Book Review #1: THE ACTUAL RERKS AND BENEFITS OF BEING A WALLFLOWER

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is an epistolary novel written by the incredibly talented American writer Stephen Chbosky. The book is considered to be called a best-seller young adult novel which is occasionally compared to the J.D. Salinger’s world-famous The Catcher in the Rye. Moreover, the adaptation movie of the same name was filmed in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania and released in September 2012. 

I promised myself to give up watching book adaptations first, but the story with The Perks of Being a Wallflower happened quite on the contrary. In my situation the book adaptation was the first thing I got to know before I acquainted myself with the original novel. Right before the reading process I frequently thought to myself whether the book itself was really that good and worth reading or were all those positive reviews just the echo of the responses that the movie met. Anyway, the novel was an extraordinary piece of modern young adult literature; I even re-read certain chapters a few times, but all those times I noticed that something was definitely missing.  

Before I get straight to the strengths and weaknesses of the novel, a short plot description is right here (in case you never heard of the novel and what to know what the entire storm is about). Once there was a teenage boy named Charlie, he was surrounded by his amazingly loving parents, the teachers who understood his teenage boy struggles completely and offered him lots and lots of help in getting through the tough times. The only thing is – Charlie was incredibly shy, suspicious and afraid of whom he truly was. He had to face something quite disturbing and depressing in his past life, something that left a huge mark on his behaviour and effected completely on his future teenage life. But despite all the complications and self-conflicts, Charlie finds true friendship, gets to know all the delights and fascinations of the teenage life, and falls deeply in love. The reader learns about all his emotions, feeling and occasions through the letter that Charlie writes to an anonymous person, whose identity is not revealed even at the end of the novel. Perhaps that is because there never was a @dear_friend, Charlie just had to let out all his emotional experience and couldn’t have thought of a better way than to imagine a pen friend who listens patiently and silently empathizes. 

So, heading straight to the main point of this review, first things first I am going to talk about the obvious advantages of this novel. 

• Charlie himself. It may sound strange, but I never was confused by his never ending tears, devastating sadness, terrible mood or constant thoughts about his lack of knowledge. I quite liked observing this kid grow, develop, suffer pain, fell happy and evolve into a beautiful human being who trust in his own power and knowledge. At some point I might have started to understand that I feel the things he feels. The best part of it was of course that Charlie is the most normal guy, there are thousands of people out there just like him. That is why it is incredibly easy to understand a character, to relive his emotions and to get accustomed to his life while you read this beautiful heart-breaking novel. I can easily say that I have loved this kind curious and bright kid with all my heart.  

• The style of writing. The author’s language is quite simple and comprehensible to all layers of society, so to say. There are no cumbersome descriptions, no unnecessary words. You could definitely say that all these letters were really written by a 15 year old guy who lives through something completely new to him. 
• The music. I was astonished by Charlie’s love towards music and countless mix tape making process. The music he listens to is really worth listening. I even made a list of songs that I would like to get acquainted with; some of them are still in my playlists. You could read the book whilst playing the same music Charlie mentions, and I promise you won’t have the feeling to turn it off and concentrate on the story. It just all combines in a synesthetic mix of emotions that burst in your mind. 
• Relationships between characters. There is absolutely no jealousy or hatred in the novel. Of course there are moments when the characters feel quite tough or/and uneasy towards each other, they argue a lot and even fight occasionally. But I never noticed any hatred. And I think it is truly amazing. 

Now I feel free to mention the disadvantages of this book. 

• The text again. Despite the fact that there is nothing unnecessary in the novel, you might develop a feeling that something was missing or never written or mentioned. 
• The characters of the novel (besides Charlie). I had a thought that apart from Charlie, the other characters were not truly exposed or developed. It sounds fine because we get to know all the people in this novel from the first person narration, from Charlie’s letters. But I guess that there might have been said a bit more about them. 
• The ending. When I was watching a movie I could understand a lot more about Charlie’s past than when I was reading a novel. Maybe I was just inattentive. But if I didn’t watch the movie first, I would have never understood what exactly happened to Charlie in his childhood. Although the novel doesn’t lack an emotional shock. On the contrary, there are tons of it. 

Well, coming to an end I must say that this novel deserves anyone’s attention, doesn’t matter whether you are a teenager with the love for supernatural or a simple grown up. Someone will learn from the main character’s mistakes; someone will remember their high school years. Someone won’t even like the book. But there are definitely a couple of things we can be pleasantly impressed by. So, quoting Charlie’s literature teacher, an amazing piece of advice everyone should follow: better try to be a filter, not a sponge.  

Hope you liked the article. If you did, make sure to upvote it and subscribe! More reviews to come!