Flowers for Algernon | book review (some spoilers)

Hey everyone – here are some of my thoughts of Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes. What did you think of the book? If you haven't read it yet, you gonna?

Let me rephrase. You GONNA!

MY BOOKS

DELPHINE DESCENDS -
After her family is killed and her homeworld occupied, young Kathreen Martin is sent to the distant world of Furoris for re-education. She will live the rest of her life as a serf – to be bought and sold as a commodity of the Imperial Network.
When her only chance of escape is ruined, a chance mistaken identity offers her a new life as the orphaned daughter of a First-Citizen Senator and heiress to a vast fortune.
She vows to claw her way into power to sit among the worlds’ elite. Then, with her own hands, she will reap bloody vengeance on them all.
But, to beat them she must play their game. She must become worse than them all.

BLACK MILK -
Prometheus has the chance to bring his wife back from the dead, but doing so will mean the destruction of Earth.Spanning time, planets and dimensions, Black Milk draws to a climactic point in a post-apocalyptic future, where humanity, stranded with no planet to call home, fights to survive against a post-human digital entity that pursues them through the depths of space.Five lives separated by aeons are inextricably linked by Prometheus’s actions:Ystil.3 is an AI unit sent back in time from the distant future to investigate Prometheus’s discovery...The mysterious Lydia has devoted her life to finding a planet that the last remaining humans can call home…Tom Jones (he’s a HUGE fan!) is an AI trapped inside a digital subspace, lost and desperate to find his way back to his beloved in real-time…Dr Norma Stanwyck is a neuroscientist from 24th Century Earth whose personal choices ripple throughout time...Prometheus must learn the necessity of death or the entire universe will be swallowed by his grief.

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GOODREADS:

[jsn]

"I passed your floor on the way up, and now I'm passing it on the way down, and I don't think I'll be taking this elevator again". It was a very thought-provoking book

[a.c.]

This book was so heartbreaking, wish Charlie let Alice take care of him instead of shutting everyone out

[BertGrink]

This is one of those stories that everyone should read.

[maximusprimus]

Flowers for Algernon. You have to read the book to appreciate the title. The richness and depth of concept still rings very true today.

[angellistheshit]

Read this in 9th grade and while everyone laughed I couldn’t help but think of my little brother who has autism. It made me feel very sad for him but 15 years later I know understand that my brother continues to be the happiest man today and he’s the kindest and most gentle person you’ll ever meet. He understands more than people give him credit and is the best with dates as he’ll remember everyone’s birthday and what movie happened on what day and year or any event.

[caseyjoi]

i just finished it for english class an hour ago and i cannot stop crying <3 my new favorite book and i never would've thought a book that i was required to read would be so enjoyable.

[ButOneThingIsNeedful]

Hardest cry I ever had reading a book was with this one.

[bookssongsandothermagic]

This took my breath away when I read it and it still pops up in my thoughts a few years later - so powerful and the way it is written is genius. There's one word on one page, that when it appears you know that the plot has drastically changed - just incredible.

[veraarmstrong]

Read the Short Story and the Book way back when.
Never being particularly fond of the subject of Psychology, but needing a class in that subject as GE Requirement at that time to graduate, I reluctantly took an "Experimental Psychology" class, where each
Student got to work with a white lab rat applying the Behavioral Psych Theories of BF Skinner.
To make a long story short, I really became fond of my lab rat, whom I named Algernon.
Algernon became so very very "smart" that it became the smartest rat in the class, and who definitely helped me get an A in the class!
When I asked the Prof as to what will happen to all the rats used in the class tha Prof nonchalantly said "OH, we feed them to the Snakes in the Biology Dept!"
Not MY Algernon, I said.
So Algernon went home with me, for good, that day.
Alegernon lived for well over 2 more years, remained an excellent pet Companion and and I still miss him...

[jamesdrynan]

A good analysis. Daniel Keyes' original short story is brilliant. Using the first person narrative and charting Charlie's rise and fall through spelling and grammatical skills was an excellent visual cue. The bittersweet final sentence is inspired. " Please if you get a chanse put some flowrs on Algernons grave in the bak yard..."

[stevena]

The book caused me to reflect a lot on my own intelligence and intelligence in general. I could think of many occasions in my life in which I was the fool as a direct result of my inability to understand why I was foolish. This ultimately got me thinking about my own arrogance and the role that arrogance plays in social pathologies. To some degree, I think the whole book is a cautionary tale against arrogance.

Conversely it had me considering the concept of fulfilling one’s intellectual potential. As Charlie became more intelligent his desire to fulfill his new potential drove him to fill his mind and think as much as he could, something Im sure many people wish they would do themselves. As someone who isn’t very well educated Ive always been self conscious of my intelligence/knowledge, so the story led to me pondering about whether I had done myself a great disservice in not pursuing the development of my intellect.

There’s much more to say but the major take away for me is the perspective of always remembering that it’s easy to view yourself as a big fish when you’re swimming in a small pond.

[MarcosGarcia-etqu]

"Please, god, dont take it all away."

I finished the end of the book in shambles. Thank you for the great review

[kamiltrzebiatowski]

The "outdated language" is not a drawback of the book. I don't understand the concept of "outdated". I just read "Plato's Cave" and reread "Crime and Punishment". I suspect I read fiction to learn about the world as it is or how it is interpreted in an author's mind, not the way it should be. Even better if I am anxious or shocked by something - I've probably learned something. Sadly, nowadays, this book would likely not make it to print as it wouldn't get past sensitivity readers or if it did, they would remove all the "offensive" language, meaning of course censorship of art: it is entirely up to an author how they write what they write.

[levydondoyano]

I’m dont usually a usually read books in my recreational time but this book hits different. We red this book in my English class and oh boiii after we finished the reading it I just cant stop thinking about Charlie. I recommend this book to everyone, no cap this is better than The Twilight Saga.

[PoseidonDiver]

One of my high school English teachers chose this as one of our set-work books. I have always had high intelligence, together with intense social anxiety. This very short story, left a life long impact on me, it further broadened my perspective on life, the pursuit of knowledge..

But mostly how much I never want to be witness to the inevitable slow decay in mental acuity and physical function. It would destroy me.

[sydthegoat]

Half the students at my grade had to read Flowers for Algernon, the other half had to read Charlie and The Chocolate factory (Willy Wonka). Segregation through literature. Apples and oranges

[ertyderty]

I have question my own intelligence since I read this book as a teenager. I honestly wish I never was exposed to this book. I believe I would be a happier person if I was never put onto that train of thought.

[jamesrich]

Can’t watch yet but looking forward to this video. One of my favorite reads last year. Heart breaking

[jacqo]

Charlie and Frankenstein's monster are somehow alike.

[ElectricBikeReview]

Thanks so much for the excellent book review!