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Flowers for Algernon

3.92 of 5 stars 3.92 · rating details · 140,675 ratings · 4,682 reviews

In this classic story that inspired the hit movie by the same name. Charlie Gordon, a mentally disabled adult who cleans floors and toilets, becomes a genius through an experimental operation.

Paperback, 324 pages

Published May 1st 2005 by Mariner Books (first published January 1st 1959)

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Jan 10, 2013 Amy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: read-multiple-times, own

I first read this book in 8th grade, in my english class. I remembered enjoying it, being fascinated in how the author painted the picture that I really was reading Charlie's journal by use of spelling, grammar and punctuation related to the level Charlie was at when writing the entries. What I didn't know at the time was the people who created the text book I used felt it was okay to chop whole chapters out of the middle of the book. They felt pulling out whole sections was okay in the name of...more I first read this book in 8th grade, in my english class. I remembered enjoying it, being fascinated in how the author painted the picture that I really was reading Charlie's journal by use of spelling, grammar and punctuation related to the level Charlie was at when writing the entries. What I didn't know at the time was the people who created the text book I used felt it was okay to chop whole chapters out of the middle of the book. They felt pulling out whole sections was okay in the name of protecting children from "bad" concepts like sex, alcohol, and violence. They didn't consider that perhaps leaving the story intact and waiting for the children to mature before handing them this story was a better route.

I discovered this injustice when I was in a used bookstore, and remembered this story I read in class I enjoyed, so I dug up a copy and bought it. When I got home, I jumped right in and started to reread it, only to get a shock in the middle of the book where suddenly there were whole chapters about this neighbor Charlie gets involved with that I didn't remember. When I reread the book more recently, there were more things that I realized would have been chopped out of a version intended for 8th grade students to read, and I just hadn't noticed as much the first time reading the complete copy because they were tucked in with the more mundane things towards the beginning of Charlies developments.

All ranting aside, I find this book to be a fascinating look at human nature, personality and development. It's well written, and does a good job placing you into Charlie's head as he goes up and down through this experiment. If you read it in school like I first did, do yourself a favor and buy or borrow a complete copy of the book to read. The lessons learned by all characters in the book certainly give you lots of think about your own behavior and that of others.

EDIT: There have been a few comments pointing out that the story was a short story first, likely the version I read in my school textbook, that was later expanded into the novel. I only wanted to add this note to my review, as it seems some people comment without reading the other comments left, so I'm seeing both comments informing me of this fact and comments of outrage that the book was censored.(less)

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Tammy Yes, it does come very fast! My 'baby' is now 10 and daughter is 13! Seems like yesterday they were in pre-k. Not fair how fast that fun stuff goes! M...more
Mar 10, 2012 05:01am

Christopher Partin Although I am not a parent (and even if I was I would have no place in telling other people that "my" version of parenting is "better" than anyone els...more
Dec 28, 2012 08:59am

Dec 29, 2012 Rita rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Everyone, especially those who like to experience emotional journeys.

Shelves: sci-fi, in-my-home-library, 2010, my-reviews, fiction, 2011, animal-protagonist, 5-stars, speculative-fiction, books-that-made-me-cry

This is a first person narrative that has been written as a series of progress reports from a deeply retarded man, who can barely be considered literate. His writing is ful of bad grammar and spelling mistakes. At first, if you are not prepared for it, this makes this book a little hard to read, and some passages even have to be re-read a couple of times before you understand them.

Our protagonist goes through experimental brain surgery, that has the effect of gradually increasing his intelligen...more

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Sep 10, 2012 Cassy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Cassy by: NPR Top 100 SciFi & Fantasy Books

Shelves: physical-own, 2012, award-hugo, fiction-general, region-america-canada, missed-in-hs-blame-ib

This book was hidden in plain sight. I was surprised to realize the majority of my Goodreads friends had already read a book that I had never heard of before. Correct me if I am wrong, but I suspect it was a requisite high school read for many.

One reviewer mentioned the abridged version he read in school had trimmed all the sexual bits. To which I respond, what a crying shame! I may have arrived late, but at least that meant I was introduced to the raw version. The investigation of a 32 year ol...more This book was hidden in plain sight. I was surprised to realize the majority of my Goodreads friends had already read a book that I had never heard of before. Correct me if I am wrong, but I suspect it was a requisite high school read for many.

One reviewer mentioned the abridged version he read in school had trimmed all the sexual bits. To which I respond, what a crying shame! I may have arrived late, but at least that meant I was introduced to the raw version. The investigation of a 32 year old man struggling for the first time in his life to connect physically to women was insightful and decidedly unsexy.

Also illuminating was how the character couldn’t escape his loneliness. At both extremes of his intellectual abilities, from retarded (using the term from the book) to genius, he was alienated from those around him – albeit for different reasons that nonetheless broke my heart. This exploration of a socially inept genius really resonated with me. I have met plenty of smart people during my schooling and tangentially through my husband’s. And I would go as far as to call a few of them potential geniuses. And some of them are weird.

