Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

[Vertigo]

Sourdust, I can certainly see that some people would not like this story; it certainly lays the emotion on pretty thick.

But there's nothing wrong with not liking it. Vive le difference! (I thought The Stars My Destination was massively overrated but... shhhh!... don't tell anyone! )

 

[J-Sun]

Yeah, I'm normally allergic to mawkishness and I can certainly see how it could hit you that way - it strikes me as maybe the only legitimate complaint (other than simply "doesn't do it for me, not my kind of thing") that could be leveled against it. I think the reason it doesn't hit me that way, though, is that Charlie, as far as I recall, handled his crushing situation manfully and, by choice of narrative point of view, the story doesn't really try to "force us to feel" - it's all elliptical, implied feeling. It's told stoically, despite being such emotionally loaded material. The feelings are, for instance, the teacher for Charlie and Charlie for Algernon more than Charlie for himself (or, obviously, Algernon for himself ). But it is true that, if readers don't have an emotional reaction to it and they aren't directly fascinated by the experiment itself, that does knock out a huge chunk of the story and they aren't likely to like it much.

As I've said elsewhere, put me down as a "read the story and the book in that order and like them in that order" guy - I don't much care for the novel given that the story exists, and do give the story 5/5. But I'm sure I'd give the novel a 4 or 5 of 5 if the story didn't exist. And I agree with j.d. that, by my recollection, the story is pretty much left alone in the novel but is just inflated with some subplots and additional scenes - they're fundamentally similar.

 

[mosaix]

I thought The Stars My Destination was massively overrated

Agree with you on that, Vertigo.

 

[Vertigo]

Hooray! But I generally have to duck every time I say it

 

[Rodders]

This has been on my want to read list for a long time but for some reason, I just never got around to it.

One of my reading goals for 2020 was to read more classic science fiction, so I'm going to start with this today, after I finish my current read.

Edit: I've just seen how old this thread is. Oh well. It doesn't hurt to necropost a classic.

 

[Guttersnipe]

I remember reading this in high school. The ending is a real tearjerker.

 

[Vince W]

I must be dead inside. I read this last year and while it was interesting and well written it didn't have much impact on me emotionally. It was a good book and I'm glad I read it but it's not one I would heartily recommend to people.

 

[Rodders]

I finished this today and golly, it was a real treat and well deserving of its status as a classic. I must confess that my bottom lip quivered at the end and I’m thankful that Charlie’s decline was quick and not drawn out.

I was taken aback by the book somewhat when it occurred to me that the saddest part for me was not Charlie’s retardation, rise to genius, and degradation of his new found intellect, but the sense of loneliness that I felt that Charlie had endured throughout his life.

 

[Vince W]

That struck me as well Rodders. No matter what Charlie did he was isolated from everyone he knew, the only one he felt any real connection to was Algernon. Charlie's desperation to keep Algernon from deteriorating was probably the most gut twisting element for me.

 

[Vertigo]

I finished this today and golly, it was a real treat and well deserving of its status as a classic. I must confess that my bottom lip quivered at the end and I’m thankful that Charlie’s decline was quick and not drawn out.

I was taken aback by the book somewhat when it occurred to me that the saddest part for me was not Charlie’s retardation, rise to genius, and degradation of his new found intellect, but the sense of loneliness that I felt that Charlie had endured throughout his life.

Looking back now I think that was one of the big messages of the book; if you're 'different' it's going to be lonely, doesn't matter which end of the spectrum, or any other spectrum, you are.

 

[Rodders]

Charlie’s change was interesting.

In the beginning, Charlie was a fool to get the approval of his ”friends” in the bakery, even though they were horrible to him. At the end of the book, Charlie was being defended by those same people. They’d accepted him, but he couldn’t accept himself. It really was a wonderful book.

 

[nixie]

I've finally got round to starting this. Blown away doesn't cover it, had to put it down for a little while to let it all sink in. I'm up to Charlie renting the apartment for him an Algernon.
It is an amazing beautiful book. I know its classed as sci-fi but its a lot more.

 

[Jo Zebedee]

I've finally got round to starting this. Blown away doesn't cover it, had to put it down for a little while to let it all sink in. I'm up to Charlie renting the apartment for him an Algernon.
It is an amazing beautiful book. I know its classed as sci-fi but its a lot more.

It’s just a beautiful book regardless of any genre

 

[Dark empathy]

Glad to see a discussion of this one.

I ran across Kee's account of how he wrote it in one of the Nebula awards collections, and was so fascinated by the premise I had to give it a go, particularly since a lot of my academic work has been on interlectual disabilities.

In general really good, though I slightly wish Charley's emotional connections hadn't rested on his interlect, since generally what I've seen, interlectually disabled people are quite able to form emmotional attachments.

Also, a little dated on the Freudian references for my liking, but not enough to in any sense spoil the story.

Ironically, my only major problem was that this was if anything too! grim.

Kee's said his agent apparently argued that in the end Charley's development shouldn't reverse, that it ended with a big happy family charley Marries allice and becomes the worlds' greatest scientist type of ending.


Kees vehemently p[ protested against this, which is fair enough since it wouldn't be the book it was without the slant it has.

However, I can't help thinking Kees almost went a little too far the other way.