Co-winner of the Nebula Award for Best Novel in 1966.
Audio book performed by Jeff Woodman.
Although I remember friends reading Flowers for Algernon in high school, for some reason, I never did. But earlier this year, I decided to put it on my What's in a Name? challenge list. Because I recently had to make a three-hour-plus drive to do some training, I decided to get the book on tape from the library so I'd have something to listen to while I drove. I ended up listening to the other six hours a little at a time while commuting, traveling to my dentist (about 30 miles from my home), and driving the "mom taxi" to pick up my kids.
If you are not familiar with the premise of the book, the plot is basically that a 32-year-old retarded man named Charlie Gordon undergoes a surgical experiment to increase his IQ, as it has for the lab mouse, Algernon. Charlie keeps a journal of progress reports to record the changes this experiment creates in my mind and in his life.
I'm very glad I've now "read" this book. I think it's an important one, and I would recommend that everyone read it. It made me incredibly sad, however. This was both because of the treatment Charlie receives from his family when he was a young boy and from his co-workers now that he is an adult and because of the difficulties his new-found intelligence brings and the ultimate outcome of the experiment. A review at amazon.com summarizes my response well: "Flowers for Algernon is a timeless tear-jerker with a terrific emotional impact."
Flowers for Algernon is on the American Library Association's list of the 100 Most Frequently Challenged Books of 1990-2000. The most frequent reason for the challenges relates to Charlie's sexuality. For a thoughtful review of the book by a mom who recommended it to her twelve-year-old daughter despite the "distasteful sexual scenes" (in the words of some censors), click here; even the title of the review is terrific: "Flowers for Algernon, Stinkweeds for the Censors!"
Originally posted on my book blog on April 18, 2008.
3 comments:
I remember reading this book years ago and loving it. I remember being sad but I don't remember feeling scandalized.
I read this book for the first time with my summer school students in 2008...they absolutely loved it! I am now teaching at our district's alternative campus, and am currently reading it with my students there. I like the way it helps students understand how a person with a 68 IQ might think, feel, etc...We discuss the issues of sexuality, the importance of dealing with new emotions, and the idea that we should learn compassion for others. We tie in incidents that they have seen or participated in (bullying, etc..) and discuss the situations. This is the novel to use with even the most reluctanct readers!
I have never read the full novel, which I believe is the one which has been banned. I did read the short story at school, decades ago, and it remains a favourite memory. I am trying to hunt down a copy of that short story.
There was nothing in that which merited banning, and it has rightfully become a classic. From what I know of the novel, I suggest seeking to have it ban tells us more about the people who are upset about it, than about the novel itself.
I find it odd that those who seek to dictate everyone else's morals see nothing immoral in trying to police other peoples' thoughts.
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