One guy in particular stands out. Let’s call him Cheddar. Whenever my colleagues heard he was going to apply for a certain scholarship, we would all groan, because it meant we didn’t have a shot in hell. We could compete amongst ourselves and some outsiders, but not Cheddar. He won everything. I will proudly interject that just once I won a scholarship for which he also applied. Well, we both won it. They couldn’t decide between his analytical prowess and my whimsy. So they scrounged additional money to offer us both the scholarship. I thought about being offended that they labeled me the “artsy one”, but I decided to just take the money and run.

For a long time, I gaped at Cheddar’s ease with numbers, graphs, equations, charts, rules, schemas. But looking back, I can see that he was, to a degree, socially challenged. Holding hands wasn’t relaxed and comforting. Holding hands was an experiment on the most efficient way to interlock fingers with a fellow homo sapiens. He was incapable of keeping small secrets. Chitchatting with him could be difficult. When you stripped away his little group of loveable but dorky cohorts, he was vulnerable and hard pressed to communicate with the rest of world that doesn’t speak in binary. Why, oh why, did I want to date him so badly?

Keyes gave me an inside peek into how it might be for Cheddar and his fellow cheeses. How annoying it might be for them to continuously have to “dumb it down” enough to talk to the regular folk. (Also coming to mind right now is Sheldon Cooper from the television show, “The Big Bang Theory”.)

So, I say there is a lot of truth in how Keyes portrayed this, dare I say, downside to being super-intelligent. And Keyes didn’t stop there. He jammed many other profound topics into this short book: treatment of mentally disabled, wasting away of brilliance with addiction, follies of arrogance, confusion when others transform, ethics of tampering with someone’s brain. And despite all that, the book remains very readable and emotionally resonant.

It won’t take you long to read this one, but it could take you a while to process it.
(less)

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Dec 18, 2012 Manny rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: science-fiction

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here. It's funny how things often come in pairs. Braveheart and Rob Roy. Armageddon and Deep Impact. Dangerous Liaisons and Valmont. And quite often, the better one of the pair isn't the one that ends up becoming famous.

Flowers for Algernon's twin is Thomas Disch's Camp Concentration . Both novels were published within a few months of each other. Both are first-person narratives, presented as a series of diary entries written by the main character. Both address the same question: suppose a medical pro...more

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Apr 01, 2012 Simon rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-masterworks, sf

This has to be one of my favourite sub-genres; psychological science fiction. This is up there with the likes of A Scanner Darkly and More Than Human. These are the sort of SF books that I would recommend to those who look down on the genre.

This book explores such themes as the nature of intelligence, the effects of intelligence on the way you see others and the world around you, as well as social attitudes towards people with mental problems.

The narrative structure is a series of progress repo...more

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Feb 23, 2012 Becky rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Becky by: Amy

Shelves: classics, real-life-bookclub, 2012, blog_etb, nook, reviewed, romance, science-fiction, challenge-1010

Flowers for AlgernonI have three confessions to make:

1) I never read this book in school.

2) For some reason, this book is associated with the A-bomb in my mind. No idea why.

3) There was beer at my bookclub meeting, and I drank a goodish amount of it, so this review may ramble.

Needless to say, Flowers for Algernon was very, very different than I had always thought. I honestly cannot tell you why I thought that... just that I did. It's just one of those weird association things that people have. O...more

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Feb 21, 2012 Kristen rated it 3 of 5 stars

Shelves: own, sci-fi, fiction

I liked this book because I too have a filthy rat for a friend.

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Mar 22, 2008 Hui Lin rated it 5 of 5 stars Recommends it for: people who wants to know MORE about people with disabilities

Shelves: 09th

Flowers for Algernon 2004, 311 pp.,$7.99
Daniel Keyes ISBN 9780156030083
“My name is Charlie Gordon…I am 32 years old…I don’t no why Im dumb…or what I did rong. Maybe its because I dint try hard enuf. ” Charlie Gordon isn’t like any adults that you see on the street. In this novel, Flowers for Algernon Charlie is a man who is naturally born with low IQ. But he does one thing that almost none of the men you see on the street could do. He changes the history of science with his hard work and persis...more

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Mar 18, 2008 My Inner Shelf rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

Si dans votre entourage vous avez des personnes qui n’ont un mauvais a priori sur le SF, offrez-leur ce livre, cela leur montrera l’étendue des thèmes d’une genre aussi vaste que profond. Avec ce roman on touche au sublime. Une histoire poignante, celle d’un jeune homme attardé mental, qui souhaite plus que tout devenir intelligent. Une fois son rêve réalisé, il prend conscience du monde qui l’entoure, des individus, et aussi de lui-même en tant qu’être humain, avec son passé, et ses souvenirs j...more

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Jul 27, 2012 Cheryl in CC NV rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've actually re-read this book a few times. I almost never do re-read books.

ETA May 2012. Since the last time I read this, I've read lots of fiction and non-fiction on brain science. Memoirs of people with autism, popular psychology, fiction about our cousins the Great Apes, neuro- and cognitive- science analyses.... And still this seems perfectly authentic and feels ever so powerful. I do believe I'd enjoy it even now, if I re-read it yet again. I definitely still recommend it.

