

5π/5π
This is an emotional book about Charlie Gordon. Charlie has an extremely low IQ. He gets a treatment that increases his intelligence but this raises the question if being smart will make him happy. Will definitely recommend to anyone who wants a good read.
I would rate this one a 4.5/ 10. This book really didn‘t stick out to me. Although the way it‘s written is very different and it shows the main character development.
I thought the whole concept of the book would‘ve been interesting and how the author showed his progression and regression within the book was also interesting. However the part I didn‘t enjoy in the book was the characters itself, the people put in Charlie‘s life were all terrible role models for him. The whole experiment just felt unrealistic with how with only one successful rat they decided to try it on humans. The ending also felt rushed.
A bittersweet story.
Read for
#52BookClubReadingChallenge2022
I enjoyed this book. It is a little bit challenging to read at the beginning but opened my eyes to the struggles of the mentally challenged people of our world.
Personally not my favorite bookβ¦ there were components I thought were fascinating such as the book being written specifically to show disability and written in the format of daily progress updates. I expected to feel a close tie with the character and never felt that connection. It was a little slow and didn‘t hold my attention and honestly felt like wasted time by the end. I think there was potential but I was disappointed.
I really enjoyed this book. I liked the stream of consciousness and epistolary style of the writing. It was a great way to see Charlie‘s first progression and then regression.
I read this book, is kinda hard for me to really review for this book. I think this book is ok, just kinda for understand to me at least. Charlie have some problems with him, he is not smart. But he under a surgery that make him smart, but the time going, he become different, but in the end he went back to what he was before. I like this end, that show on the world now, there still a lot thing that human can‘t touch yet.
The book gave a really different, but unique story of a surgery to make someone mentally challenged smart. I thought the book did well of keeping me entertained and wasn‘t too boring throughout the duration of the novel, but was definitely different from other books.
I thought this book was okay. It‘s not one of my favorites, but it‘s not the worst. I was as interested in this book, but I still enjoyed reading some of it.
I liked this book, but there were some parts that I didn‘t like.
If you are someone who wants to read a book from the perspective of a man who is mentally disabled, this is the book to read.
It was interesting to read in the beginning with all of the misspelled words and wrong grammar punctuations, but as a whole it was an okay book. I didn't like the way most people treated Charlie throughout the book, but was happy when his friends took him back after everything that happened to him.
The book was good and give a nice insight on how scientific experimentation on humans, even when you think the person has nothing and the only thing you can do is help, still changes a lot and affects many.
It was kind of boring, I didn‘t care for it much. There were some spots that were interesting to me but not many.
I overall really enjoyed the progression and regression of this book. I thought the format with the letter styles showcased perfectly how Charlie‘s mental comprehension increased and decreased so rapidly. Overall I would recommend this book for people over the age of 15 or 16 just due to a couple things mentioned in the book.
. The book felt realistic and did a good job of arousing awareness to the mentally handicapped and reminding us that they are just as human as we are. Charlie got annoying in the middle when he became all cocky and him exploring his feelings made it quite odd. However the closure with his family, and him returning to his old self made it better. The writing of the book was effective and creative. However some parts were not necessary to the book.
Flowers for Algernon is a very eye opening book. It shines a lot of light on the mistreatment of people with mental disabilities. I thought it was a very good book. I liked the way it was told in letters. I felt like we were reading into his journey through his whole operation. It was a nice point of view. I liked Charlie when he was not smart though. I though he was much nicer and cared more when he didn‘t know everything. This was a great book.
I didn‘t like this book. I had no emotional connection with the character and the story ends the same way it begins which leaves no room for satisfaction or a feeling of completion. The writing style was great, though. The fact that the main character was telling his story through progress reports the whole time keeps the tone scientific, which is the point of the book. I just wish that there was some sort of permanent growth in the character.
Overall the differentiation of text throughout gave a perspective that we would not have seen otherwise. The overall central message is great- showing how people with mental disables can be mistreated.
The story of Charlie is fascinating, insightful, wholly absorbing and heart wrenching - all at the same time.
Through the writing of progress reports, Charlie‘s journey from βmoron‘ to genius and back to βmoron‘ is gripping.
Even though this is βsci-fi‘ or futuristic, it is at the same time an exploration of what it means to be human.
An excellent read that will resonate throughout time.
Thanks for Tag @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
There were the first things that came to mind:
Book - Flowers For Algernon
Author - F. Scott Fitzgerald
Movie - Fantasia
Singer - Freddie Mercury
Song - Friend Like Me
4β¨ I‘m not really sure how to verbalize everything going on in my mind right now. Charlie is intellectually challenged and is seeking a way to be smart because his mother drilled into his head he needed to be. He has a surgery to basically re-wire his brain to be able to learn and mentally grow. He writes a journal so we see his growth to be a very intelligent individual. The mouse Algernon goes through a similar process with a maze. β¬οΈ
This was written in such an interesting and unique perspective. I was not expecting anything that happened in this book, but glad I read it!
