Book Twenty-Four of the Book-a-Week Quest
the perks of being a wallflower
by Stephen Chbosky (1999)
If I remember correctly, about two years after high school (although it may have been later than that), I went out to my mailbox and found that a high school friend who I hadn't talked to in a long time had mailed this book to me. For some reason or another, I never opened the book. I uncovered this book recently on my bookshelf and it brought back a memory of the aforementioned friend who I haven't spoken to in years (no reason...just that post-high school drifting apart thing), so I decided that I'd give the book a shot.
First off, confession-time: Admittedly, this book would be found in the "young adult" section of any book store. I don't see this as a problem in the slightest (and it's not like it was short or anything...Lord knows it's more than twice the length of the last two Steinbeck books I read), but I wanted to reveal that up front.
Written in an epistolary style (in the form of letters) from a sixteen year-old ninth grader to an anonymous recipient, wallflower tells the story of Charlie who is slightly odd. Lacking friends, he latches on to some seniors during his freshman year of high school. It's not that these friends, brother and sister Patrick and Sam, are bad per se, but they open Charlie's eyes to a world of sex, drugs, alcohol, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (which, really, if you look at it, is probably just a combination of the three formers brought to glory on the big screen).
This wasn't my high school life at all. Not that that's a problem, but I kept reading this going, "Where are this kid's parents?" Charlie describes his parents and they seem to be incredibly "with it." So, why do they let this kid hang out with seniors who keep him out all night? I mean, when your kid is found by the police laying in someone's snow-covered front yard stoned out of his mind, you'd think they'd have drawn the line somewhere.
It's not that I need to relate to characters, but they need to be believable...while I could connect with Charlie, I couldn't connect with anyone around him which is what made the book falter for me. Which is somewhat unfortunate because there are passages in this book that I really liked. This'll sound corny, but some of the discussions about love between these high schoolers were rather touching...simplistic, but meaningful. In the end, though, it manages to only be slightly better than average.
First off, confession-time: Admittedly, this book would be found in the "young adult" section of any book store. I don't see this as a problem in the slightest (and it's not like it was short or anything...Lord knows it's more than twice the length of the last two Steinbeck books I read), but I wanted to reveal that up front.
Written in an epistolary style (in the form of letters) from a sixteen year-old ninth grader to an anonymous recipient, wallflower tells the story of Charlie who is slightly odd. Lacking friends, he latches on to some seniors during his freshman year of high school. It's not that these friends, brother and sister Patrick and Sam, are bad per se, but they open Charlie's eyes to a world of sex, drugs, alcohol, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show (which, really, if you look at it, is probably just a combination of the three formers brought to glory on the big screen).
This wasn't my high school life at all. Not that that's a problem, but I kept reading this going, "Where are this kid's parents?" Charlie describes his parents and they seem to be incredibly "with it." So, why do they let this kid hang out with seniors who keep him out all night? I mean, when your kid is found by the police laying in someone's snow-covered front yard stoned out of his mind, you'd think they'd have drawn the line somewhere.
It's not that I need to relate to characters, but they need to be believable...while I could connect with Charlie, I couldn't connect with anyone around him which is what made the book falter for me. Which is somewhat unfortunate because there are passages in this book that I really liked. This'll sound corny, but some of the discussions about love between these high schoolers were rather touching...simplistic, but meaningful. In the end, though, it manages to only be slightly better than average.
He sent it to me too and I read it right away - I remember being very affected by it, but maybe that's because I was closer to the target audience at the time! It'd be interesting to see what I think of it now.
ReplyDeleteI feel like I knew he sent it to you, too.
ReplyDeleteI didn't dislike the thing...like I said, there were certain passages that were really well written and actually very moving (there was a scene in the middle about Charlie receiving his first kiss that was very touching...and the way Chbosky wrote about his unrequited love for his best friend Sam felt very "real," for lack of a better word).
I just wish that Charlie's relationship with his family was a little more believable. I simply had a really tough time believing that his parents would allow him to hang out with this crowd -- not that the crowd was horrendously awful, but they were (somewhat) leading him down a non-ideal path.
Having read the book, I'm not surprised that our mutual friend sent it to us. I was reading it and could kind of "feel him" in the story (that sounds weird, but you get what I'm saying, I hope), despite the fact that he was tried to be the epitome of "straight-edge" throughout high school.
Well, I'm closer to the target audience in age, and I already told you my opinion of this book. I do agree that there were spots that were good, but i didn't believe it as a story at all. Too much was thrown in just for the sake of throwing it in and being "different" and "unique."
ReplyDeleteAll I can remember about it was that the main character was quite annoying and I coudn't take him.
ReplyDeleteAnd that my best friends loved it.
SPOILER IN THIS COMMENT...
ReplyDeleteThe thing I'll say about the main character is that at times he felt much younger than a ninth grader and at times he felt much older than a ninth grader, but he never felt like a ninth grader to me...but I guess that may have been the point with the fact that he was kind of mentally at war with himself because of past abuse.
At least, for the most part, he never really felt like what I felt as a ninth grader.
He gave it to me too (or told me about it and I read it, I foret which). I liked it alot then. I still have it, maybe I will try and read it again!
ReplyDeleteI heard through the grape vine he got married to a girl with Blue hair and fights almost broke out at the wedding...
I heard he got married...heard nothing about the blue hair...knowing him and his shaky relationship with his sis and bro, I wouldn't be surprised.
ReplyDeleteReading it certainly made me reminisce about high school...and then when I drive by the old Charcoal Pit today and see that they're turning it into an iHop, it made me kinda sad...