ETA July 2012. R...more

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Apr 22, 2013 ♥ Sarah rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: issues, sci-fi

I’d never read this as required reading in school, though I wish I had. I was almost in tears by the end of it all; the book wasn’t the page turner I’d expected, but so much more. It took me some time to finish this book but I don’t think this book was meant to be read in one setting. I took time to process each stage of Charlie’s progress, which elicited a much more powerful emotional connection, and reaction.

Charlie Gordon is a thirty-something mentally “retard” (term used in book), with an I...more I’d never read this as required reading in school, though I wish I had. I was almost in tears by the end of it all; the book wasn’t the page turner I’d expected, but so much more. It took me some time to finish this book but I don’t think this book was meant to be read in one setting. I took time to process each stage of Charlie’s progress, which elicited a much more powerful emotional connection, and reaction.

Charlie Gordon is a thirty-something mentally “retard” (term used in book), with an IQ of 70. He gets involved with a scientific research experiment that could possibly help him raise his intelligence (to the level of a genius), which could not only change his life, but all the others suffering the same fate as Charlie labeled as a “retard” in society.

So he gets the procedure done, but the experiment goes awry as the lab-rat Algernon, starts decaying at a rapid pace. Soon, Charlie’s condition will mirror Algernon’s. But Charlie’s getting increasingly more intelligent each day. And he’s starting to remember, and see things with such precise clarity. He’s born again. He’s alive. Yet he’s also so alienated, alone, lonely, and incapable of truly loving because his old self haunts his conscious.

So, the story raises important questions of science v. nature, but also of how society perceives people considered “deviant” or outside the norm, questions of consent, humanity, love, loss, and so much more. In the end, I was impressed with the way in which the author contextualized this book, as a compilation of Charlie’s “Progress Reports” with the misspellings, bad grammar, and all. Charlie’s story truly touched me and I really wish it all turned out differently.

I was appalled at his mother and sister’s behavior, and when Charlie actually goes to meet them, it was rather anticlimactic. And it broke my heart when Charlie mentions his role as the big brother, the man of the house, how he understood that role now, and how he truly wanted to fill that role, but couldn’t. It kind of reminded me of one of my favorite movies of all time, Eternal Sunshine of the Spotless Mind.

Except in that film, the two main characters elect to undergo an operation that can erase their memories; yet during the process of erasing the guy’s memory, he changes his mind – he realizes that even though his memories hurt, and although his GF chose to erase him out of her memories, he wants to keep them all. Even the painful bits, because that made him who he was, and those moments were precious. Ultimately, *spoiler* it all gets erased. BUT he meets his GF again (both of them without any memory of each other).

Similarly, I really loved this book because Charlie at least got to experience those few, special moments at the height of his intelligence. He had his memories then. He had hope. But even when he regresses back to his old self, it was always like the old Charlie never disappeared. That was the “human” – compassionate, loving, earnest, and innocent part of him.

Honestly, this was a truly heartbreaking novel. Bittersweet, brilliant, and a captivating read – a must read for all. There are many uncomfortable moments, and you will probably want to cry at the end, but it was completely worth it. (less)

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Apr 22, 2012 Matthew Hester rated it 5 of 5 stars

Given the classic status this book has earned in the last 50 years, it's not really at risk of being pigeon-holed and forgotten. That said, I feel it greatly loses something by being categorized as Science Fiction.
Yes, the story is fiction in that it never really happened; and yes, medical science is technically science; but that's where the genre lines end.
People not fully understanding what this book is about might be turned away by the stereotype of what is and isn't science fiction. They may...more

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May 24, 2012 Monique rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2012, absolute-favorite, award-winners, bestsellers, fiction, philosophical, soft-science-fiction

Original post here.

"..the men of the cave would say of him that up
he went and down he came without the eyes..."
- Plato

There hasn't been a book - so far - that has moved me to tears like Flowers for Algernon did. I still had several pages to go before the end of the novel, but already I was clumsily wiping my eyes and runny nose, concealing my face from my husband lest he think me silly for crying over a book.

Flowers for Algernon is about Charlie Gordon, a 33-year-old mental retardate whose (in)...more

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May 29, 2012 Dawn rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, favorites, read-in-2012, science-fiction

This felt... Profound. That sounds lame, but it's accurate for me. While I was reading this, it felt like each and every word was being burned into my heart. I've always been drawn to handicapped characters (my younger brother is handicapped, so I have a soft spot), and this was no exception. But beyond Charlie's handicap, to then to watch his progression throughout the book.. It bought to mind so many questions. Most of them are unanswerable, but still, it made me think. This is the kind of boo...more

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Feb 12, 2013 Steve rated it 2 of 5 stars

Shelves: novels

After hearing heaps of praise bestowed upon this book by a friend, i came away from it feeling more disappointed than disturbed like i had been promised (sorry Tami). It's not that Flowers For Algernon was necessarily bad. I just think it missed its mark. Not by a whole lot, but enough to leave me with the feeling that something was missing. There may be some spoilers coming up, so consider yourself warned.

