The Perks of Being a Wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky
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Book Reviews of The Perks of Being a Wallflower
Book Review: An Extraordinary Book About an Ordinary Guy!
Summary: 5 Stars
What is this book? The story is truly inspiring and insightful, heart-renching and awe-felt! The lessons are learned in the farthest corners of the mind, and the strength of self. If you can dig that, you will certainly enjoy the book. Still don't think you'll like it? THINK AGAIN! What discipline, drive, and talent! The main thing about the book is that the author did a great job of capturing the role models in a way that serves to provide a path for youths as well as pride for some parents. Bravo Mr. Chbosky!When I was a kid I was a huge fan of the original Kiss (mid 70's) I couldn't get enough of the band. It was a large part of my life and feel it really helped me through the tough growing up years. This book could be the same for children today. I mean let's all be honest with each other (for once!) and say that the teenage years are a much overlooked dystopia.
This book was a little hard to understand especially when it only using "I" and "my" and "mine" and written in letters and such, but never the less I read this book in only one day; a few hours actually. I had to read it, otherwise I would've never heard of it or read it. Thank goodnees for those duties that I have as burdens! Anyway, since then I have read it countless times, relishing every page. The hero in the story, Charlie, is very likeable as he goes through the trials and tribulations of growing up, searching for friends and dreaming of the beautiful girl next door. Reading this book should be mandatory for all boys! Maybe girls too. But that's up too Parliament, or the President for my American friends (Hello down there!). I don't make the laws. I only suggest them. Ha ha.
Anyhow, this novel is one of the most unique ones ever written. There is essentially no plot. There is just one main idea spread throughout the entire book. Of course there are always narrow minded people who might object to the contents of this book, probably the same people who'd object to the Venus the Milo, or 'nude paintings' in a museum. Never mind them. For any intelligent and open-minded person there is nothing to object to, just Great Art to enjoy and a valuable lesson about life as it's meant to be. If you are still in doubt, do yourself a favour and buy it, and if you give it half a chance, it will enrich your life and broaden your horizon. In a way, you can't afford NOT to buy it... Especially if they pass a law that says you have to read it which has as a penalty a large fine. Ha ha.
Book Review: SO Far BEST BOOK EVER READ.
Summary: 5 Stars
I found out about this book less than a month ago I was scrolling on tumblr and saw someone post a quote from this book. At this point I can't even remember what exactly it said but I remember it touched me , made me think. I googled quotes from this book and every single one had me touched , every single one made since, it just was amazing I fell in love with the book before I even read it. I decided I was going to buy this book , plans got cancelled and that got put off hold. One day I was in my school library and decided to look for it, when I found it I got it on a Thursday and today's Sunday and I've finished the entire book. Keep in mind I'm a 17 year old girl with a busy schedule so I truly was in love to finish it that fast.
Honestly I don't think you truly get it without reading the quotes or the whole entire book. In a nutshell this book is about Charlie a high school freshman who writes diary like entries to an unknown person. He's getting over the death of his aunt and the fact that his best friend committed suicide. I told my friends that this book was like a philosophy book written by a 15 year old. That's the best way I can explain it. It's truly amazing , I plan on buying this book and letting my children read it - I could read this book literally a million times and never get tired. IT is just brilliant. It makes you think a lot about life , one quote
"I walk around the school hallways and look at the people. I look at the teachers and wonder why they're here. If they like their jobs. Or us. And I wonder how smart they were when they were fifteen. Not in a mean way. In a curious way. It's like looking at all the students and wondering who's had their heart broken that day, and how they are able to cope with having three quizzes and a book report due on top of that. Or wondering who did the heart breaking. And wondering why."
that just really will leave an imprint. It's just a book that makes you think , I really can't explain it better. It is amazing and I recommend it to anyone trying to get through something anything. I think every single struggle is talked about death, drugs, alcohol, sex,music,school,thoughts - insanity. EVERYTHING. I wish I could truly explain how amazing this is but I can't its impossible you just have to read it for yourself. I promise you will not regret it -this book changed my life.
Book Review: Relatable novel with forgivable flaws
Summary: 4 Stars
So, I couldn't decide between 3 and 4 stars. This book has issues. But dammit, I liked it! First off, this book is kind of Young Adult. But Hey, so is The Little Prince, and I don't care if you're 50, you need to read that book. So maybe that's not so bad.
Secondly, it bites off Catcher in the Rye. That whole coming-of-age, introspecitvely angsty teenage prodigy who-almost-cries-at-the-flash-of-a-girl's-smile thing was done 50 years ago. However, being an avid Salinger fan myself (I named my car Zooey, from Franny and Zooey), I somehow enjoy this book about as much as Catcher(in my opinion Salinger's worst, and most overrated)!
