Flowers for Algernon...like it or dislike?????

I found it to be completley unrealistic, however it is my friend's favorite book! What did you think about it???

Flowers for Algernon...like it or dislike?????
Flowers For Algernon is science fiction---we don't have the technology to do several of the things in the book, like the operation itself or the subliminal learning machine, so of course it is unrealistic. If realism was the criteria for good literature, then everything from MacBeth to Lord Of The Rings would fail because they are unrealistic. I read this story in 7th grade in 1967 and my students read it in their classes today. There is a reason it has endured all these years.





My favorite aspect of this story is that it teaches adolescents about mental retardation. Kids freely use the word "retard" as an insult, usually in jest, but often seriously. They know it is unacceptable to use racial or ethnic slurs in public, but until they read this story, many think using mental retardation as an insult is perfectly normal. In addition to reading the story, we read articles on IQ and mental retardation so the kids understand the concepts as they read. I'm happy to report that I almost never hear the word "retard" in the hallways afterward.
Reply:I think it is a moving book about what it would be like to have a narrow painful life - be almost magicallly lifted out into a wide and wonderful life and then have to see it slowly fading and the walls closing in around on you again.





If you read about things they are doing with neuroscience and brain scans and things this book gets more "real" all the time.
Reply:I thought it was a very moving book. I have always considered myself intelligent, and to grow up not understanding anything, and then changed so you finally understood, and then have it taken away again! That would be the most horrible thing. Ignorance is bliss I guess.
Reply:It is a wonderful book. Whether it is realistic or not is irrelevant since the book reveals aspects of mankind, which great books tend to do. Moby Dick and the Odyssey are also unrealistic.
Reply:I loved that book. I read it when I was about 12, and just reread it as an adult. It was very moving, and the decline of Charlie made me sad both times.





Maybe not realistic, but a great book.
Reply:Personally, I love the book. I think the ending is very beautifully written.
Reply:One of my all-time favorites.
Reply:I didn't like it.
Reply:i read it when i was in 7th grade. its okay not great but not horrible