It wasn't the predictability factor. I'm fine with stories with an obvious ending, that is...more After hearing heaps of praise bestowed upon this book by a friend, i came away from it feeling more disappointed than disturbed like i had been promised (sorry Tami). It's not that Flowers For Algernon was necessarily bad. I just think it missed its mark. Not by a whole lot, but enough to leave me with the feeling that something was missing. There may be some spoilers coming up, so consider yourself warned.

It wasn't the predictability factor. I'm fine with stories with an obvious ending, that is to say stories that can only have one possible ending, as long as the author fills the reader with a sense of excitement if the ending is a happy one, or dread if it is unhappy. But in order for me to have gotten that sense of forboding, i needed to be able to empathize with Charlie, the main character. Instead, he came across as an arrogant jerk with no redeeming qualities whatsoever. Yes, i know, many feel he is one of the most beloved characters in all of literature, but i'm sorry, i couldn't stand the guy after the operation and especially at the height of his intelligence. Instead of rooting him on to find a cause and/or cure for the mental deterioration of Algernon, i found myself looking forward to his own downslide, if only so he could go back to being the sweet, innocent, naive Charlie he was at the start of the book.

I also feel that the author pulled a lot of punches in the story. I like when authors go for the throat and don't hold back when describing scenes of mental and or physical torture. After all, the whole point is making the reader feel what he's reading, to live vicariously through the characters and experience things he might never feel in real life. Instead, Daniel Keyes gently held my hand throughout the story, never wanting to be too intense lest i, what, close the book and never go back to it?

A perfect example is when Charlie's teacher/female friend, Ms. Kinnian, a conservative woman with a clear view of the world, meets Charlie's other female friend, a woman who likes to party all the time and who doesn't seem to have any real direction in her life. I thought this would be cool. We're going to have a real two-sided conflict this time, as opposed to the one-sided conflicts between Charlie and all the doctors and professors who were trying to help him through his ordeal. Instead, what does Ms. Kinnian say? "Oh i really like her. I think she would be good for you." Are you kidding me? This was a perfect opportunity to draw a parallel between the real world and what was going on in Charlie's head--pre-op mental deficient and post-op genius--and the author just takes the easy route and never gives any payoff whatsoever. It's like he set the whole thing up and then at the last minute got scared and decided not to go through with it after all. This is the kind of stuff that makes me want to stop reading a book for good.

But i trudged on, and we finally got the old Charlie back, and i was actually kind of glad to see him again, broken English and bad grammar and all.

All criticisms aside though, relating back to the arrogant jerk observation i made, it would have been easier to empathize with Charlie if he at least had had a sense of humour. This is why i love Sawyer from Lost and House from, well, House. Their attitudes kind of suck, but their ability to be funny makes it more than bearable, and if they were real people, i would actually enjoy having them around. To be fair to the author, i can understand not giving Charlie a sense of humour, or anything to make him bearable, since his intelligence may have increased exponentially, but emotionally he is still the person he was before the operation, and i can think of absolutely no good reason for it to be otherwise. Unfortunately, i think Daniel Keyes wrote himself into a corner here.

So is he trying to say that with great intelligence comes great responsibility? Or that some people can't handle it and maybe are better off without it? Or maybe that we should be all be thankful for our mental capabilities, because we never know when they're going to be taken away? If it's this last one, i think the fear of losing one's mind could have been conveyed with more anguish and a much stronger fear of the inevitable. For more than one reason, the idea sounded great in theory, but in practice, in this case anyway, it just didn't work as well as it should have.

(less)

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Jun 15, 2008 Ariella rated it 5 of 5 stars

An absolutely wonderful page-turner...

A simply incredible portraying of the emotions of humans. A mentally handicapped young man with a heart of gold plunges into the world of adulthood as he agrees to become an experiment to increase his intelligence.

This is officially the sweetest book ever. You will absolutely fall in love with the main character, Charlie, as you read this book. I know I did. This book is an INCREDIBLE example of human nature, and it touched me so much in every way that I eve...more

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May 10, 2007 Jessica rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I really enjoyed reading this book. It wasn't difficult and I got throught it in about a week.

I had read a very much shorter version of this story in about 8th grade, but I didn't remember much of it, so I was excited when I found this copy at a used book sale.

The story is of Charlie Gordon a mentally challenged man, who is able to recieve an operation to make him a genious.

The things I found most interesting was the relationship between his mental growth and his emotional growth.

I also liked h...more

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Feb 10, 2013 Maria Ella rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: most-loved, young-at-heart, favorites, to-cry-for, 2012-reading-challenge

It has been a long time since I have read this book. But it still gives a linger effect. It left me looking inside of me if I was, or is, somehow, like Charlie Gordon.

Am I chasing for greater things? Is my desire for this pursuit well-thought-through? Or this an escape to the reality that, in the distant future - I will stand again to the place where I first took a step.

The story is somewhat gave a circular concept. You are like this. You are given a chance to change. You learn to love it, and t...more

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Apr 02, 2013 Erin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Erin by: Heather

I have just started reading this book and am looking forward to it. This is a book I have wanted to read for a long time and am finally getting to it!!!

