Genre: Science Fiction
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Daniel Keyes died this week, and I feel he should be recognized one more time. The science fiction novel Flowers for Algernon came out in 1966 and introduced the world to Charlie Gordon, a mentally retarded man in his thirties. In this amazing novel scientists have come up with a new procedure to advance the intellect of a person with mental retardation, and Charlie's estranged sister gives the university permission to perform the procedure on Charlie.
The reader gets a close perspective of Charlie's life since the book is told through "progris riports" that he writes. His relationship with Algernon, a laboratory mouse that is undergoing the same experiment is both touching and scary, because Charlie can see the future in the actions of the mouse. Charlie's I.Q. Goes from 68 to 185 in a few short weeks, and suddenly he is facing a reality he is not sure he wants. His flashbacks and moments of recognition are heart wrenching. When Algernon starts to lose his intellect we watch Charlie struggle with decisions that must be made.
I read this book as a teenager and was deeply moved. I taught it as a teacher and found it an amazing tool to bring up so many life lessons for discussion. If you have not read it (or your teenage children have not read it) then please honor Daniel Keyes (and yourself) by ordering the book today. Read it with a box of tissues by your side and use it as a wonderful start to a family discussion.
- Beverly
Publisher - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Kindle)
Date of Publication - December 1, 2007
The reader gets a close perspective of Charlie's life since the book is told through "progris riports" that he writes. His relationship with Algernon, a laboratory mouse that is undergoing the same experiment is both touching and scary, because Charlie can see the future in the actions of the mouse. Charlie's I.Q. Goes from 68 to 185 in a few short weeks, and suddenly he is facing a reality he is not sure he wants. His flashbacks and moments of recognition are heart wrenching. When Algernon starts to lose his intellect we watch Charlie struggle with decisions that must be made.
I read this book as a teenager and was deeply moved. I taught it as a teacher and found it an amazing tool to bring up so many life lessons for discussion. If you have not read it (or your teenage children have not read it) then please honor Daniel Keyes (and yourself) by ordering the book today. Read it with a box of tissues by your side and use it as a wonderful start to a family discussion.
- Beverly
Publisher - Houghton Mifflin Harcourt (Kindle)
Date of Publication - December 1, 2007
