The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky
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Book Reviews of The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Book Review: Cheap, Cheezy, and Dumb
Summary: 1 Stars
I hate to be so forward when reviewing things, but I have to say that this book is pretty much terrible. I was recommended this book by a friend who "absolutely loved it" and "had a touching emotional experience." The only thing touching here was this book and the trash can.
The book's concept is an overall interesting take on growing up through the eyes of a "wallflower." The presentation of the book is pretty much fine and the added typographical errors made the protagonist seem his age (although I hope they were intended errors). However, from there, everything just goes downhill.
After about thirty pages, I definitely was questioning his integrity. A fifteen year old kid had no idea about masturbation? Let me guess, the kid has never picked up a magazine, book, or even turned on the TV? Further, he's never gone through the sex ed classes (which in 1991 were basically mandatory and more aggressive than the sex ed classes of today). This loss of integrity continues when the first mention of a homosexual relationship is started; the kid is clearly a Christian and has a hard time even saying curse words -- yet he's A-OK with non-heterosexual relationships? The kid doesn't even comment on it or explain it, as he does with trivial things like the English teacher.
I guess I'm being a little critical here, but the book totally lost my interest early on. Without a protagonist that seems real, the whole story just falls apart. I even question the realism of the other minor characters in the book. A guy in the park, the toasting teens who drink to the protagonist's name, and so on. I really hope that this isn't based on real events because the author has failed miserably.
What's so great about this book? Well, I suppose it shows all walks of life and the struggles of growing up. I personally really enjoy this sort of book because it usually deals with isolation and complexity of daily situations to people at certain ages. But what is this book? Everything has been pushed to some extreme: the kid is so naive that he appears to have a slight case of mental retardation or he was in a coma for nine years of his life. It's trying too hard to be emotional and it feels like an episode of MTV's "The Real World". (That is ironic because apparently MTV had something to do with the publishing of the book. Maybe this is less ironic and more predictable, in fact).
I wholeheartedly suggest another book, no matter who you are. There are so many better books out there that give the reader insight into this interesting sort of subject.
Book Review: A Book for all of us Socially Awkward Introverts
Summary: 5 Stars
If there were ever to be a book written about my life (my life's not book-worthy in any way, but go with me for a minute), I definitely think it would've been called The Perks of Being a Wallflower (you know if things like copyright and patents weren't in the way). Wallflower. That's how everyone describes me. They're constantly moaning and groaning about how I let life pass me by and don't "participate" in it (can you tell the people telling me this are so not readers?). This is sort of what Charlie's going through (plus a whole lot of other angsty things), so right from the beginning, I sympathized with the narrator.
The thing about Charlie is that he's sensitive. He's one of those kids that doesn't speak much, but is always looking, so much that people constantly ask them "What the hell are you looking at?" If we aren't particularly that person (all you extroverts out there!), then you at least know who I'm talking about because they're the person sitting next to you on a bus or across from you at the coffee shop. Sure, Charlie cries a little too much (he cried more in the span of 218 pages than I've cried my whole entire life), but he's a sweetie pie. You just want to hug him tight and say "Everything will be all right", even if it is a tremendous lie.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is angst supreme. Everything you or your friends have ever been through in high school is described in this book: drugs, sex, dating, homosexuality, trying to find who you are, it's all there. So much of that is in here that, a few years ago, some idiot tried to ban it saying it wasn't appropriate for middle school and high school students (the chances that he actually read the book are slim to nil, but anyway...). I, of course, disagree just on principle (I'm so against the banning of books), but also having read the book, I honestly don't see how anyone would want to ban it. Here we have a brutally honest account of what it's like to be in high school. Sure, some students high school lives are probably not as dramatic as Charlie's, but there are others who have gone through some of the things mentioned in the book. And The Perks of Being a Wallflower doesn't shy away from the unpleasant.
Anyway, I loved The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I thought it was a thoughtful and engaging read. But also the fact that I really identified with Charlie was what really turned this book into one of my favorite reads. This is just the perfect book for all of us socially awkward introverts who maybe don't break out of our shells as much as other people wish us to.
Book Review: Well written, but somewhat cliched
Summary: 3 Stars
This review contains spoilers
OK, seriously, how I could pass up a book with a title like The Perks of Being a Wallflower? Especially after I read the back and it painted a picture of a shy, gawky and confused highschool kid who had to deal with similar issues that I did during that time?
Well, at least that's what I thought I'd be reading. It started out good enough. The writing is amusing, and some of the teenage "insights" were downright hilarious. There were also a few bits here and there that were amazingly well done and surprisingly painful.
However, taken as a whole, it's a bit too busy and I lost the believability near the end. I don't doubt that a great many intelligent kids have social difficulties in high school (I know that my own experiences were... suboptimal)...
However, the concept that, in the course of one year, a kid can learn about sex and masturbation, get addicted to tobacco, experiment with marijuana and LSD, overcome his own self-esteem problems, deal with child molestation, witness a rape, witness physical abuse, deal with an abortion, have his first drink, etc etc etc... well, it seems contrived. (As is the concept of a kid that gets to be freshman, knows about sex, but has never masturbated before.)