A wonderful book about humanity and the human spirit in it's many forms. Charlie's journey is both exciting, insightful, sad, and bittersweet as he tries to navigate his intellectual and emotional changes as well as the new relationships he forms and the "ghosts" of the relationships he needs to face from his past.

It is a story that reminds us th...more

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Oct 30, 2008 Jim rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: science-fiction

If you haven't read it, you should. I never re-read this book, although I get it out & look at it occasionally. It's too heart breaking.

Charlie, the title of the movie made from this book & the name of the hero, is retarded. Science gives him intelligence, along with Algernon, a lab rat. The story is told through Charlie's diary & feels very personal. Very well done.

*** Spoiler Alert *****

Charlie gains intelligence, love & yet no mastery of his fate. He becomes a genius & the...more

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Oct 31, 2011 Michael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: books-i-have-reviewed

When I was in junior high school the movie Charly was big. Everyone saw it, and one girl, I can’t remember her name, had a Charly protective book cover and was so obsessed with the movie that she’d write the name, with the backwards “R” on everything, including adding it as a middle name to her own name on tests and papers she would hand in. She was in all the school plays and sang beautifully so my guess is her connection was with the play and the movie as opposed to the subject of the story. O...more When I was in junior high school the movie Charly was big. Everyone saw it, and one girl, I can’t remember her name, had a Charly protective book cover and was so obsessed with the movie that she’d write the name, with the backwards “R” on everything, including adding it as a middle name to her own name on tests and papers she would hand in. She was in all the school plays and sang beautifully so my guess is her connection was with the play and the movie as opposed to the subject of the story. Or maybe she just had a thing for Cliff Robertson.

Flowers for Algernon is expanded from an original short story and is the tale of Charlie Gordon, a retarded man with an IQ of 68. Chosen to take part in a groundbreaking experiment, Charlie soon finds himself gaining knowledge at record speed until, in a short period of time, his IQ nearly triples.

Written in epistolary style, the plot is moved along through Charlie’s regular 'Progress Reports' which he begins writing just before his operation and detail his day-to-day life and thoughts. Even if you haven’t seen the movie or read the short story, Charlie’s journey is easy to predict, but that doesn’t ruin the story, it makes it all the sadder.

There were some passages that made me think the book was maybe a little too long and that maybe some of those slower passages took away from the overall story, but once I was past them I realized that wasn’t the case. Those passages were just different pieces to the puzzle and only added to the richness of the story and to the depth of Charlie.

There’s a scene about halfway through the book where Charlie goes to a diner after taking a walk. Charlie is watching the restaurant’s busboy working, and he recognizes something of himself in the 16-year-old worker. As Charlie watches, the busboy drops some dishes and the restaurant manager comes over and begins verbally abusing the boy who cowers in terror of being hit. Eventually the restaurant customers begin teasing the boy and Charlie watches, seeing himself in the boy, until he can’t watch any longer. Charlie stands and shouts for everyone to leave the boy alone because he can’t help who he is. He’s just human. Charlie leaves the restaurant in shame and thinks to himself, “How strange it is that people of honest feelings and sensibility, who would not take advantage of a man born without arms or legs or eyes – how such people think nothing of abusing a man born with low intelligence.” I share that passage because the message I took from Flowers for Algernon was that there are bits of Charlie - both pre and post-operation Charlie - in everyone. If we forget that, or lose that, then we start to lose our humanity and our connection to the world and at that point it doesn't matter if our IQ is 68 or 185. In the end, our lives aren’t measured by how smart we are, but by how we treat others and interact with others. Our humanity isn't a measure of our intelligence, but rather whether or not we can remember flowers for Algernon.

Flowers for Algernon is a beautiful story.(less)

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Aug 08, 2012 Monia rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favourite-books

*little spoiler*

'Vollio esere inteligiente. Michiamo Charlie Gordon e lavvoro nela paneteria di Donner...'

Eccola lì. Proprio lì, inchiodata alle pagine e cruda e inevitabile. La consapevolezza che Charlie ha compreso (comprendere: cum+prendere, contenere in sé), con tutto il dolore che richiede una tale comprensione, che lo sviluppo intellettuale, la genialità e il sapere, se non accompagnati - presi per mano - dall'amore e da uno sviluppo emotivo sereno, conducono attraverso il labirinto dell'i...more *little spoiler*

'Vollio esere inteligiente. Michiamo Charlie Gordon e lavvoro nela paneteria di Donner...'

Eccola lì. Proprio lì, inchiodata alle pagine e cruda e inevitabile. La consapevolezza che Charlie ha compreso (comprendere: cum+prendere, contenere in sé), con tutto il dolore che richiede una tale comprensione, che lo sviluppo intellettuale, la genialità e il sapere, se non accompagnati - presi per mano - dall'amore e da uno sviluppo emotivo sereno, conducono attraverso il labirinto dell'isolamento, dello scontro irrisolvibile con l'io. Non c'è un'uscita. La chiudiamo con le nostre stesse mani per non aprirla più.

