Charlie Gordon is a man who was born intellectually disabled. All he wanted was to learn to read and write. Algernon was a lab mouse who had a surgery to enhance his intelligence and it was successful enough to try it out on humans. Charlie was that first human.

The book is told through Charlie's progress reports, written in his own hand, so we can see the results of the surgery as his intellectual IQ increases. We also get to see how this lowers his emotional IQ as a once kind and empathetic man becomes pompous and apathetic.

He goes from a man who wants to be liked and accepted to wanting to be the smartest person in the room. Ignoring the people he steps on along the way. We also see how Charlie is frustrated with how the scientists treat him as less than human, as if he wasn't a "real" human until he reached a certain IQ and that the people he once saw as friends weren't really his friends, they were just mocking him.

Then as we see that the surgery isn't going to be successful, we experience the fear, depression, and anguish Charlie goes through as he regresses.

The author does a wonderful job of building the character of Charlie and pulling at the readers emotions. I found myself turning the pages faster as Charlie starts experiencing and understanding the world around him, and dreading the last part of the book as he starts his regression.

I'm disabled, though mine is physical (I've used a wheelchair full time for 35 years now) and his is intellectual. I grew up knowing I was different from the others because I couldn't walk. I just wanted to be accepted like Charlie did and have friends. While I did have friends, I also wasn't totally accepted and at times was the subject of bullying and ridicule. So I've seen a lot of the things that Charlie went through pre surgery and it greatly resonated with me.
I think this book was ahead of its time (1950s) as, to me anyway, it sheds a light on how people with disabilities are treated. I think everybody should read it.

Merged review:

Charlie Gordon is a man who was born intellectually disabled. All he wanted was to learn to read and write. Algernon was a lab mouse who had a surgery to enhance his intelligence and it was successful enough to try it out on humans. Charlie was that first human.

The book is told through Charlie's progress reports, written in his own hand, so we can see the results of the surgery as his intellectual IQ increases. We also get to see how this lowers his emotional IQ as a once kind and empathetic man becomes pompous and apathetic.

He goes from a man who wants to be liked and accepted to wanting to be the smartest person in the room. Ignoring the people he steps on along the way. We also see how Charlie is frustrated with how the scientists treat him as less than human, as if he wasn't a "real" human until he reached a certain IQ and that the people he once saw as friends weren't really his friends, they were just mocking him.

Then as we see that the surgery isn't going to be successful, we experience the fear, depression, and anguish Charlie goes through as he regresses.

The author does a wonderful job of building the character of Charlie and pulling at the readers emotions. I found myself turning the pages faster as Charlie starts experiencing and understanding the world around him, and dreading the last part of the book as he starts his regression.

I'm disabled, though mine is physical (I've used a wheelchair full time for 35 years now) and his is intellectual. I grew up knowing I was different from the others because I couldn't walk. I just wanted to be accepted like Charlie did and have friends. While I did have friends, I also wasn't totally accepted and at times was the subject of bullying and ridicule. So I've seen a lot of the things that Charlie went through pre surgery and it greatly resonated with me.
I think this book was ahead of its time (1950s) as, to me anyway, it sheds a light on how people with disabilities are treated. I think everybody should read it.

Flowers for Algernon - Likewise Book Reviews

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