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A review by sweekune
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
challenging
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
5/5
Audiobook narrated by Adam Sims.
A friend asked me when I finished if this book was good. I have no idea how to answer that. "Good" is far too simplistic for what this book achieves. Charlie Gordon, who has an IQ of about 70, undergoes an experimental procedure to increase his intelligence. The reader follows what happens through Charlie's own progress reports.
- I read this book mostly via audiobook but with a physical copy around and to read along with. The audiobook is fantastic but I feel the real impact of the book is better handled in the written version. It is not just the content of Charlie's reports that so accurately shows his progress but also HOW they are written. Charlie goes from simple words, misspellings, poor grammar to hyperliterate with a superfluous vocabulary. The impact of that formatting is utterly perfect.
- There's so much food for thought in this book. it deals with ethics, consent, both individual and societal opinions, childhood experiences and existentialism. We see the good and the bad of humanity and the complex grey areas in between and the reader comes away with such conflict about it all.
- This is a book that I feel everyone should read. Not study in school to make it boring and dusty but to pick up and read at some point within their lives. It is a book that most definitely causes some introspection.
Powerful, important and hard at times but a fantastic sci-fi book. Read it.
Audiobook narrated by Adam Sims.
A friend asked me when I finished if this book was good. I have no idea how to answer that. "Good" is far too simplistic for what this book achieves. Charlie Gordon, who has an IQ of about 70, undergoes an experimental procedure to increase his intelligence. The reader follows what happens through Charlie's own progress reports.
- I read this book mostly via audiobook but with a physical copy around and to read along with. The audiobook is fantastic but I feel the real impact of the book is better handled in the written version. It is not just the content of Charlie's reports that so accurately shows his progress but also HOW they are written. Charlie goes from simple words, misspellings, poor grammar to hyperliterate with a superfluous vocabulary. The impact of that formatting is utterly perfect.
- There's so much food for thought in this book. it deals with ethics, consent, both individual and societal opinions, childhood experiences and existentialism. We see the good and the bad of humanity and the complex grey areas in between and the reader comes away with such conflict about it all.
- This is a book that I feel everyone should read. Not study in school to make it boring and dusty but to pick up and read at some point within their lives. It is a book that most definitely causes some introspection.
Powerful, important and hard at times but a fantastic sci-fi book. Read it.