Flowers for Algernon

Mass Market Paperback, 216 pages

English language

Published July 5, 1975 by Bantam Books.

OCLC Number:
871041201

View on OpenLibrary

4 stars (154 reviews)

The story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?

72 editions

"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

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.

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.

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.

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.

Review of 'Flowers for Algernon' on 'GoodReads'

5 stars

Poignant, sad, and deeply insightful

I had been assigned a watered-down adaptation of this in Junior High, so I went into this with some knowledge of what the general arc would be. What I didn't expect is that I would be reading until the sun came up, bawling my eyes out, absolutely shaken.

From the very first page, I liked Charlie Gordon. He comes across as innocent and sweet, with good intentions and a very one-dimensional frame of reference to the world. There's a few moments where people ask Charlie things that made me chuckle, like his initial confusion at the Rorschach test, but his attitude is strangely endearing.

The prose in this book is phenomenal. The gradual narrative shift from crude writing to eloquent philosophical insight is kind of an amazing writing trick, and the development of Charlie's awareness is hypnotic to watch.

In a way, I was kind …

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

4 stars

I enjoyed the book. It's very short. Less than an hour to read. I was very afraid at the start as there were misspelled words and a lack of punctuation but quickly realized that it was intention (i thought it was bad ocr, even from amazon).

Overall a very powerful book. Very interesting look at intelligence. Echoes a lot of what I have been thinking. I'll admit I teared up at the end.

A+ would recommend.

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

5 stars

Si dans votre entourage vous avez des personnes qui n’ont un mauvais a priori sur le SF, offrez-leur ce livre, cela leur montrera l’étendue des thèmes d’une genre aussi vaste que profond. Avec ce roman on touche au sublime. Une histoire poignante, celle d’un jeune homme attardé mental, qui souhaite plus que tout devenir intelligent. Une fois son rêve réalisé, il prend conscience du monde qui l’entoure, des individus, et aussi de lui-même en tant qu’être humain, avec son passé, et ses souvenirs jusque là refoulés. Si son intelligence intellectuelle devient supérieure à la moyenne et lui donne une capacité d’apprentissage phénoménale, s[b:on intelligence|1185416|La Voie et sa vertu = Tao-tê-king (Points Sagesses ; 16 ISSN 0339-4239)|Laozi|http://photo.goodreads.com/books/1181735892s/1185416.jpg|100074] émotionnelle reste inchangée, et le nouveau Charlie se débat entre ses deux personnalités. Il se rend compte que l’ancien Charlie n’était pas considéré comme un humain à part entière mais comme un sous-homme dépourvu …

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Subjects

  • Science fiction.
  • People with mental disabilities -- Fiction.

Lists