Flowers for Algernon

by Daniel Keyes

Unknown Binding

Published July 5, 1977 by Perfection Learning Prebound.

ISBN:: 978-0-8124-1564-3

Until he was thirty-two, Charlie Gordon --gentle, amiable, oddly engaging-- had lived in a kind of mental twilight. He knew knowledge was important and had learned to read and write after a fashion, but he also knew he wasn't nearly as bright as most of the people around him. There was even a white mouse named Algernon who outpaced Charlie in some ways. But a remarkable operation had been performed on Algernon, and now he was a genius among mice. Suppose Charlie underwent a similar operation... ([source][1])

[1]: www.danielkeyesauthor.com/algernon.html

76 editions

matthewmincher reviewed Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Bittersweet

5 stars

I really enjoyed this. I listened to the audiobook so I missed out on the written style (spelling, punctuation, etc)

A sad tale of someone uplifted from subnormal to profoundly gifted IQ. We follow Charlie as he redisovers his past, gains a future, and then loses it all again - only this time with the knowledge of what he is losing.

Charlie asks why he is always fated to be looking at life through a window. Charlie is throughout it all good, honest, and just wants to be liked.

Why is smart Charlie so much less likeable? Why is he less happy? A recommended read - and I would say worth reading to anyone dealing with dementia.

I really enjoyed this. I listened to the audiobook so I missed out on the written style (spelling, punctuation, etc)

Charlie asks why he is always fated to be looking at life through a window. Charlie is throughout it all good, honest, and just wants to be liked.

Why is smart Charlie so much less likeable? Why is he less happy? A recommended read - and I would say worth reading to anyone dealing with dementia.

Taru Luojola reviewed Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Niitä parempia klassikoita

4 stars

Autistin elämää on olla samaan aikaan tyhmä-Charlie ja nero-Charlie.

John reviewed Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Flowers for Algernon - moving, deep and hard to categrorise.

5 stars

The journal entries, which evolve in linguistic style with Charlie's capabilities, make it an Epistolary novel, but the rapid growth and change puts it more into the Bildungsroman, category. In some ways it resembles a rags-to-riches-to-rags format, echoes of the story of Faust and the concept of forbidden knowledge, and hints of the inescapable destiny which remind me of Arthurian Romance.

The way Charlie's relationships with his co-workers at the bakery, staff and students at the university and Alice change as he changes is important, and they too are changed - though in lesser amounts - as the sun is pulled less towards the earth than the earth to the sun.

Throughout there remains a central decent core to Charlie, with his aspiration to know and his wish to be good, which is very endearing and identifiable.

stefun reviewed Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Incredible story - must read

5 stars

Few books have had such an impact on me like this one. It was an incredible, touching story. It was also a roller coaster of emotions - not only for Charlie (the main protagonist), but for the reader alike. While the ending was predictable, it was still heart-wrenching.

Alf reviewed Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Loved this book

5 stars

The joy of seeing Charlie get smarter every day was contrasted with seeing him get dumber everyday at the end. It is very well written, and I was captured from the get go.

Lyteraria reviewed Flores para Algernon by Daniel Keyes

"Flores para Algernon"

No rating

Charly pasa de estar desconectado por falta de inteligencia, a estarlo por su abundancia.

En ese punto el cuento es increíble: la inteligencia no está relacionada con la capacidad de conectar con otros, como no lo está la estatura o el color de pelo. Y sin embargo, termina teniendo efectos en la conexión que los otros nos permiten establecer.

Los mismos que querían a Charly cerca para reirse de él, piden que lo despidan cuando él se vuelve más inteligente que ellos, porque le temen.

Me gusta también que el cuento no juzga, lo que pasa es así porque el mundo es así, no se trata de hablar de gente mala y gente buena, sino solo de como es la gente en general.