Charlie vuole diventare intelligente per poter essere amato, desidera piacere a tutti, capire chi è, forse vorrebbe trovare nei ricordi che gli sfuggono continuamente quella dolcezza che a stento riesce a riconoscere quando gli viene manifestata - di rado, certo, ma lui sembra avvertire che è una cosa buona, pur se non sa come chiamarla. Corre il rischio di un intervento sperimentale che gli consentirà di sviluppare il suo potenziale e di competere con il topo Algernon, già operato con successo, nella risoluzione dei labirinti del laboratorio di Psicologia. La sua metamorfosi sarà rapidissima, e l'evoluzione del linguaggio di Charlie, che tiene un diario dei suoi progressi, ne è la prova.
Il ragazzo, inizialmente incapace di ravvisare negli altri la crudeltà e di concepire da sé l'ira o il risentimento, diviene in breve tempo un genio, versatissimo in ogni disciplina, in ogni campo dello scibile umano. Coloro che prima gli apparivano semidei perché portatori di conoscenza, ora lo annoiano e lo indispongono: la sua intelligenza lo ha reso insofferente a chiunque non riesca a raggiungere i suoi picchi di genialità, rendendolo contemporaneamente incapace di provare quei sentimenti che aveva tanto ricercato nelle tenebre della sua deficienza.
L'aumento esponenziale del suo quoziente intellettivo non va di pari passo con la sua sfera emotiva, che rimane compressa, rattrappita, senza i mezzi per evolvere. Charlie avverte una sete di conoscenza che immagina non estinguibile, i suoi rapporti con l'alterità sono flagellati dal frustrato desiderio d’accettazione che gli ha causato - e continua a causargli - il vuoto che sembra inghiottirselo tutto intero. L'emotività è rimasta quello del vecchio Charlie, che resta sulla soglia delle sue percezioni, ai margini della sua vita, impedendo al nuovo Charlie di costruire relazioni serene.
Comprende che nemmeno ora potrà essere felice, perché il mondo non lo accetta. Esattamente come quando era il ragazzo 'tardo', quel mucchietto di vecchi abiti tutto intento a giocare coi bottoni della camicia. E se il mondo è quello minuscolo della sua stanza ammobiliata o quello più vasto dei congressi scientifici, cambia poco. È la percezione che Charlie ha di sé a essere distorta, irriducile, votata alla sofferenza.

'...la ricerca della conoscenza esclude anche troppo spesso la ricerca dell'amore. Questa è un'altra cosa che ho scoperto per mio conto... E io dico che la mente assorta e chiusa in se stessa come un fine centrato nell'io, a esclusione dei rapporti umani, può condurre soltanto alla violenza e al dolore.' (pag. 251)

Quando il topo Algernon comincia ad accusare sintomi di deterioramento intellettivo, si affaccia all'intuito di Charlie la possibilità che il declino tocchi anche a lui. La regressione non è un'ipotesi, e Charlie s'impegna, con i residui di lucidità che gli restano, a compiere uno studio sull'intervento che ha subito e le sue conseguenze. Ma la decadenza non aspetta, né sembra intenzionata ad avere compassione.

'Per piacere... Per piacere... non farmi dimenticare come si legge e si skrive...' (pag. 305)

Charlie sentirà fisicamente il cambiamento, e riconquisterà l'umanità che da genio sembrava aver perduto.
Il vecchio Charlie, forse, potrà tornare a sorridere.

L'evoluzione linguistica di Charlie è il mezzo che ci consente di seguirne le vicissitudini, la ricostruzione dei ricordi, l'acquisizione delle consapevolezze: inizialmente è quasi impossibile leggere spediti, alcune parole sono a stento riconoscibili, ma è tutto più che funzionale a far sì che la nostra identificazione con Charlie sia totale, senza scappatoie. Immaginare di pensare come lui è uno sforzo che ci viene chiesto per poter meglio renderci conto quanto sia difficile per lui intrattenere relazioni di qualsiasi genere. L'attaccamento che ho sentito per questo ragazzo è stato immediato, la sua ingenuità, la sua inattaccabile bontà mi hanno commossa profondamente, e un personaggio che riesce a farti riflettere su quante piccole crudeltà commettiamo ogni giorno è destinato a smuovere qualcosa di intimo, qualcosa di cui tutti abbiamo vergogna. Sì, perché tutti, quotidianamente, facciamo qualcosa di crudele. Un pregiudizio, uno scatto d'ira, la pretesa di saperne di più degli altri, l'alzare muri tra noi e il resto del mondo.
Pensiamoci. Proviamo a rimediare.
Per tutti i Charlie.
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Sep 06, 2012 Nancy Rossman rated it 5 of 5 stars

How wonderful and strange to have this book picked by one of the youngest members of our group ... and to be one I had never read. This gem was overlooked because I saw the movie, cried, it tore me up and scared me all at once. That science could actually be working on, conducting such an experiment that wouldn't work. Cliff Robertson had his only oscar in this role (CHARLY). I was a recently lost-my-virginity kind of young and impressionable woman (girl?). Anyhow, and then in the same year 1968...more

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May 31, 2008 Leslie rated it 5 of 5 stars

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Jun 06, 2008 Jackie rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: youth-school-reading, pleasure-reading, formative, 5-star

This is one of my favorite books, and movies, of all time. Gotta love a good tear jerker told in a profound way.

