From the Bookshelf of Sci-fi and Heroic Fantasy…

Flowers for Algernon

Daniel Keyes

Start date: October 1, 2012

Finish date: October 31, 2012

Discussion: Book Discussions

Why we're reading this: Group Short story discussion for October 2012
Nebula Award Winner 1966 (tie)
#38 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F nove…more
[close] Group Short story discussion for October 2012
Nebula Award Winner 1966 (tie)
#38 on NPR's Top 100 SF/F novels of all time (2011 poll) http://www.npr.org/2011/08/11/1390858...
#50 on Locus Magazines Best SciFi novels of the 20th century http://www.locusmag.com/2012/AllCentu...

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What Members Thought

Feb 21, 2017 Jim rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: scifi, 3classics, 1audio, 2fiction

It's been a long time (30+ years?) since I read any version of this, but it's remarkably familiar. Must have really made an impression. I do remember liking the 1968 movie, the original short story & this novel in years gone by. I forgot a lot of the details from the book, though. Jeff Woodman did a great job of narrating this version which I read this with The Banned Book Society group

There are a lot of very thought-provoking & heart-wrenching themes running through the book. How we treat menta ...more

27 likes · Like · see review

Jan 27, 2011 Andrew rated it it was amazing · review of another edition

Shelves: sf-masterworks

Now where do I start with a book like this - well the first point is to say even though it is such a famous book I will not give spoilers and secondly there are much better and lengthier reviews out there so I will more likely put down my thoughts and opinions on it.

This book was originally written in 1966 - now to put that in to context the Vietnam war was still be protested over, NASA were launching Gemini rockets, Burt West first appears as Batman, cigarettes start printing health warnings on Now where do I start with a book like this - well the first point is to say even though it is such a famous book I will not give spoilers and secondly there are much better and lengthier reviews out there so I will more likely put down my thoughts and opinions on it.

This book was originally written in 1966 - now to put that in to context the Vietnam war was still be protested over, NASA were launching Gemini rockets, Burt West first appears as Batman, cigarettes start printing health warnings on them and the medical science described in the book was most certainly deeply rooted in the realms of fiction.

However over the years the scientific and ethical questions posed by the book have become stronger and more pertinent than ever - rarely do you find a book that the content and context it contains becomes as important as time goes by. The fact that you take a person of limited IQ and then through medical intervention elevates that person to genius level and beyond has some very stark and dangerous ramifications. Now with current medical knowledge we are on the brink (if not already passed it) of being able to conduct such "procedures" but I somehow feel we are equally as ill equipped to deal with them as the scientists were in the book.

Then there is the human element in all of this - I think Charlie himself sums it up - when as a retard (his words, remembering the era it was written in) is happy and has friends, while as a genius he is as lonely and isolated as any human can be (while surrounded by society which at best is indifferent towards him and at worst see him as a possible and a specimen).

I think from all of this I took away the fact that although it is noble and generous to try and elevate someone from the shackles of a limited intelligence and the life that it affords them, but not without considering the cost of their humanity and their dignity. Sometimes it is better to elevate them as their are rather than making them in to something they are not simply to make the transition easier and more palatable. After all as the man with an IQ sub 70 would he be as welcome as the man who is in excess of 170.

The book though most certainly is science fiction is I think more about the human condition and how little we understand it or seem to want to understand. As such it is heartbreaking to see such an open and gentle man being turned in to little more than a human lab rat and how he rebels and comes to terms with his situation.

The book itself has collected many accolades and when it was turned in to a film (Charly), it continued to collect them. It shows the power of the story that it can last this long - go through so many reissues and still remain as readable and as powerful today. ...more

26 likes · Like · see review