The Perks of Being a Wallflower (vuoden 2012 painos)

A poignant coming-of-age tale and it is so well-written. Charlie is likable and flawed. I enjoyed the epistolary delivery of the plot. ( )

SPOILERS

Damn you...I'm crying, for real. The last two chapters made me cry. You just get attached to Charlie so fast, so easily! And all of the other characters, too, but Charlie...You just want to hug him. He's sweet, selfless, and he has gone through so much, so to have this last chapter of him writing the last letter, and those words "He made it, and so will you" OH MY GOD! I just...I'm fine. (not.) Thank you Stephen Chbosky for this book, once again, I don't know what took me so long to read this masterpiece! ( )

After rereading this, I'm shocked my mom didn't stop me from reading it in sixth grade, especially considering she wasn't a big fan of the film. In all honesty, I'm not completely sure I fully comprehended the book the first time I read it; I remember feeling mostly confused, but I still loved it.

It's been about six years now, and because my dad recently found a DVD copy of the film for me, I figured it was time to reread it again. I certainly didn't love it as much as I did last time, but I did still really like it. It's definitely darker and more emotional than I remember.

Charlie's narration felt a bit childish to me, and it definitely didn't feel like a fifteen year old. He honestly annoyed me at times, no matter how hard I tried to ignore it. I'm not sure if anyone else felt the same, but Bill gave me a creepy vibe; he seemed like a good man, but his interest in Charlie made me a bit uncomfortable. My favorite character would have to be Sam. She was such a well-written character.

The high school experience did seem accurate, just a bit exaggerated. Maybe I'm just not a student that was surrounded by the drugs and alcohol, but it felt a little hard to believe that it was such a frequent past time, not to mention the parents not noticing and/or caring.

Despite my issues, I do think this is an important book that people need to read. It is pretty dark, though, and may trigger some people, so I'd suggest going into it carefully if abuse, mental illness, sex, and drug use bother you. ( )

The main character tells his story through a series of letters which make it an easy read. In addition, his honesty and genuine nature draws you into his life as a teenager with all its twists and turns. Enjoyable! ( )

Going in, I was expecting the book to be as good as the film, and thankfully they were equally brilliant! The book is slightly less tied up than the film, but that's to be expected when a movie is made for mass consumption; the lowest comment denominator demands an understandable (and fully explained) ending. The letter writing format of the book was initially quite annoying, but the narrative style of the author actually makes it work quite well. The format itself (unlike the film), allows us a much more indepth view of Charlie, and we get a clearer picture of how much he struggles with his emotional issues. The film glosses over this, since his friendship with Sam and Patrick takes precedence, but the book shows us that even through the happy times Charlie struggles with moments of depression and confusion, and provides us with insight as to his coping mechanisms. His sudden hospitalization in the film becomes more dramatic through the film, because it is almost completely unexpected, but even when we are privy to his hallucinations and paranoia it still comes as a shock. In either format, this story is brilliant and touching through Chbosky's character depth and the reality of mental illness and highschool life that is portrayed. ( )