A review by safwah_ar
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
5.0
After I finished reading the novel, I was sobbing. With such an emotional theme involving mental illness, some people might feel more strongly regarding this novel compared to others.
The novel, written in the form of progress reports (much like diary entries) by the main character Charlie Gordon intrigued me with its structure. As we read through the reports, the misspellings and punctuation errors seem to clear up as he gets smarter after the operation. I have never come across a book who utilised this kind of technique before, so it was new and refreshing for me. Flashbacks of his childhood memories are weaved within the narrative, bringing us memories from the past in a way that still flows within the story.
The representation of women do seem to be slightly trivialising, especially for one of the characters, Fay. Even though there is a certain kind of depth within her character, the objectification of her body is rather questionable.
Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Flowers for Algernon. As someone who has just started dipping her toes in the science fiction genre, this novel will definitely be one of my favourites in the genre.
Merged review:
After I finished reading the novel, I was sobbing. With such an emotional theme involving mental illness, some people might feel more strongly regarding this novel compared to others.
The novel, written in the form of progress reports (much like diary entries) by the main character Charlie Gordon intrigued me with its structure. As we read through the reports, the misspellings and punctuation errors seem to clear up as he gets smarter after the operation. I have never come across a book who utilised this kind of technique before, so it was new and refreshing for me. Flashbacks of his childhood memories are weaved within the narrative, bringing us memories from the past in a way that still flows within the story.
The representation of women do seem to be slightly trivialising, especially for one of the characters, Fay. Even though there is a certain kind of depth within her character, the objectification of her body is rather questionable.
Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Flowers for Algernon. As someone who has just started dipping her toes in the science fiction genre, this novel will definitely be one of my favourites in the genre.
The novel, written in the form of progress reports (much like diary entries) by the main character Charlie Gordon intrigued me with its structure. As we read through the reports, the misspellings and punctuation errors seem to clear up as he gets smarter after the operation. I have never come across a book who utilised this kind of technique before, so it was new and refreshing for me. Flashbacks of his childhood memories are weaved within the narrative, bringing us memories from the past in a way that still flows within the story.
The representation of women do seem to be slightly trivialising, especially for one of the characters, Fay. Even though there is a certain kind of depth within her character, the objectification of her body is rather questionable.
Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Flowers for Algernon. As someone who has just started dipping her toes in the science fiction genre, this novel will definitely be one of my favourites in the genre.
Merged review:
After I finished reading the novel, I was sobbing. With such an emotional theme involving mental illness, some people might feel more strongly regarding this novel compared to others.
The novel, written in the form of progress reports (much like diary entries) by the main character Charlie Gordon intrigued me with its structure. As we read through the reports, the misspellings and punctuation errors seem to clear up as he gets smarter after the operation. I have never come across a book who utilised this kind of technique before, so it was new and refreshing for me. Flashbacks of his childhood memories are weaved within the narrative, bringing us memories from the past in a way that still flows within the story.
The representation of women do seem to be slightly trivialising, especially for one of the characters, Fay. Even though there is a certain kind of depth within her character, the objectification of her body is rather questionable.
Nonetheless, I thoroughly enjoyed reading Flowers for Algernon. As someone who has just started dipping her toes in the science fiction genre, this novel will definitely be one of my favourites in the genre.