Flowers for Algernon

**Dolemite** · 14 Nov 2007, 05:20 PM

Finished reading this recently, and I found it to be one of the most engrossing books I've read in a while.

Short plot recap- the book is written in the form of journal entries by a retard named Charlie who volunteers for an experiment designed to increase intelligence. The story deals with how the intelligence boosts affect Charlie mentally, emotionally, and socially, in addition to dealing with how his peers react to his changes. Charlie soon arrives at the super-genius level, but the question looms: are the effects of the experiment permanent? It's really pretty fascinating.

Anyone read this? If not, get your ass out and get a copy. It's a pretty fast read.

**Nick** · 14 Nov 2007, 06:09 PM

I read this years ago and loved it. I'm not sure if I would like it quite as much today, but it is fascinating and does pull you in. I wonder how different authors would have handled the same subject matter. That Fight Club guy might have had an interesting take on it, but isn't Fight Club in kind of the same vein (just like The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)?

**Dolemite** · 14 Nov 2007, 07:16 PM

Originally Posted by Nick

I read this years ago and loved it. I'm not sure if I would like it quite as much today

Why not?

I wonder how different authors would have handled the same subject matter. That Fight Club guy might have had an interesting take on it, but isn't Fight Club in kind of the same vein (just like The Strange Case of Dr. Jekyll and Mr. Hyde)?

Flowers for Algernon isn't a Jekyll and Hyde story, imo. Charlie's metamorphosis is gradual and the reader is lead along with the changes he goes through. Also, the end result is nothing evil, although the fact that he wrestles with his past and present self as if they were two seperate people does lend itself to a Jekyll/Hyde comparison of sorts.

Granted, he does become a completely different character over the course of the story, but there's no major twist ala Fight Club, just the gradual build-up of tension as you begin to wonder if Charlie will remain smart. I found myself studying his journal entries late in the book, looking to see if any spelling errors were creeping back...

**Opaque** · 14 Nov 2007, 07:55 PM

I feel like I read this in school, but I really can't remember whether I actually read it or cliff noted my way through the thing.

I appreciate literature more than I did back then, maybe I'll look into this.

Edit: Algernon is a mouse, right?

**Space Pirate Roberts** · 15 Nov 2007, 03:09 AM

Read it in HS, thought it was great. They also showed us the movie, which was an amazing experience in 60s drug-fueled cheese cinema.

**Frogacuda** · 15 Nov 2007, 05:10 AM

I read it in high school, too. I was pretty jaded to anything I read in school, but the story stuck with me, so I must have liked it.

**Dolemite** · 15 Nov 2007, 10:23 AM

FFA sounds like common high school reading. I actually sort of got that HS feeling when reading it, mostly because of the 50s-ish vibe it has (it was written in 1959), which a lot of required reading in HS seems to have.

Originally Posted by Opaque

Edit: Algernon is a mouse, right?

Correct.

Originally Posted by The Gas

Read it in HS, thought it was great. They also showed us the movie, which was an amazing experience in 60s drug-fueled cheese cinema.

When I finished the book I thought to myself that it would make a great movie. I looked into it and discovered there have been a few adaptations filmed, including the one you're talking about- it's called Charly, right? I'd like to give that a rent sometime and see how it stacks up against the book, which succeeded in really getting me to feel for Charlie. Hell, the mouse, too.