Flowers for Algernon Book Review
By
Keilah
By
Keilah
Want a suspenseful sci-fi but don’t know where to look? Flowers for Algernon may be what you’ve been waiting for. Written by Daniel Keys, this fiction story describes one man’s (Charlie Gordon) long and treacherous journey to a genius I.Q. Charlie has always been mentally handicapped and has an IQ of about 60. He had a difficult childhood; parents unsure of what to do with him, and a sister who practically disowns him. When Charlie is in his 30’s he is recruited for an experiment. Scientists tell him that he has been chosen to experience an intelligence increase that might possibly make him a genius. The experiment had been tried on a mouse in the lab named Algernon. Charlie is told to keep progress report updates of how much he has learned. As Charlie becomes smarter he begins to notice women in a whole different light and falls in love with a teacher and scientist, Alice Kinnian. Alice isn’t ready for a relationship and this troubles Charlie. He continues to read, learn other languages, test Algernon, and write progress reports. In the midst of all this Charlie learns something that could change his life forever. Will he be able to keep his intelligence, or will it start to slip away day by day?
Because of the many sexual references and language, I would recommend this book to those 15 and up.
