Rating: Summary: This is a wonderful book! Review: I thought that this book was very interesting. Charlie was a charachter that i, or anyone, can relate to. This book deals with a lot of things that can impact people at any age in their life, only through a totally different perspective, through the perspective of the one who is dealing with it as opposed to witnessing it. It didn't take me very long to read this book, as i couldn't put it down because every single part of it intrigued me. I suggest this book to anyone who wants a look at some of the things that other people feel and deal with.
Rating: Summary: "Perks" of reading this book Review: Few books out there nowadays leave me feeling satisfied, especially those aimed for the young adult/teen audience. Even fewer books I can genuinely relate to at some level or another. Yet Stephen Cbosky, a new author entering the world of literature with full force, has captured to true essense of teenage life. The narrator/main character is an anonymous writer who goes by the pen name 'Charlie.' We are introduced to him and follow his freshman year in high-school as we read his highly personal, no hold barred letters to an also anonymous reciever. Not your typical format for a young adult audience, 'Perks' continues to trailblaze in the fact it is so realistic and true to life. Few other books have captured this realism, with the exception of novels like "Go Ask Alice", and even then that was a true account. Subject matter spans from family life, friends, dating, drugs, pregnancy and homosexuals, just to scratch the surface. We are lead through Charlie's experiences, from trying to cope with death to finding one's place in the high-school environment. Never do we get the impression a 20 something male has written these letters; it seems more like we are listening to a soliloquy of a close friend. This book is an easy and enticing read, although it can be rather graphic in parts. However it should be read by everyone of high-school age or older, not because it is wildly popular but because of what the reader will get from it.the reader gets from reading it.
Rating: Summary: The Best Book Ever Review: Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being a Wallflower may have been the most interesting and entertaining book which I have ever read. Keep in mind that I am a teenager whose favorite thing to do is certainly not reading. However, once I started this book, I could not stop. I was through every page in no time. Chbosky's book deals with a teenager named Charlie who has just entered High School. The book is written in the form of letters to an unknown friend that Charlie uses as his own sort of diary. He holds back no experience no matter how vulgar, personal, or strange. Charlie is not your average teenager, however. He is an emotionally withdrawn child, due to his past. His best friend Michael committed suicide about two years before the time when his letters were written. His Aunt Helen also was killed in a car accident when he was six, while she was on her way to get Charlie a birthday present. He now has a lot of trouble expressing himself and reaching out. We see how Charlie gets through his trouble with emotions, as well as how he grows through the story. He learns first to reach out to his two friends who whom he meets. They are the first people ever to accept him. They take him through life and show him new things. He experiences drugs, girls, violence, sex, love, and all of the other experiences of growing up. The story is asy to read and relate to, and i guaruntee you will like it. Anyone old enough to deal with sex and such things, and whom is not offended by it, should read it.
Rating: Summary: The Perks of Being a Teenager Review: Teenager-vulnerable, youthful, and, above all, impressionable. The teenage years is really the progression from child to adulthood in which a teenager learns "the ways of the world." In reality, a teenager learns his most important lessons in highschool when dealing with peer pressure, relationships, and life. Highschool is a tough venture, and Stephen Chbosky's book, the Perks of a Wallflower, truly helps a teenager cope with the times by the realization that there is someone in a more difficult situation. Charlie, the narrator, who tells the story of his freshman year of highschool deals with some issues that few teens have ever fathomed, and somehow appeases a teenager's complaints about his or her own life. Charlie's best friend Michael committed suicide in middle school, while his Aunt Helen died on his birthday. Charlie receives very little affection at home and, with the death of his Aunt Helen, Charlie feels unloved and unnoticed. He cannot make friends with people his own age because he is looked upon as a "freak" and a "dork." Therefore, he finds his place among a senior group of "non-conformists" who enjoy heavy smoking, sex, and drugs. Charlie will do anything to belong and his innocent mind is soon opened to the twisted world around him. Every teenager can really relate to Charlie by the fact that they do things which later seem "stupid" just to "fit in." Charlie's insecure nature related to how I feel wandering the superficial and judgemental halls of highschool. Charlie exhibits insecurity with girls, and even allows his homosexual friend to kiss him just so he will be his friend. Charlie is perhaps the pinnacle of a highschool student in regards to fitting in, only more intense, lonely, and real. Another aspect of Charlie's life that I can really relate to is the fact that his town is a typical large town of the 90's, which means it is very close to how I live. Moreover, the book is really many letters that Charlie wrote to an anonymous person comprised into a story. I thought this was a creative way to write and tell a story, but since the story was in the eyes of a freshman the writing seemed more like speaking. Although this made it easy to follow, it sometimes felt all too simplistic. The book is written on a reading level for middle school children, yet the contents of the novel are geared toward mature teenagers in highschool. I found this to be one of the book's few fallacies. Overall, I found the Perks of Being a Wallflower very enjoyable because, at some point in a teenager's life, one feels like a wallflower, just an average teenager trying so hard to reach out, but stuck in the background of life. I know that teenagers will not onl enjoy reading this novel, but can really relate to many aspects of Charlie's struggle for inclusion. Above all, the book helps a teenager realize that it can always be worse...