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Oct 29, 2008 Jean Holloway rated it 4 of 5 stars

Oh, my, I'd forgotten about this one. An ALL-TIME fav! I laughed, cried, U name it. WONDERFUL!!

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Oct 10, 2010 Lowed rated it 5 of 5 stars

Algernon-Gordon Syndrome

The power indicator lit up and a humming sound from the amplifier was audible to the sensory perceptions. I pressed the number five button on the remote to get to the music I intend to listen to, and Gilman started to be heard from the speakers:

"My time on Earth
Long as it seems
Is just a moment
In the grande scheme of things

A short refrain
Of life's endless song
Sung only once
And then we're gone"

Reading Flowers of Algernon has caused me to believe that a person's existence is...more

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Aug 10, 2011 Andrea rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: favourites, my-collection, sci-fi

The short novel packs the most powerful emotional punch of any book I have ever read, far greater than that of the denoument of Ender's game. It so transcends the vast majority of science fiction of the 20th century that it is hard to write a review that gives its genius true justice.
For those who have not read it, is a must - in its 200 odd pages it explores so many fundamental issues facing us in wresting with our own human nature. Most of all it is an exploration of how do we decide the value...more

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Aug 14, 2010 Ranee rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Before anything else, I thank Emir for this book.

The story is simple, the approach is complexed. But over all, it was a good read. To summarize it, the book is all about acceptance.
The main character of the book is Charlie, a simpleminded individual given a chance to fulfill his wish, to fit in. As a child, he disappointed his mother for just being himself. He was a moron, an idiot, his intelligence is below par. He did not comprehend this but his heart did, all these repression placed in a tim...more Before anything else, I thank Emir for this book.

The story is simple, the approach is complexed. But over all, it was a good read. To summarize it, the book is all about acceptance.
The main character of the book is Charlie, a simpleminded individual given a chance to fulfill his wish, to fit in. As a child, he disappointed his mother for just being himself. He was a moron, an idiot, his intelligence is below par. He did not comprehend this but his heart did, all these repression placed in a time capsule.
When some apparent genius offered him additional intelligence, he was more than happy to do so. It was a chance to see his mother's smile for once, to know that her Charlie is like any other kid not the one that wets on his pants, not the one that can's spell his name right. But this perceived acceptance is temporary, as he reaches the zenith of his mental capacity, his satiety for knowledge overwhelms his environment. After all, things that are left unexplained causes a stir to everyone else. With his newfound knowledge comes greater responsibilities, more moral and ethical issues. And yes, more emotional dilemma. All he had was knowledge, he lacked the experience that comes along with age. And when experience tries to catch up with his IQ, it burns him, like a CPU's hard drive rigged to go faster than it was originally built.
Things in his past haunted him, repressed memories were given meaning, things he thought he knew were given new understanding. Even the good became bad, and the bad, were highlighted. And in the end, when he thought he now belongs to the crowd, he finds himself alone with his mouse named Algernon.
Was it a bad idea to yearn for more knowledge? Was it bad to actually have comprehension?
My heart went to Charlie, it was waking up with a bad joke written in his forehead. He wanted to fit in. But he was in the wrong crowd. People liked him because everyone felt superior around him and they were supposedly his friends and when he was smart and them, inferior, they hated and feared him. Those are not friends at all. But I felt it was important for him to undergo all of this. This was a way of him saying that he has lived his life. He has built memories that he may not remember in the end but others will, and this will never be negated. Charlie existed, he has loved, he has cried and actually laughed without being the butt of the joke.
Knowledge is not bad. Happiness is not reciprocal to the amount of knowledge. I strongly believe they are directly proportional. Acceptance however is a different story, like I've said, he simply was in the wrong crowd.

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Oct 17, 2008 Lucy rated it 5 of 5 stars

Another familiar title perched atop the "most commonly banned books in America." With that kind of attention, I just can't help myself.

I loved it. I really loved it. I even cried at the end, which is so, so rare these days (unless I read Nicholas Sparks who always seems to get me at the end with his overtly emotional drama. Blast him.).

Charlie Gordon is a thirty-two mentally retarded man with an IQ of 70. He works as a janitor and errand boy in a bakery and considers his life good and happy bec...more Another familiar title perched atop the "most commonly banned books in America." With that kind of attention, I just can't help myself.

I loved it. I really loved it. I even cried at the end, which is so, so rare these days (unless I read Nicholas Sparks who always seems to get me at the end with his overtly emotional drama. Blast him.).

Charlie Gordon is a thirty-two mentally retarded man with an IQ of 70. He works as a janitor and errand boy in a bakery and considers his life good and happy because he has lots and lots of friends. He is aware, however, of not being very smart. He thinks if he can learn to read and write properly, he'll be smart and able to understand and participate in what everyone else is talking about.

