The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Steven Chbosky
Genre: YA Realistic Fiction
Blurb (on back of book):
standing on the fringes of life... offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see
what it looks like from the dance floor.
This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being A WALLFLOWER
This is the story of what it's like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that the perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite.
Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up.
MY OPINION: ***
I was very indecisive about what to rate this book. I think if I had read it a few years ago, maybe even in middle school, I would have liked it better. However, as I am a high school senior and this is my first time reading this book, I can’t help but feel as if I’m missing something. Everyone seems to love it and think it’s some sort of masterpiece but for me, it was very much mediocre. I would not go as far as to say it was bad, as it had a lot of merit to it. But overall, it wasn’t the phenomenal piece of writing I was promised.
I have watched the film (yes, prior to reading the book) but I saw it years ago and remember virtually nothing. I don’t think the movie skewed my final opinion of the book for that reason, since I don’t recall 80% of it. I will say that both the film and the book have that sort of disjointed feeling that makes me wonder what I am supposed to be seeing in it that makes it so good. I am not a fan of either the film or the book in the way that everyone else seems to be.
I picked this book up because I realized it’s one of the few YA (is this YA?) phenomenons that took over the book world years ago (I have no idea when this book came out but it feels like a long time) and that I had yet to finish. I also wanted something short and sweet to propel me out of my reading slump. However, despite its short length, this book sort of dragged on and on and never seemed to end.
It’s told in letter format, which I’m usually very ambivalent about. Sometimes, when the execution is there, I really like that style since it’s unique and allows more of an omniscient perspective when reading as there is no “narrator” per say. However, sometimes letters can be tricky to work with. Epistolary writing is a hit or miss for me usually but I had a hard time deciding which category this book fell into.
I really enjoyed a lot about it. The writing style, while more detached than most YA novels, resembles Charlie’s personality very well. The author builds up this character with mental illness, confusion, isolation, trauma, and social anxiety and the way that Charlie “writes” in the letters is very reminiscent of that. He says what he’s thinking and it’s not always positive and happy-go-lucky and I appreciated that. I will say that sometimes I questioned if a 9th grader would really be writing any of these things.
I especially don’t like dialogue within letters because it’s very unrealistic to expect someone to remember and copy down the exact conversations they heard or were a part of. However, this book focused less on the talking and more on Charlie’s perspective of each core conversation he manages to find himself a part of, so I was willing to forgive the dialogue scenes, especially since they weren’t excessive.
All of the characters in this book felt very different from each other and also very real. I liked the “cast” of this book because each of them had their own personalities, flaws, weaknesses, strengths, and problems to deal with. While we only get to meet them through Charlie’s perspective, we get to see a lot of character development in many of them.
The book touches upon a myriad of very important and serious issues (definitely check trigger warnings before starting). I wasn’t a fan of how some really horrible things were very casually introduced and then sort of forgiven and moved on from. I understand that we are reading from Charlie’s POV and he, as a high school freshman, may not understand the gravity of some of the things he writes about, but I think that as an author, it is your responsibility to at least address the issues if you’re going to bring them up. I don’t mean that this book had to be full of morals and lessons learned but I don’t like how things like domestic violence, sexual assault, drug abuse, and mental illness were sort of brushed over.
I disliked Charlie’s treatment of those around him but I understood where he was coming from. It takes a lot of talent to make me want to forgive a character who treats people, especially the women around him, poorly, but the author of this book did a superb job of making it known that Charlie is flawed. I think Mary Elizabeth, Sam, and Charlie’s sister all deserved better treatment than what they received.
Sam and Patrick were very unique characters of the likes of which I don’t think I’ve ever encountered before, especially not in YA. They’re interesting, strange people and I liked how they were very different from everyone else and yet still some of the coolest people mentioned in the book. I felt a lot for Patrick and his problems with relationships and love but I found the whole kissing-Charlie thing kind of strange and a borderline harassment grey area, since it never seemed like there was any consent given.
I don’t even want to talk about the Aunt Helen thing but I will say I definitely did not see it coming. I probably would have if I was doing some closer reading but I was more interested in getting this book done than really paying attention to the super small details.
I do plan on rewatching the film now that I’ve finished this book. I want to see the similarities and differences and compare and contrast the book and film. I don’t think I need to recommend this book as I’m sure everyone has already read it but I will say to check content warnings and expect the book to leave you with a lot of strange feelings by the end of it.
Main Character: Charlie
Sidekick(s): Sam, Patrick, Mary Elizabeth, family, etc
Villain(s): Mental illness, suicide, domestic violence, homophobia, abuse
Realistic Fiction Elements: This book was all very real to life.
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