A review by lets_book
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

dark emotional reflective sad 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? No

5.0

This book explores the line between scientific study for the sake of progress and the moral repercussions of experimentation. The book is Charlie's progress report, accounting his experience taking an experimental drug to improve his intelligence after seeing success in Algernon, the mouse. However, Algernon's health declines, raising ethical questions about scientific experimentation on humans and animals, and if Charlie was capable of informed consent, whether Charlie's psychiatrist and representatives were capable of helping make these decisions for him, and if the scientist's objectives were sound and based in humanity or simply for intellectual prestige. Dark, disturbing and thought provoking, Charlie's intellectual improvement shows the complexities of the human mind and emotions, how trauma is stored in the psyches of different people, and how Charlie, with his dramatic shift in brain functioning, handles the torrent of new information he was blind to as a mentally incapacitated person. The initial excitement of his own intellectual growth slowly twisting into a chaotic disruption of his innocent schema of humanity is expressed so brilliantly. This story expertly explores the question of whether ignorance is truly bliss.