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Title: Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes ISBN: 0-553-27450-3 Publisher: Bantam Pub. Date: 01 March, 1984 Format: Mass Market Paperback Volumes: 1 List Price(USD): $6.50 |
Average Customer Rating: 4.51 (306 reviews)
Rating: 4
Summary: A fine story, very well written and bittersweet
Comment: Charlie Gordon has an IQ of 60 and can't even beat a lab mouse named Algernon in races through mazes (the mouse in the maze, Charlie tracing with his hand). It turns out that Algernon has been surgically "enhanced" by a special procedure to increase his intellegence. The scientists want a human subject, and Charlie is their choice, mainly because his immediate family is no part of his life, and because Charlie has always had a dim desire to "become smarter," noted by a teacher at his special school.
The novel is the story of Charlie, told in his own words through "progris riports" as a type of diary. His story is mirrored by that of Algernon. The scientists treat Charlie as little more than a lab animal, proclaiming at a conference that they made him into a real human being. It's only slowly that Charlie starts to gain intellegence, and this is the heart of the book - his rapid strides forward in intellegence and knowledge, but unfortunately not in emotional development. Memories of childhood abandonment and abuse come back to haunt him which severely hinder his ability to love and grow emotionally. When Algernon starts to decay - he becomes erratic and starts to grow stupid - no one knows if it will also happen to Charlie. This tension lends the narrative a tension that adds poignancy to the second half of the book.
This is not a traditional science fiction story - nothing is told of the details of the operation or the science behind it. Why it won the Nebula is a bit of a mystery. However, it is a very good story, well written and heartfelt. A story like this must be written in the first person, and it's done very effectively here - you get into the head of Charlie and care for him and the people he cares about. Some of the minor characters are stereotyped - for instance, all of the scientists (in fact, all the university professors) are pompous and arrogant. But the vast majority of the book is very good, and recommended.
Rating: 5
Summary: One of the few truly moving novels I've read
Comment: So a good friend of mine told me about this book called Flowers For Algernon. I had never heard of it, but he said it was really good and recommended it to me. I asked a few other friends, and naturally, they had already read it in like seventh grade. I'm thinking, what the [heck], why haven't I read this book. So I picked it up from my college library, and good God, this book is amazing. The story is narrated by the main character, Charlie, a mentally retarded adult who is part of an experiment that involves surgery on the brain that makes him extremely intelligent. The book is written in the form of Charlie's "progress reports," and is a very original and emotional story. The story starts out with Charlie as he is before the operation, and he explains the procedure by telling the effects it has on a lab mouse that he likes, named Algernon. As the reader gets further into the novel, Charlie's narration gets much more intelligent, and rather than looking and reading like something written by a little kid, it reads and looks like a novel. From then on, the story takes the reader through an emotional journey with Charlie as he learns about his life, his family, love, and who he really is. Author Daniel Keyes creates the most original story and the most wonderful character in literature with Flowers For Algernon, and I highly recommend that you get this book.
Rating: 5
Summary: Flower's for Algernon-the Best Book Afar
Comment: This book is one of the best book I ever read in my life. It took me a while to grasp the concept of it but after a few attempts of reading it, I just couldn't take my eyes off it. It shows you how a mentally retarded adult who has an IQ of a kindergardener endures phisical and emotional obstacles of life. After his operation that makes you smarter, he understands what he went through and finds faults in many famous scientist's theories and philosophies. He also began to understand how stupid human nature can be. While on this rugged path of knowledge, he also began to understand love. This book is great for people who think humans are stupid as well as people who just want a great laugh and cry. It is also a great romantic book also. I promise you that this will be a 5 star book for you!
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Title: To Kill a Mockingbird by Harper Lee ISBN: 0446310786 Publisher: Little Brown & Company Pub. Date: 11 October, 1988 List Price(USD): $6.99 |
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Title: Of Mice and Men by John Steinbeck ISBN: 0140177396 Publisher: Penguin USA (Paper) Pub. Date: September, 1993 List Price(USD): $8.00 |
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Title: Lord of the Flies: A Novel by William Gerald Golding ISBN: 0399501487 Publisher: Perigee Pub. Date: July, 1959 List Price(USD): $6.95 |
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Title: Algernon, Charlie and I: A Writer's Journey: Plus the Complete Original Short Novelette Version of "Flowers for Algernon" by Daniel Keyes ISBN: 1929519001 Publisher: Challenge Pr Inc Pub. Date: February, 2000 List Price(USD): $24.95 |
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Title: Animal Farm by George Orwell, C. M. Woodhouse, Russell Baker ISBN: 0451526341 Publisher: Signet Pub. Date: 06 January, 2004 List Price(USD): $7.95 |
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