The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Rating:
Summary: The perks of the book
Review: The Perks of being a Wallflower is a very good book for teenagers to read. The main character Charlie is stuck in the hard times of being a teen. Although, reading it will make your problems fell way less severe. The Perks of being a Wallflower is a good book to read to understand the life of a teenager, family life problems, and dealing with them.
In the book Charlie had to see many doctors and therapists for problems he doesn't even know about until the end of the book. Charlie kind of has a communication problem. He didn't really have any friends, until he met Sam and Patrick. He falls in love with Sam. She doesn't seem to feel the same way about him though. It all works out for the best at the end though. This just shows the ups and downs of love in a teenager's life. Also, he experiments with some drugs in the book, and honestly tells you his opinion of what he thinks about them. Another great thing about the book is that in the letters he writes, it really feels like he's writing to you, and only you. Sometimes you just want to write back to him and give him advice, but he gives no identity. In the book there are issues with drugs, homosexuals, sex, and a lot of other important issues, all told through the eyes of Charlie.
Charlie also faces some family issues. In the beginning he never really felt loved by his sister. He loved her so much, but she wasn't showing it back to him. They resolved the problem, when she got into trouble by having sex. They got closer after that big incident. Charlie was very close with his Aunt when he was younger. Something tragic happened to her though on the way to get his birthday present. That's when Charlie got in bad shape, and had to see all the doctors. No one ever really understood why he took it so hard, for such along time. In the end everything comes together and makes sense about why Charlie is so messed up. It's a sad but good ending.

Rating:
Summary: "The Perks" of the book
Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower was an unbelievable astounding book. This novel written by Steven Chobsky deals with and touches on all of the everyday things that a teenager goes through. He writes the story through a series of letters from the main character Charlie. I am still currently in high school, and I could relate to 90% of the stuff that Charlie, Patrick, and Sam were all going through. Charlie, the main character, falls head over heals as a freshman with this girl Sam, a senior, his best friends sister. Charlie deals with having gay friends, a girlfriend he doesn't want, and worst of all... having loved and lost.
In one scene, Charlie, Patrick, Sam, and Charlie's current girlfriend Mary Elizabeth, were all sitting, playing truth or dare. Patrick dares Charlie to kiss the prettiest girl in the room. Even though Charlie was sitting right next to Mary Elizabeth he proceeded to get up and walk to the other half of the circle where Sam was and kiss her. Mary Elizabeth left the room with tear-glazed eyes, and Sam cursed Charlie out, and then followed her friend in the bathroom.
I like how the book really came down to the average teenagers perspective. This covers so many hot issues that it makes the book very appealing to a person of any sex.
I did not like however how some parts were repeatedly told just indifferent ways. I also thought that some of the letters were just a waste of time because they didn't talk about anything related to the plot.
Even though there were a few drawbacks, the book was still interesting and a good novel. I would defiantly recommend this book.

Rating:
Summary: Just a Great Reading Experience!
Review: There is a strange phenomenon that surrounds me and books. Essentially books jump out at me when I am at a stage in my life where reading a certain book would be extremely pertinent. I also bet that this happens to other people as well. It's a mysterious phenomenon that really makes you feel like there might just be something special going on with life. Something just a little bit magical that science can't explain just yet.

Standing in a bookstore in Chicago a few months ago, looking for something to read, nothing in particular, this bright green book jumped out at me and screamed READ ME! The book of course is Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I read the description and immediately knew that this was to be the next book I read. Coming off a session of Star Wars novels I was ready for something a little more personal, something that might hit close to home.

Wallflower did just that.

The theme of my summer had been, and still is, about not being afraid to go out and live life the way you want to live it. Being courageous enough to say no when you want to, and to take the risks you want to take. Wallflower's main message is that in life you must participate. Anything less than full participation is a waste.

Wallflower frames a segment of the life and times of Charlie, the main protagonist, in the form of anonymous letters he writes to a classmate he doesn't even know. Through these letters we get to see how emotionally paralyzed Charlie is and how it effects his life and the things that happen to him. Eventually Charlie becomes lucky and his English teacher decides to take him under his wing. He gives Charlie books to challenge him and helps him realize that he must go out into the world and make it his own rather than blindly being pushed around in the world that other people are creating.

I really felt a bond with Wallflower because in high school and for much of my life I have been a merely a participant. I have been the Wallflower. Finally being ready to shed my Wallflower-skin I was very moved by this story and by Charlie's life. Wallflower helped propel me closer to finally making life my own.

This is Chbosky's first novel and it reminded me very much of Fitzgerald's first novel This Side of Paradise in it's message regarding the coming of age of a young human being and the steps one goes through during that time. To anyone who has ever thought "If I had just done this..." or "If I had just said how I really felt..." I say read this book now! Hopefully you too will be propelled into action! Thanks also to the reviewer who also mentioned THE LOSERS CLUB by Richard Perez, another book I really enjoyed and finally bought off Amazon.