Let me just say that a person can be interesting and have emotional issues resulting from intelligence and poor social skills without having to have been physically or sexually abused. It gets tiresome to read books where such a situation either launches the character on their journey, or (in the case of this book) it becomes a surprise twist at the end.
This book would have been so much better had the kid just been a really bright kid who "didn't get it". There's ample drama and angst in a normal well-adjusted teenager that it's unnecessary to create especially painful experiences for the reader. In many ways, this seems to be the easy way out.
The format is one that is easy to do wrong (collection of letters), but works in this case because the writing style is believable for the type of character writing it... and it's all written by one person, so you don't have the problem of tracking dialogue that often results such such a format.
All in all, the writing is good, and there are some very well written and evocative bits. However, I don't recommend that anyone make it a point to read this one. More importantly, I don't recommend that any angsty teenagers read it at all... it's not likely to help (and could well hinder).
Book Review: English Crtique
Summary: 5 Stars
"the perks of being a wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky is made up of letters that a boy his freshman year of high school writes to a stranger that does not know him. Throughout the book you learn everything about Charlie's life and all the troubles he goes through and how he handles them. Charlie has many hard situations that occur to him, but by the end of the book he realizes that everyone has troubles and that no matter how big or small those troubles may be they are still a persons troubles.Charlie starts of with his letters when his only friend commits suicide and continues on throughout his freshman year. He tells of how his Advanced English Teacher, Bill, gives him extra books to read and eventually he finds out why, because Bill thinks he is "special". He talks about how he makes friends and they are all seniors. He writes about everything he does with them and how sad he is when they graduate. He tells of his first relationship with a girl and how the one girl he really is in love with he cannot have.
The author, Stephen Chbosky, wrote this book in the only way I see possible. He wrote from Charlie's point of view; everything he was feeling and how little things affected him. Chbosky never tried to hide any of Charlie's feelings from the readers, he treated Charlie like he was a person that was having a conversation with him and he was taking down everything he was saying. Chbosky portrays Charlie perfectly in the way he wrote this book.
"the perks of being a wallflower" speaks for itself. The title alone tells you what the book is about. I myself being a "wallflower" know there are perks to being one. Charlie learns this throughout his letters he writes. Charlie's story teaches readers a lesson, whether or not they know it or think it would. Charlie learns that yes he has problems and he knows that people in the world have a lot worse problems than he does, but he knows that he needs to deal with his problems before he needs to think about other people's problems. I agree with that. Every person needs to take care of him or herself before they can actually help someone else without making him or herself feel worse.
Charlie's story speaks to anyone who has felt left out of a group of friends or has just not had many friends. Charlie grows a lot throughout the book and while he is learning a life lesson the reader is learning a life lesson also. The lesson from this story is to be true to you, take care of yourself first, and then worry about things that are affecting other people.
Book Review: 2.5 stars - An MTV Novel for the MTV Generation
Summary: 3 Stars
When I first read this book, it came highly reccomended to me by a theater instructor I had at the time (around the time when the book first came out). Upon reading it I was highly entertained and believed this book to be a revelation of some sort. Now I look back and understand why the sleeve of the book reads "MTV Books".
Did it not occur to anybody how unbelievable oxymoronic the term "Music-Television-Books" is? It also seems like a hostile takeover of all forms of media from the corporate giant. Anyways, to the book...
Basically, The Perks of Being a Wallflower will appeal an immense amount to two kinds of people: losers that listen to 'emo' and people that want to be losers that listen to 'emo' (in other words, high-schoolers). The book in no way, really, will reflect anybodys teenage life, which is a comment this book seems to be getting alot of. Yet, I'd like to see the person who has a nervous breakdown at age 16 and sits naked on his couch on account of the building pressure. Furthermore, this books portrayal of an 'alternative crowd' is rather sickening, as it once again enforces the idea to listen to music and watch certain movies not because of entertainment or artistic value, but because of the mere fact that they are not popular. Excuse me for being blunt and dogmatic, but it is not only lame to enjoy the Rocky Horror Picture Show, but it is also downright disgusting. The book is basically an attempt at a modernized and generic Catcher in the Rye; only the character in The Perks of Being a Wallflower is such a sissy.
Heres the basic rundown of why I cannot stand this book:
The main character is a huge sissy; I want a protagonist that can tell me something; not one that just rehashes out the same teen-angst that is already dished out in every movie and song in the first place...I'm sick and tired of this entire "it's cool to be depressed" thing that is happening in the United States. Stop whining and read a real book by a real author like Philip K. Dick or Graham Greene. Also, people need to start listening to real rock and roll again; not this 'vintage' garage crap or this horrible 'emo' music. This book is only enforcing the teen-angst idea that isn't real in the first place. Teen-angst is just as much a product as Crest toothpaste. It isn't real, it only exists because books, movies, and commercial music invented it. Stop whining and think about life for a second; stand up for yourself and stop being such a wimp. THAT IS WHY 'THE PERKS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER' IS AN MTV BOOK FOR MTV VIEWERS.