Leímos el cuento "Flores para Algernon" en la edición número 54 de nuestro Club de #LecturaMastodontica

mastodon.la/@SeverianX/107832471368012135

#LecturaMastodonticaIndice

Charly pasa de estar desconectado por falta de inteligencia, a estarlo por su abundancia.

Los mismos que querían a Charly cerca para reirse de él, piden que lo despidan cuando él se vuelve más inteligente que ellos, porque le temen.

Me gusta también que el cuento no juzga, lo que pasa es así porque el mundo es así, no se trata de hablar de gente mala y gente buena, sino solo de como es la gente en general.

Leímos el cuento "Flores para Algernon" en la edición número 54 de nuestro Club de #LecturaMastodontica

mastodon.la/@SeverianX/107832471368012135

#LecturaMastodonticaIndice

steezeburger reviewed Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Review of 'Flowers for Algernon (Bantam Classic)' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This is my second time to read this since I was probably 14 or 15 when I found it on my mom's bookshelf.

Of course a lot of parallels with addiction stood out to me now. Drugs usually blunt emotional development to some extent, and there is a lot of emotional development to be done when first in recovery. That's quite like Charlie's emotional development lagging far behind his sudden increase in intelligence.

I also noticed the theme of the past always creeping back into your current reality and causing issues.

P.S. I didn't think I would cry, but I forgot the punch that the ending brings to your gut.

annewalk reviewed Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Still Haunts Me

5 stars

This was part of my middle school curriculum. I initially read it in seventh grade and a few times later in my early teens. This is one of the few books that I have a full memory of. It haunted me. It still does. Is it better to have something and lose it or never have it at all?

Olcia reviewed Kwiaty dla Algernona (Polish Edition) by Daniel Keyes (Wehikuł Czasu)

Review of 'Kwiaty dla Algernona (Polish Edition)' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

Myślałam, że to będzie bardzo w klimacie science fiction, a to piękna powieść o człowieku, o tym, co znaczy być człowiekiem, o przekraczaniu granic, o niepełnosprawności i o szacunku dla drugiego człowieka. Bardzo ją polecam.

Daryl76679 reviewed Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Gripping Story

5 stars

This was a great book! It is clear why it won so many awards. You know the conclusion almost immediately, but the tale is gripping and interesting enough for you to see how it gets there. Flowers for Algernon is about love, loss, and most importantly self-discovery. My only complaint is that the book is a bit slow to start with all the bad grammar but that comes with the territory. All in all recommended.

patchworkbunny reviewed Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes (Millennium SF Masterworks S)

Review of 'Flowers for Algernon' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

This was a difficult read, with bullying, child abuse and the general attitude to learning difficulties at the time. But I think it was well done, and when I didn't like smart Charlie I felt like it was purposeful.

cblgh reviewed Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Flowers for Algernon

4 stars

Goodness gracious. So many themes are touched on in this book, and I think I'll be haunted for some time to come by the ideas raised.

I'm a sucker for both an epistolary-style novel (which this classifies as, given the diary format) and the bildungsroman genre which I can also see reflected in the type of story it is, albeit not perfectly—so if either of those butter your biscuits well dangit bring out the tea cause these biscuits are ready to be eaten, buttered and all!!

Recommended read for many reasons, and not only because it's hard to let go of once started.

Goodness gracious. So many themes are touched on in this book, and I think I'll be haunted for some time to come by the ideas raised.

Recommended read for many reasons, and not only because it's hard to let go of once started.

Zelanator reviewed Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Review of 'Flowers for Algernon (Bantam Classic)' on 'Goodreads'

5 stars

Definitely among my favorite reads.

Phillip J reviewed Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Review of 'Flowers for Algernon (Bantam Classic)' on 'Goodreads'

4 stars

4.5 stars, really. For some reason, I lump this book with "Catcher in the Rye" and "A Confederacy of Dunces," I think something with a fish out of water story in mid-century New York. With this comparison, Flowers for Algernon greatly benefits. I enjoyed it the whole time. I liked the cyclical nature of the story. It was bittersweet, edging on the sweet.