Searching for "Flowers For Algernon"

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dassi

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Hello everyone,

I'm an English Literature student in Israel, and I'm doing a course on narrative analysis. I have an assignment to hand in in two weeks and I would love to do it on Daniel Keyes's "Flowers for Algernon". Unfortauntly, I can't find the short story in any of the Israeli bookshops (it's out of print) and I only found it on a strange, obviously illegal website. In order to use the story, I need to be able to properly cite it, so I can't just take the bootlegged version. I would really appreciate it, if any one of you happens to know where I can find the story.

Thanks alot in advance,
and have a lovely evening.
 
Dave, I think he was asking for the original short story, which isn't part of the masterworks series, of course. But, yes, the story has had numerous printings. If you've got a good used bookshop around, the first volume of The Hugo Winners, ed. by Isaac Asimov has it, as does The Science Fiction Hall of Fame, Vol. I, ed. by Robert Silverberg. Both of those had numerous printings, so they may be easier to find than some others....
 
Dave said:
I didn't realise it had been a short story. I read it too, it is very poignant, much better as a short story.
Click to expand...

Yes, I agree. The 'novel' (still fairly short) was excellent in its own right, but the short story condenses all that emotion into less space and so has more impact. Interestingly (well, to me, at any rate) the short story won the Hugo award for short fiction in 1960, whilst the expanded 'novel' won the Nebula in 1966.
 
Ah, see, I disagree...I prefer the novel. It allows you to see much more of Charlie's struggle, when he had his low IQ and when he becomes incredibly smart. For me, the thing that is so terrible about the story is that he wants intelligence so much, but even when he gets it, he still can't fit in. Such a beautiful, heart-wrenching story...
 
HoopyFrood said:
Ah, see, I disagree...I prefer the novel. It allows you to see much more of Charlie's struggle, when he had his low IQ and when he becomes incredibly smart. For me, the thing that is so terrible about the story is that he wants intelligence so much, but even when he gets it, he still can't fit in. Such a beautiful, heart-wrenching story...
Click to expand...

I know what you mean HF but, for me, the short story packs more punch because it is tighter.
 
I have to agree with that. I still prefer the short story because it is more concentrated. The novel has points where it becomes attenuated, rambles, and goes off in exploring added themes -- all quite worthwhile, but much less "a concentrated essence", in HPL's phrase. I can never read that story without tears... and I've no idea how many times I've read it since I first came across it in 7th grade....
 
Dang, I never knew there was an expanded version - now I'll have to find it :) The short story is something which has stayed with me ever since I read it on "The Science Fiction Hall of Fame". I just don't want to go back and read it because it is so poignant and makes me sad for weeks after I read it.
 
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