Flowers for Algernon is a sci-fi novel written by Daniel Keyes which was based on a short story of the same name. It tells the story of a mentally handicapped man named Charlie Gordon who undergoes surgery to increase his intelligence. The story takes its name from a mouse named Algernon, who was the first test subject to successfully undergo the surgery, and who eventually becomes something of a kindred spirit to Charlie as the two have more in common than they do with other members of their own respective species. The book is supposed to make you feel sad for Charlie and his plight, but mostly it just made me frustrated. The book examines the role intelligence plays in a person's social sphere, and shows that regardless of who you are, if you change dramatically (even if it is ostensibly for the better), you are going to alienate some people in your life.
Honestly, I didn't like this book much. Part of that is because I had really high expectation, which is never a good idea going into a book. But I think it's mostly the book's fault. The writing isn't great, the characters are flat, and I found I couldn't relate to Charlie's plight. Worst of all, though, is that I found I just didn't care. Charlie isn't a very likable guy, so I wasn't too bothered when things went poorly for him, and I likewise wasn't too thrilled when things went well for him. The only thing I really liked about the book was that it revealed the invisible class structure that exists within society based on intelligence, however that idea wasn't well-developed enough to save the novel from its tedious narrative. The book's concept is interesting, and I think it raises some intriguing ethical questions about whether it is right to try to "improve" people's lives by artificially altering some aspect of their nature, but overall I found the book to be pretty dull. I have a strong suspicion that I would have liked the short story better, as it could have included all the good themes without getting annoying.
Score:5/10
Read this book if: Ummmm...you like stories about guys who hang out with mice and alienate all their friends by being pedantic, I guess.
Don't read this book if: You want to read a good book.
Ha ha! I liked this review! Honestly, your impression of this book sounds an awful lot like my impression of TFIOS...pretentious, flat characters, bad writing, etc.
ReplyDeleteI didn't know that the quote about sad being happy for deep people came from Doctor Who. I always thought it was just something somebody made up to make fun of pretentious hipsters. I'm curious what the context was behind that quote. Were they serious, or joking? If they were serious...that might make me like Doctor Who even less. Although if they were joking, it would probably improve my opinion. We'll have to discuss this further.
So the Whoism is in fact not ironic. The context is this: Two people are wandering through an old house, and one of them says she loves old things because they make her feel sad. Her friend then asks if that's a good thing, and her friend replies that sad is like happy for deep people. I think this is somewhat true, because we take pleasure in experiencing a breadth of emotions, even emotions that wouldn't be described as strictly positive. We get enjoyment from sad things because they remind us what it is to feel stuff.
ReplyDeleteI agree with your explanation of what she said, however I don't feel like the original quote adequately captures that sentiment. It just sounds too intentionally ironic.
ReplyDeleteThere's some truth to that. And let's face it, in a venn diagram of Hipsters and Whovians there's bound to be some pretty significant overlap.
DeleteI think you're right about that.
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