hardcover, 274 pages
English language
Published March 27, 1966 by Harcourt.
Until he was thirty-two, Brooklyn-born Charlie Gordon - gentle, amiable, oddly engaging - had lived in a kind of mental twilight. He knew that knowledge itself was important, and he had learned to read and write after a fashion;but he also knew that he wasn't nearly so bright as all the people around him. There was even a white mouse named Algernon who in some ways was brighter than Charlie.
But an extraordinary operation had been performed upon Algernon. Algernon was now a very special mouse, a downright genius among mice.
Suppose Charlie underwent a similar operation...
So begins Daniel Keyes's strikingly original first novel. Won by Charlie from the start, the reader follows his great adventure with rapt attention, high hope, a mounting sense of triumph. And yet, beneath the surface, there is dread. The experiment may be too daring. Unpredictable dangers may lie ahead for Charlie and for …
Until he was thirty-two, Brooklyn-born Charlie Gordon - gentle, amiable, oddly engaging - had lived in a kind of mental twilight. He knew that knowledge itself was important, and he had learned to read and write after a fashion;but he also knew that he wasn't nearly so bright as all the people around him. There was even a white mouse named Algernon who in some ways was brighter than Charlie.
But an extraordinary operation had been performed upon Algernon. Algernon was now a very special mouse, a downright genius among mice.
Suppose Charlie underwent a similar operation...
So begins Daniel Keyes's strikingly original first novel. Won by Charlie from the start, the reader follows his great adventure with rapt attention, high hope, a mounting sense of triumph. And yet, beneath the surface, there is dread. The experiment may be too daring. Unpredictable dangers may lie ahead for Charlie and for Algernon...
In other versions, as a widely anthologized story and as a noteworthy television drama, Flowers for Algernon has fascinated millions. In this full-bodied, richly populated novel, its appeal is stronger than ever. --front flap
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?
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 …
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 of reminded of the story of Faust, where a man tries to use his seemingly unlimited knowledge to get out of an inevitable outcome. I'd argue that Charlie is a far more sympathetic character, but watching his mind develop and deteriorate, along with his strained efforts to work against time, made for one hell of a roller coaster.
Beautiful, beautiful story. I haven't cried like that in a while.
