makes new friends and with them he enters a new world of parties, sex and drugs. But actually he remains a wallflower and his over-sensitive character suffers from the problems of his family.
Charlie also has his first experiences with girls: His love with Sam doesn't have a chance, because of differences in age, behaviour and thinking. He starts dating Mary Elizabeth, but it is not true love.
In a play he decides to show his real feelings and hurts nearly all his friends. This event marks the turning point of the story, because you ask yourself if he remains together with Mary Elizabeth or if he comes together with Sam.
The book consists of Charlie's letters to an unknown friend. By means of them you can imagine his feelings very good.
However, you only look at each event through his eyeglasses.
But on the whole we can recommend this very intimate book because of its tension and interesting report of growing-up.
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Summary: what a nice book!
Review: Review „The Perks Of Being A Wallflower" The novel "The Perks Of Being A Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky deals with the problems and feelings of an outsider.
Charlie, who is a high school student, needs somebody to talk to, and starts writing letters to an anonymous person. During the novel his life is filled with high ups and low downs.
Incidents like the deaths of his friend Michael and his aunt Helen, or first experiences with drugs and girls influence him and his character development.
The fact that he is highly intelligent and shy at the same time makes him become a "wallflower". A great book, that gives you an insight into the life of a teenager and reminds you of your own childhood.
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Summary: the pursuit of a pure and true experience
Review: The first thing i wonder when reading negative reviews of this chbosky's novel is always, 'What happened to these people to make them forget what it was like to actually feel your experiences?' Before we became jaded and stopped looking everything in our lives was like it was for the narrator Charlie. Back when things were still new to us and we experienced each event as if it could be our last I like think there was a little bit of Charlie in all of us. And while yes, Charlie does go through a rather extensive list of firsts: love, wet-dream, suicide, masturbation, girlfriend, broken heart, loss of innocence, homosexuality, abortion, abusive relationships, etc., it's fiction. But we all at one point or another in our lives had to deal with betray your sisters trust because you love her or if you keep her unhealthy secret because you love her. And music was all new, just once, and it was ours because we were the ones listening to it. And we watched and learned with our friends that life isn't always fair. In another authors hands this book would have had the false sincerity of Dawson's Creek episode. But no one in this book has all the answers, because we sure didn't. And because of all this, reading this book is almost like having a best friend get nostaligic on you. Because these experiences are so believable, it's not to claim them as your own. But we all had drives in pick-up's through tunnels with "Landslide" playing as our best friend drove, and our other best friend/true love stood with her dress waving in the wind, as we all just felt the safety of knowing that we were with one another. Driving use to be a big deal at one point. And this book reminds us of all these things in an almost lyrical way. The Sound and the Fury is my vote for best book ever written, but this is my favorite book ever written.
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Summary: One of the best books I've read
Review: This book caught my eye only because of the title. I got the book, had it sitting around for a few days and then picked it up and began to read. Charlie is writing to someone, telling them of his life. His hardships and his loves. He is writing because he is nervous about starting High School. He starts out telling about his friend Michael who committed suicide. Then he goes on to tell us about his family, whom are regular but never quite share there emotions. Then he goes on to tell us about his aunt Helen who was the only person he ever knew who really understood him. Charlie makes friends with Patrick and Sam, two seniors at his school who take to him easily. Charlie's life starts to go pretty well. Charlie begins to be part of Sam and Patrick's "group". Charlie documents his first experiences with drugs, girls and "The Rocky Horror Picture show". There really is no way to describe how wonderful this book is. I read it late one night alone and I felt as though I was sharing something priceless with myself. It is now my favorite book. Now, the book is completely wonderful but it is very dark. I wouldn't recommend it to people, who find little things offensive. You would hate this book. Please keep that in mind. So in conclusion, I recommend this to anyone looking for a deeply moving book that tells you no matter how bad things are for you, they will get better. Happy Reading!
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Summary: Suprisingly, one of the best books for teenagers
Review: I was a little leery of reading this book when I saw the ominous MTV logo on the spine. However, I did read it, and in doing so, I discovered one of the best teenager aimed books I've ever read. I grow increasingly tired of the same cliched books that every teenage girl is supposed to relate to. This book was refreshing because the characters were not stereotyped and they really captured the teen spirit. It's a great, great book. It's very touching and sincere. I could, and will, read it over and over.
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Summary: pretty good book
Review: i wont go into detail, but this book is a great example of what kids go through nowadays when they are teenagers. some of the things that charlie went through, i was going through at the same time. the biggest similarity was the making the right or wrong choices. this was a great book, but i gave it only 4 stars because it didnt grasp me like other books had. (if you like this book, i recommend SMACK by melvin burgess because it is very similar)
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