When an opportunity to undergo an experimental surgery as part of a neuro-psychological study to artificially increase intelligence arises, he happily signs on. He can't wait to become smart.

Algernon is the name of a mouse who has reached unprecedented levels of intelligence following the same surgical procedure. Charlie, the first human subject, mirrors Algernon's success and reaches levels of intelligence far beyond what the doctors behind the study are capable of understanding. Alongside his increased intelligence are emerging emotional capabilities, such as romantic feelings towards women, and troubling memories he was previously unable to remember or understand with his lower IQ, about his childhood and friends.

The entire story is important and poignant. The author, Daniel Keyes, includes part of Plato's, The Republic, to begin the story. Plato writes:

Any one who has common sense will remember that the bewilderment of the eyes are of two kinds, and arise from two causes, either from coming out of the light or from going into the light, which is true of the mind's eye, quite as much as of the bodily eye; and he who remembers this when he sees any one whose vision is perplexed and weak, will not be too ready to laugh; he will first ask whether that soul of man has come out of the brighter life, and is unable to see because unaccustomed to the dark, or having turned from darkness to the day is dazzled by excess of light. And he will count the one happy in his condition and state of being, and he will pity the other; or, if he have a mind to laugh at the soul which comes from below into the light, there will be more reason in this than in the laugh which greets him who returns from above out of the light into the den.

I don't know if he read Plato's words and then wrote this story, or if he serendipitously found it afterward, but it is the perfect prologue. As Charlie adjusts his sight from living in the den of his limited mind to the brighter light of understanding, the growing pains the rest of us have had years to adjust and become accustomed to, are uncomfortable and awkward.

Likewise, at the peak of Charlie's intelligence, when he viewed the world around him in the brightest light possible, Charlie understands the flaws of the experiment that those who developed it were unable to see. With that understanding, the tragedy of watching him lose his grip on so much knowledge feels overwhelming.

As far as being commonly banned, I have no idea, at all, how this could be. The only thing even mildly questionable, to me, is Charlie's struggle to come to terms with the negative sexual conditioning he received from his mother as a boy. As he begins to express the feelings he has for women in general, and specifically towards Alice, a woman he loves, he struggles to understand, beyond theoretically, the complexities of the male-female relationship. While these situations are included, I actually think it's a critical part of the discussion of light and dark. Perhaps not for middle schoolers, but definitely for those of us who live with our own conditioning and judgment.

I highly recommend reading this. Even if you know you've read it long ago for school, read it again as an adult. And then test your own eyes. (less)

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About Daniel Keyes

Daniel Keyes is an American author best known for his Hugo award-winning short story and Nebula award-winning novel Flowers for Algernon. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.

Keyes was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. At age 17, he joined the U.S. Maritime Service as ship's purser.He obtained a B.A. in psychology from Bro...more Daniel Keyes is an American author best known for his Hugo award-winning short story and Nebula award-winning novel Flowers for Algernon. Keyes was given the Author Emeritus honor by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.

Keyes was born in Brooklyn, New York City, New York. At age 17, he joined the U.S. Maritime Service as ship's purser.He obtained a B.A. in psychology from Brooklyn College, and after a stint in fashion photography (partner in a photography studio), earned a Master's Degree in English and American Literature at night while teaching English in New York City public schools during the day and writing weekends.

In the early 1950s, he was editor of the pulp magazine Marvel Science Fiction for publisher Martin Goodman. Circa 1952, Keyes was one of several staff writers, officially titled editors, who wrote for such horror and science fiction comics as Journey into Unknown Worlds, for which Keyes wrote two stories with artist Basil Wolverton. From 1955-56, Keyes wrote for the celebrated EC Comics, including its titles Shock Illustrated and Confessions Illustrated,under both his own name and the pseudonyms Kris Daniels, A.D. Locke and Dominik Georg.

The short story and subsequent novel, Flowers for Algernon, is written as progress reports of a mentally disabled man, Charlie, who undergoes experimental surgery and briefly becomes a genius before the effects tragically wear off. The story was initially published in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and the expanded novel in 1966. The novel has been adapted several times for other media, most prominently as the 1968 film Charly, starring Cliff Robertson (who won an Academy Award for Best Actor) and Claire Bloom. He also won the Hugo Award in 1959 and the Nebula Award in 1966.

Keyes went on to teach creative writing at Wayne State University, and in 1966 he became an English and creative writing professor at Ohio University, in Athens, Ohio, where he was honored as a professor emeritus in 2000.

Keyes' other books include The Fifth Sally, The Minds of Billy Milligan, The Touch, Unveiling Claudia, and the memoir Algernon, Charlie, and I: A Writer's Journey.

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Algernon, Charlie, and I: A Writer's Journey

Claudia - Kisah Nyata Gadis Cantik, Kegilaan, dan Pembunuhan

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Quotes from Flowers for Algernon

“Thank God for books and music and things I can think about."

--Charlie Gordan” — 143 people liked it

“I don’t know what’s worse: to not know what you are and be happy, or to become what you’ve always wanted to be, and feel alone.” — 139 people liked it

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