A fabulous and heart-wrenching novel from the 1960s. Charlie's evolution and decay are extremely well-built, and seem to subtly reveal a metaphor for the cycle of the human existence: helpless at birth, we reach maturity and become helpless again just like babies as we approach death. Hard topics are examined, the ethics of animal and human experiments, lack of awareness on mental illness issues, intelligence and brilliance versus human emotions.
I wasn‘t planning on reading this for #20in4 but I was cleaning and decided might as well get some audio time in. I found this awesome art on pic collage I‘m not sure what the source is. I‘ve had this one on my TBR since middle school. Really great sobering read. #BookSpinBingo
What do people see in Flowers for Algernon? Sexist, manipulative and silly. It took a lot of willpower to finish it.
Well I can certainly add this to the list of books that broke me. Heartbreaking and beautiful I went through so many emotions reading this today
The last P.S had me sobbing, if you‘ve read this you‘ll know π
Definitely a book I won‘t forget
5 βοΈ
Finished my #bookspin for March's #bookspinbingo. It's been a difficult month for me. I ended up with the dreaded Covid. Believe it or not, I haven't even had the energy to read. π’
@TheAromaofBooks
I've never heard of this book before coming across it on Kindle Unlimited. It sounds like it has been a pretty popular book since it was released in 1959. Started it, and was initially intrigued by the idea. Performing an experiment on a man who is mentally challenged, doing a surgery on his brain to "make him smart."
Ugh.
I did not like this ride.
So many things rubbed me the wrong way. It was not enjoyable at all.
Maybe it‘s because I‘ve heard so much hype about this book, but I was a little disappointed. I get what the author was trying to do here, it was just not an enjoyable ride for me. Charlie is pretty unlikeable imo. But I admit the very last paragraph totally made me cry. 3βοΈ
At the start of this year, I set myself a goal of reading a book a month over 2020 which was a pretty big step up from my usual one or two books a year! Well, we're in November and I've just finished my 12th book! I'm really proud of myself for sticking with it and smashing my goal! I've read some great books and I'm so glad I did it. I'm now looking forward to all the books I'll read in 2021. β€οΈπ
My top book this year is Flowers for Algernon π
Unbirthday has been flat for three chapters, went into a reading slump. I've decided to reread a childhood favorite to hopefully get me back into the reading spirit. @hannah-leeloo
Going in, I knew Algernon is a mouse and that's it. I WAS NOT PREPARED!
As a special ed teacher, it was a TOUGH read. Ten pages in, I said aloud, βThis book is going to destroy meβ (a la Of Mice and Men). It didn't, but still hit a lot of nerves. I imagine Charlie's humanity and autonomy did a lot to impact public perception of cognitive differences in its time (with still so far to go!)
Subject matter aside, this book is, dare I say, genius. π
The story of Charlie Gordon, whose IQ soars from 68 to 180 after an experimental operation. Now that he's βsmartβ, will he get the friends he hoped for?
Not quite the way I remembered it from 40-odd years ago but the themes of the difference between IQ and emotional growth and how people treat those they consider βless thanβ are timeless. Episodes throughout the book might make the reader sad or angry, but the ending is heart-breaking. π π π
Here‘s my third quarter wrap up for #booked2020.
#LiveAndLearn: The Soul of an Octopus
#CoverCrush: Dune
#BannedBook: Flowers for Algernon
#3books #bannedbooksthatihaventread .... but have on my #TBR ππ
#3Books today is books with animals on the cover, I've went with cats and mice! π±π
Neverwhere was so good, there's also a graphic novel adaptation of it which was so on-point. I've still to read Coraline. The tagged book I now see everywhere but knew nothing about until last month, anyone read that one?
#WithAnimalsOnTheCover ππ
@OriginalCyn620 @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks π«
#3books borrowed from the library
I pretty much only borrow books from the library on Libby these days. I love the convenience of it. These are three of my most recently borrowed books. All of them are good. π
So far I'm really enjoying Flowers for Algernon as my next book. I've been told it's sad, but I know nothing else about it! Hoping it's a good as people say it is. π
When insomnia hits, what else is there to do other than pick out a new read from my never-ending tbr shelves π my last 3 books were about unseen monsters (Malorie), ghosts (Her Fearful Symmetry) and the fear of being buried alive (Unbury Carol). I think this will be a nice change of pace π