Back in 2002-ish, The Perks of Being a Wallflower was a really trendy book, and I was told so many times I needed to read it, but I didn’t, because people liked it so much. It was natural for me to resist, but at some point, because it was supposed to be so good, I bought it for Emily (or so she says :). Well, she finally read it, and really liked it, so she gave it to me a month or so ago, insisting that I read it. I did.
Big surprise - it is a really good book. The novel isn’t without its flaws (some of the letters are too “booky” to be letters), but some of the flaws probably aren’t really flaws, and instead are present out of necessity, due to the format in which the book is written. The main character, Charlie, writes a series of letters to a “friend” - someone he doesn’t really know, but has heard respectable things about. These letters make up the book. They follow Charlie through his freshman year of high school, as he makes friends, breaks hearts, does drugs, and discovers himself.
In the book, it’s clear that Charlie is the wallflower, but as the reader, you can’t help but feel that you are also a wallflower, silently standing by, gathering insight from this kid’s journey through one of the most tumultuous periods in his life. I couldn’t help but personally identify with the character (more than I care to admit, in some ways), as I recalled many of my own awkward and infinite moments in high school, but, moreover, I couldn’t help comparing some of Charlie’s attributes and experiences to those of my friends. Parts of this character (and others) fit so many people, which adds to the realism of the story, allowing you to associate most characters and events with your own real-life equivalents.
When all is said and done, Stephen Chbosky, the author, has painted a relatively universal picture of what it is like to experience many teenage firsts, and it’s hard to believe anyone could read this book without remembering what it was like “back then.”
