Reviews with content warning for Toxic relationship - Flowers for Algernon

I can see how this book was considered ahead of its time when it was written. There are still many themes that resonate today, even though the language is antiquated.

Content Warnings

katzilla99's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

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purplehulk713's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

So clever and tender, both in format and in content and so heartbreaking. It was not satisfying for me at the end, but that was probably Daniel Keyes's intention. However, the relevant themes of disability, family issues, physical intimacy, and research ethics made Flowers for Algernon so tantalizing. Perhaps the most poignant scene for me was Charlie's reunion with his sister: he is finally able to understand

what happened in their family, even if he might not remember later.

Be aware, this is a book that will force you to recognize your own implicit biases, but I urge you to read it all the more for that very reason. To me, Fay was the most interesting character, as

she was the only person who saw Charlie as a person after his operation and regarded him with care and respect likewise.

But how much do we treat people like things in our society? As if they aren't worth enough that they can simply be discarded? Algernon deserves the most magnificent garden of flowers, blooming every year with the most glorious blossoms. But for now,

will you lay some flowers on his grave?

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kendalsbookcase's review

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

5.0

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pandemonicbaby's review against another edition

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emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

There are a few things I'd like to point at regarding this book.
First of all, I do really like the concept. The story is intriguing: what if an intelectually disabled person had their intelligence enhanced by science? How would they turn out? How would the change their behaviour? Their interaction with the world around them? And most importantly, what would they find out about themselves in the process?
There are many questions this book brings about. I do think it did its job in answering them. It shows us the changes in the life of Charlie, after he goes through a scientific procedure to artifically augmentate his intellect, and how he reacted to them as he started to notice things that he hadn't before. My favourite part of the book is exactly that: the fact that - even though it was published in 1959 - it focuses on Charlie's trauma and him realizing the mistreatment that he used to suffer from people whom he thought were his friends; actions that, before the procedure, he didn't notice were ill-intentioned. It was a really innovative book that brought to light the struggles of the disabled community, - especially the *intelectually* disabled community - that often go overlooked. I feel like this could've been touched upon even more, but considering the time period, it was still enormously groundbreaking.
Anyhow, as Charlie notices during the development of the story, many people who seem to be good, intelligent and sophisticated do not hesitate in making fun of or using a disabled man for their own personal satisfactions. This is very important as it shows how anyone can contribute to ableism, even if they consider themselves to be a person of high moral standards.
However. I do feel that the writing itself lacked a bit of nuance - sometimes, it relied to much in tell, not show instead of the opposite. Some passages were very good at showing what Charlie was going through without outright saying it, but some lacked on that department and seemed to repeat an idea over and over, throwing it at the reader's face so that they'd get it.
Some of the conflict also seemed to be solved very quickly when it seemed like it would need a longer time to be processed, but even though it was rushed it didn't present itself as much of a detriment to the overall enjoyment of the book.
My biggest issue with the book, however, is that many times it seems obviously written by a man (you know what I mean), and sometimes the author seemed to write some things just to make the main character seem "cooler" as his intelligence progressed which kind of broke the immersion a bit. This as in, sometimes it seemed like Charlie was written to be an ideal "Cool Smart Guy" that didn't really fit the overall character.

Also, I was surprised to notice how long it took Charlie to realize he had been treating people with intelligence lower than his own as inferior, just like people had done to him before. I got irritated as I noticed he was being unreasonable with everyone else, even those who tried to help him, because he started to see that they couldn't get on their level. But it does make sense for him to act that way: first of all, his emotional growth didn't follow the same rhythm as his intellectional growth; and second, it seems only normal for someone who started to feel distanced once more from the people around him to have a hard time understanding others. It is a lonely journey diverging from the norm, either way. I don't blame Charlie for acting that way, he was confused with all the sudden changes in perception that were coming to him. One moment, you think the people around you are put upon untouchable pedestals, and in the next, they can't even catch uo to what you're saying.

The ending really hooked me, I should say. The feeling of him slowly losing his memory and his abilities every day, bringing him closer to despair, really resonated with me. It reminds me of my experiences with lost loved ones who would struggle with their memory and grow more irritable and apathetic bevause of their condition. The ending is very sad, but real. It hurts, but it is inevitable.
It really makes you think that the best we can do, as humans, is cherish the love that we have while we still have it.

TL;DR: Although for me, personally, it could've been executed better, the concept of the story itself *is* intriguing and I believe this was a step forward regarding the understanding of disability and ableism by the general population.

Content Warnings

draconia's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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