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Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes 1967 Nebula Award Winner I first read this book in high school English almost two decades ago. It didn't strike me as anything special at the time, but parts of it did stuck in the memory. Now, having read it again with much more life experience under my belt, I think it a fantastic story. The setting could be current day (even when written so long ago, this story has aged very well) and the story revolves around a mentally disabled adult man who volunteers for a ground-breaking medical experiment that, hopefully, will increase his intelligence. It does, and it works so well that that his intelligence increases to far above average, but alas only temporarily, before his intellect declines back to what it once was. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of this story is that format that it is presented in. That is to say it is a series of journal entries written by Charlie before, during and after the procedure, and it tracks his rise and fall of intelligence in not only what he writes, but most tellingly, the way he writes it. From the punctuation and spelling to his vocabulary the levels are obvious on both the way up, and way down again. And most of all, the story is heartbreaking. Charlie is a good, nice person that just wants to be like everyone else so that he can fit in. He is so good natured, that it never occurs to him that most people are making fun of him at his expense, mocking his stupidity, he thinks that everyone is his friend. Worse, as his intelligence picks up he learns that people weren't being his friend, and to compound the issue, as his intelligence passes that of the people around him, he is once again unable to relate or connect emotionally with the people around. The whole story is really quite tragic, and being in the form of a journal, the experience is intensely personal and immersive. You'll never look at the mentally handicapped the same way again. A book I would recommend to any student of sci-fi or student of the humanities. 5/5Read full review
An excellent read
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Part of homework of Y7 students Interesting so bought book to enjoy in full
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Effing fantastic book
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
I was sceptical because of how it started but loved it! 5 stars
Verified purchase: Yes | Condition: Pre-owned
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