The Origami Tent

I finishd my book today. It wasnt what I expectd. I rely wantd it to be a hapy ending like it is in the moovis when the boy and the gurl get together and evryone is laffing. It was abowt a boy who isnt smart like me and has an operayshun to get smarter than evrywun else. But he gets sad becos he relises that he is just as far remoovd from sosiety wen he has an IQ over 200 as he was wen he had a IQ like mine.

So this is the way the book is written for the first 30 pages and I’m not going to lie, it’s tough. I actually wanted to give up on page twenty but I was prompted by a few people to push through. So I did. And sure enough, after page thirty Charlie Gordon begins to show signs of improved intelligence. He starts looking up how to spell words, trying to understand grammar and the like.

This is where the book takes a turn. Not necessarily for the worse - in fact definitely not for the worse - but certainly for the sadder. He begins to realise that he was “retarded” and what’s more tear jerking is that he realises how everybody teases him for being that way. The book proceeds down a melancholic trajectory of self realisation on Charlie’s part. He starts recalling memories that are at best humiliating and at worst heartbreaking.

Charlie has one friend who always understands him. Algernon, a mouse who underwent the same operation to provide a canary in the dark for Charlie. It is the most meaningful relationship Charlie has in the book and it is a special one.

I feel if I give any more away I might put you off or ruin the book. The truth is that it is a brilliantly thought out idea, executed perfectly with a truly lovely ending to boot. I am just not a fan of books that make me sad! I like to really lose myself in the world the author creates and in a book like Flowers for Algernon that is a dangerous game! SO if you haven’t read it and can handle the emotional distress I seriously recommend Daniel Keyes’ masterpiece.