Reviews with content warning for Ableism - Flowers for Algernon

Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

196 reviews

isd's review against another edition

emotional reflective sad tense fast-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

I'm not up to speed with the current-day terms on what in this 1966 novel uses, so I'll attempt to avoid using either the ones in the book nor the ones I think we ought to use.

When I started with the book I had no idea what to expect, and it took me a moment to get used to Charlie's writing style. Following his journey and the changes in both his capabilities and traits was pretty interesting. In some ways he changed a lot and fast, and in some ways he had to learn - or should have learned - to behave accordingly, at a more or less equal pace but failed.

Charlie's story was quite sad, especially the very end, but in a way I guess I should call it bittersweet as I had expected much worse as the events unfolded. Your kilometerage may vary.

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narbine's review against another edition

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emotional informative reflective medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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kaileycoronado's review against another edition

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emotional informative inspiring reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes

5.0

I feel like it’s rare for me to give something 5 stars. This book is beyond beautiful and ahead of its time. I read the abbreviated version in middle school as most Americans, so I was excited to read the full novel
version, which definitely explores more emotionally complex the mess as well as sexual content. Flowers for Algernon manages to be inspiring, with being inspiration porn. It inspired me to want to fight harder against ableism, embody kindness, and question the world around me more. It inspires me to be empathetic to others and to myself.

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efsimpkin's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Plot
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.0

I understand why this is lauded in the science fiction community and I appreciated some of the more mysterious aspects of the book. I also really think this was a lesson in how writing style can tell a story for you. However there were multiple parts of the book that sat uncomfortably with me - most of it including Charlie’s pursuit of women, and the author’s mostly misogynistic descriptions of the women - that mean I can’t rate this higher.

I was expecting to be crying my eyes out with how this was sold to me, but I feel just kind of… resigned.

I pity Charlie at the start and at the end but I hated him otherwise.

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nusrathsarchive's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

How strange it is that people of honest feelings and sensibility, who would not take advantage of a man born without arms or legs or eyes-how such people think nothing of abusing a man born with low intelligence. It infuriated me to think that not too long ago I, like this boy, had foolishly played the clown

it's easy to forget where you came from, in a midst of trying to fit with everybody else. and it's hard not to feel sympathy for the main character, who is a boy in all matters but age.

the relationship between miss kinnian (alice) and charlie in my opinion was both forced, and weird. even alice acknowledges that it's weird.

and charlie's mental decline was terrible to read about. this was one of the plot points i would say the book executed better. a lot better.

read the short story first, i would say.

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waqupi's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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noura's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

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smolswol's review against another edition

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dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

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theangrystackrat's review against another edition

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challenging emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? No

4.0

The story of a mentally disabled young man and his journey after an experiment allows him to gain super intelligence. This was a heartbreaking look at how society treats people who are different, and about how we must accept that who we are is shaped by what we are. When we take that away we become different people. We cannot be cured of ourselves. There is a lot to unpack in this story told in "case reports" - It ran a whole emotional gamut. The stages of Charlie's transformation echoes that of life and that no matter how much we rail against it, time will always win.

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olivesinthegarden's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? Yes
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.0

I want to start off by saying that this book is incredibly emotional and explores deep ideas about identity, purpose, and the intricacies of our own existence. I really enjoyed how thought provoking and sad it was. Overall, a great and moving story.

That being said, there are some bones I have to pick with it. I feel there are a lot of sexist elements in the book, likely due to the time it was written, and let me tell you it hasn’t aged well. The women in this story are either love interests or malicious figures, and the scientists in this book are all men.

Fay’s character makes me angry. She’s heavily infantilized; she’s supposed to be in her mid thirties, but is referred to as a “girl” and behaves very immaturely. She’s a manic pixie dream girl who is mainly there for sexual gratification.

Rose (Charlie’s mother) is the stereotypical hysterical woman who is also evil and has emotionally beaten her husband into submission, leaving him to cave to her malicious will despite being such a great guy and having the best intentions.

I also want to mention that scene where Charlie was super offended when Fay asked if he was gay - just a touch of homophobia in there too. I could get into more, but I’ll just emphasize that I think this book has some out-dated views, especially of women.

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