Reviews with content warning for Abandonment - Flowers for Algernon

Reviews tagging 'Abandonment'

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

61 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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kirstikka's review against another edition

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challenging dark mysterious reflective sad tense fast-paced

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

5.0

(note: i might have a soft spot for depictions of people with mental disabilities)
what a great fucking ride this book is. it doesn't feel like its best before date is due at all, many aspects of the book are quite timeless. i feel like there's always a big risk of sounding pretentious when writing about an extremely dumb/intelligent person, but Keyes mostly avoids this. plus, being insufferable becomes a part of Charlie's personality, which is why some cringe is inevitable. what a way of writing about someone who undergoes massive psychological changes!

to me, there were two messages conveyed: firstly, all people should be treated as people, no matter what. secondly, scientifical progress isn't all there is to life. those are interesting lessons to learn from a sci-fi book, which made me enjoy it much more than i anticipated.

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magimiel'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

4.25

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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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acarbonbasedlifeform's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

4.0

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blaketisdebest's review against another edition

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emotional hopeful reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

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teabrewer's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-paced

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

4.0

This book is really interesting. Writing each chapter as "Progress Report" allowed the story much more immersive and at times I felt like I was reading a real report. The progression of the writing style of the main character was so natural and seamless I sometimes forgot it was intentional.The portrayal of women is a bit weird in a few lines but considering this is midcentury scifi written by a man, it's actually not that bad. I dare to say that, in some sections, it's even good. I loved the exploration of the psych and of the effects of being in each extreme of the intelligence spectrum. The use of algernoon as a foreshadow to Charlie enhanced the story a lot. It also helped to tell a part of the story that couldn't usually be told because of the nature of the first person narrative

, the death of the main character

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