Rating:
Summary: A must read for any high school student
Review: If ever there was an anthem for the high school teenager today, this is it! Stephen Chbosky has given a stunning insight into the world of a high school student in his masterpiece "The Perks of Being a Wallflower."

Being a high school student myself, I was floored at the accuracy of Chbosky's portrayal of a high school environment. Through the magnetic main character, Charlie, he portrays real issues facing high school students like teen-pregnancy, drugs, relationships, homosexuality, depression, suicide, love and acceptance.

The way the novel is written brings you into Charlie's world. It entraps you and won't let you put the book down. The book is written as a series of letters written to you from Charlie. I found myself growing closer and closer to Charlie through every hilarious comment and the most serious and sad of moments. The language used is so genuine and simple, yet you see exactly what he wants you to see. I could truly relate and empathize with what he was going through as almost any other high schooler would. With each heartfelt and honest letter you grow with him and become his friend. To be honest the book was almost torturous because after each letter all I wanted to do was write back to him.

The strange part of the book is that it really has no huge plot. There is no hero, no villain, no murderer...it's just an honest story of someone struggling through life. You see him fall in love, you see him depressed, you see him have fun, you see him grow, but no one wins or loses. The climax, I believe, is finding Charlie everyday in something. It's something that happens to you and you wanting to write to Charlie about it. It's reading the book multiple times (which I have) and finding something new you didn't catch the first time.

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky is an honest, and truly moving novel. I strongly suggest you read it.

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 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!

Rating:
Summary: A Bit Far Fetched
Review: This book seems to be more a novel written for people remembering their high school years through the haze of time, than for kids living and dealing with high school in real time. Everyone would like to look back at high school and think they had amazing taste in music, film and literature. Everyone would like to look back and see that though they weren't overly popular they had a strong group of friends who cared for them, so being a wallflower didn't matter that much in the end.

This book is obviously written by someone well removed from the actualities highschool, but none the less it is haunting and touching.

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Summary: real.
Review: Some people might see Charlie's life too dramatic or fake. And I guess I understand that. But one of the things I really came to respect about this book and Chbosky's style of writing, is that he doesn't try to impress anyone by using big words and complicated sentences and modern witty banter. The words are real, the language is real, the issues are real. A few pages into the book I felt painfully sympathetic towards the main character Charlie; his almost eerie, impossible sense of innocence and naiveness.
This book is about heartbreak and betrayal, and god kill me for my unoriginality, but coming of age. Charlie charms new friends with his naive charm, breaking their hearts with his sincerity and a haunting reminder of their own inpurities. And Charlie has a few physchologically damaging dark secrets of his own to overcome through his letters to an unnamed someone throughout the novel.

Rating:
Summary: Amazing
Review: Amazing is one word to describe this book in my opinion.

I have read many books based on guys opinions and usually their feelings are not expressed as well. Charlie in this book is the sweetest, cutest boy you will ever "know".
He seems to be very caring and he is always worried about other people's lives and is always carrying other people's problems on his shoulders.
Throughout the whole book we learn about his life by reading letters he is writing to us I suppose? So we begin to see things in his eyes and feel things the way he does.
I don't know what it was about this book but it made me love the main character and in a way feel very bad for him because he cared about people so much yet no one really seemed to care about him too much.
I thought this was a very good book and everybody should definately read it!

Rating:
Summary: Paint-by-numbers teen angst
Review: This book stands out in my mind as a classic example of trying too hard. Way too hard, as a matter of fact. It is overly sappy, pretentious, and far too unbelievable to ever connect with anyone who isn't a product of the Nirvana generation. The entire book is a blatant attempt at pandering to whiny Gen-Xers(MTV books anyone?). Chbosky wastes no time getting down to business, what with the first-on-the-checklist theme of suicide that appears early on and such. If it isn't apparent, I don't have the same flair for [adultry] as other people my age. I was 16 when I read it and even then I didn't buy into the general message or lack thereof that this work puts on the table. This novel is just paint-by-numbers teen angst with a protagonist so fractured he seems to be a patchwork of every "geek" and "loser" stereotype that exists. When I was a freshman I didn't have the benefit of getting stoned with my tragically hip senior buddies and having [adult relations] with upperclass girls on what seems like a weekly basis. Take it from a real social programming error, Charlie isn't as much of an outcast as Chbosky would have you believe. But, does that make me extremely screwed up and worthy of writing a pretentious teen-angst would-be magnum opus? No, and no. It gets 2 stars for the Pink Floyd reference though.

Rating:
Summary: How much do I love it?
Review: Seriously. I love this book oh so much. Honestly, I just might be in love with Charlie. We do have quite a bit in common. It was nice to read about a boy who actually had feelings and was not afraid to talk about them, a boy with some depth... there just aren't enough of those. In literature or otherwise. Sorry guys, if there are any of you I haven't met you. But anyhow, this book is very very very good and I highly recommend it. Especially if you too have thought of yourself as a wallflower.