Rating: Summary: Hoe dare they mention THE ROCKY HORROR PICTURE SHOW! Review: This book seems more marketed than honest. Sorry to ruin it for all the teenie-boppers who love this book and think that they're smart for reading a book that uses the "F-word". It's about Charlie, a freshman, who's supposed to be some misunderstood genius boy, but came across as naive (he's 15 and just learned what masturbation was?) and annoying. He cries throughout the entire book. Sorry, but reading about someone's crying fits gets boring really fast. Charlie is a product to let teens know that: It's okay, there are kids your age even more screwed-up and unhappy. But if this kid can make friends with hip seniors, you can too! Yeah, whatever. The book is a skimpy, fast read, and I'd be lying if I said I didn't enjoy it for the two hours it took to read. But I'm sure that two weeks from now I'll have forgotten everything about it. And the revelation about Aunt Helen is utterly predictable (I worry about people who didn't figure it out half-way through). Generic yet entertaining while it lasts. The book reminded me of the far superior Walter Kirn novel Thumbsucker, only minus the quirky wit and energy.
Rating: Summary: The best book! Review: I saw a comercial for this book on Mtv and thought it looked interesting. I read it right after I finished "Catcher in the Rye" which I loved, and imediatly felt the same about this book as I did with "Catcher in the Rye". I made think about life after I was done, which is corny, but it did. I like to read books like this and have run across books that are good, but don't make me think the way this book did. I have read this book many times since I first read it a year ago, I it makes me feel the same way every time.
Rating: Summary: wonderful Review: this is probably one of the best books i've ever read. i can relate to it so much. once i started i couldn't stop reading. i recomend it to anyone
Rating: Summary: I would die for you, but I won't live for you Review: I work at a major book seller and one night we were doing inventory and happily I stumbled on this book. I don't know why I picked it up, but I started reading it during inventory. I put it down and got back to work, but as soon as my shift was over I bought it. Let me say that I am 27 years old and have read many books. Let me also say that this book is a must read for anyone, at any age. Charlie deals with many things in his life that I dealt with as a teen and have had lasting effect on me. One reviewer of this book complained that Charlie dealt with everything, and that nobody would have that much bad luck...well you are naive if you think this. I know that I dealt with a large part of the same things. I think the only thing I didn't deal with was my best friend commiting suicide, but several tried. I know that there are many others out there that had the same problems as well. If I had read this book back then I might have been able to say that my life wasn't as bad as I thought...and maybe my adult life now would have been different.Anyway as I said before this book is a must read by any body, any age, and I really think that it should be required reading for teenagers.
Rating: Summary: Three Words: READ THIS BOOK! Review: This book was by far one of the best books I have ever read! Charlie was one of the most believable characters I have ever read in a book. He wasn't concerned about being popular, he was worried about the real things that happen to people; his family, a love for his best friend that he can't have, and going to the "Rocky Horror Picture Show. I can relate to Charlie and the things that happen to him, he seems more normal to me than people in other books I have read. At times Charlie may seem a little too sensative, but that is part of his charm. The last thing that really made me enjoy this book was the way it delt with issues that all teens face; drugs, alcohol, and sex; things that other books might skip over. "Perks" had my attention fully from the first page to the last sentance. I couldn't put it down.
Rating: Summary: Amazing book, I have never read anything like it! Review: If there is one book that had ever taught a person so much about the reality of life, Perks of Being a Wallflower did it. It is wonderfully written in a language that everyone can understand. This book hit home with me because I am a high school senior and looking back at all of my high school years I can totally relate to Charlie. It makes me so happy to know that a book can affect my life like that.It made me experience a whirlwind of emotions: happiness, sadness, and frustration all at the same time. The letters made for interesting reading and left you in a constant state of confusion and curioisty. This book should be required reading for all high school students. I love it and that is all I have to say.
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