I guess with Charlie, the protagonist, you tend to feel sorry for his innocence and naivete and pull for him more. With Holden Caulfield, you get so tired of his cynicism and passive-aggressiveness, you almost wish he would get it over with and kill himself. However, Charlie is not only naive, but outrageously ignorant for a freshman. I mean, when I was a freshman, I was a virgin to sex, drugs, and drunkeness, but I sure knew more /about/ them than Charlie! It's almost embarrasing to hear him talk about them.
And the writing style is creative and daring, however not by any means ultra-original. The letter-writing approach, to cite just /one/ preexisting piece of literature, was also done in C.S. Lewis' Screwtape Letters. It also carries some problems. I think a previous review stated rather poignantly that the characters tend to be two-dimentional. This is rather accurate, however maybe not so much of Charlie, since he(obviously) is the most dynamic character, and is honest in his day-to-day writing. It is also kind of dry; more like a good story being told rather than being involved in the story.
But the day-to-day letter style also made it hard to find a "day" to end reading! I always was curious to see what was resolved "tomorrow" -- Kind of like a soap opera cliff hanger, I guess. This aspect compelled me to finish it in 3 days. Granted, this book ain't long, but I'm easily distracted. It takes a lot for a book to hook me that way.
Hell, it's got its problems, but they're rather forgivable. I'll just go ahead and give 4 stars. The main point is, in light of its flaws, at least you certainly aren't wasting your time with this book.
Book Review: Not the Typical Coming of Age Story
Summary: 4 Stars
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is not the typical depiction of a boy's "coming of age". All too often, writers spit out books claiming to capture the "real" teenage experience, and all too often these books turn out to be a middle-aged writer's portrayal of those "hoodlums" who egg her house on cabbage night. What keeps The Perks of Being a Wallflower , from falling to that level is that the author, Stephen Chbosky, writes the book in a format that doesn't allow his personal biases to sway the accuracy or objective angle of the story. The book is actually what seems to be a compilation of letters written by a boy named Charlie. Although the letters don't reveal where he lives, his last name, or the identity of the recipient, they allow the reader to understand the naive, curious, and mildly insane workings of Charlie's sixteen-year-old mind. Charlie begins the novel by succinctly introducing himself to the recipient of the letters and then begins to write down his everyday experiences, his quiet ponderings and his most hated pet-peeves. He remains brutally honest as he takes the reader through every moment of his first year of high school. The reader can laugh at a year of experiences - his first girlfriend, his first smoke,and his almost unusual love for literature. However, the reader must also share the pain found inherently in the life of a teenager as well as the suicide of his close friend and a tragic revelation about his late Aunt Helen. This last trial proves to be more than Charlie can handle and he's forced to retreat from reality for a while by spending a few weeks in a hospital. Fortunately, he makes it back in just time to gracefully conclude the novel and start his sophomore year. Comparable to Salinger's Catcher in the Rye, The Perks of Being a Wallflower genuinely tells the tale of a modern adolescent. Like Holden, Charlie opens himself up to the reader and displays his deepest emotions and problems. Both Charlie and Holden seem to struggle between passion and passivity and each adamantly resist the "phony." Co-published by MTV the novel gives off a sarcastic "Daria" - like vibe which seems to balance the seriousness of the potent realism. With every page and every moment, the reader can find something both hilarious and devastating.Book Review: Short Summer Read
Summary: 4 Stars
The Perks of Being a Wallflower was a short, laugh out loud, light read. I recommend it to read during the summer because i read it during the school year and found it pretty difficult to write a 6 page report on it.
It is about an innocent boy named Charlie who is going through his freshmen year of high school. His best friend Michael commits suicide because of "problems at home" and Charlie is left without friends. At first, he is okay with this- Charlie tends to keep to himself anyway. But then at his first football game without Michael, Charlie meets Patrick and Sam, who are seniors and brother and sister. They quickly become friends with Charlie and are extremely kind to him, they seem to understand him as well. Charlie is definitely an odd ball. He weaves many "life quotes" throughout the book. One, for example is "I love twinkies, and the reason i am telling you this is because we are all supposed to find something to live for." His innocence in this mook makes it interesting and will cause you to laugh out loud at some points. The beginning of the book is great, and the middle is good, then the end is bad. It just seems to go downhill because despite that it is charlie's freshmen year of high school- that doesnt necessarily mean he will try EVERYTHING. The book becomes unrealistic and the end is just bad. I was mad after i read the ending, i had to re-read it in the first place just to understand what the author was trying to infer, I suppose i should have guessed, it is a MTV book, so it doesnt have a whole lot of depth. Personally, id give it a 3.5 if i could. The funny thing about this book is that my 2 best friends read it for school too and one absolutely loved it and said it is her favorite book, while the other absolutely hated it and said he was mad for reading it. It can be a very controversal book, but it only takes 3-4 hours to read so if you've got some time to kill, knock urself out and form your own opinion.
The books format is interesting. The main character, Charlie, is writing letters to an annoymous person. The reader never finds out who he's writing to, but it seems like it is someone Charlie doesnt know personally. Als, you never find out some of the character's names. Charlie just calls them My uncle or My sister.
Good, not great.