Reviews with content warning for Suicidal thoughts - Flowers for Algernon

Reviews tagging 'Suicidal thoughts'

Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

72 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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celaeno's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective medium-paced

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

3.5

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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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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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mercedesmarquez's review against another edition

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emotional 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

4.5

I really enjoyed this book. It was really remarkable. The only things that detracted were how the female characters were portrayed and the obvious effort to derive the deeper meaning of life. This book is remarkable for the time it was written, however, the specific brand of psychology portrayed does reveal its age.

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