Books, Quotes

Book 164: The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky

Chbosky, Stephen - The Perks of Being a WallflowerI’m so disappointed I didn’t discover this book in High School, but at the same time I really doubt I would’ve appreciated it as much as I do now. Although I was an incredibly straight-laced kid in High School and couldn’t relate to some parts of the novel as a high school student (sex, drugs, partying, Rocky Horror?!?), I could definitely relate to many other parts.  I haven’t seen the film but will definitely see it soon. I’m still shaking my head wondering what took me so long to read this book!

The scene where Charlie gave out perfect Christmas presents to each of the people in his immediate circle of friends, just from having listened to them was great! I mean that is the same thing I do. I listen and suck in all the details about people and then awkwardly regurgitate facts to them later about what they’ve said at that party or at previous parties. It’s a great party trick, but at the same time it often makes me come across as anti-social or creepy (so I assume, no one has ever reinforced this thought).

The most enjoyable part of The Perks of Being a Wallflower was the quirkiness of the protagonist Charlie. Chbosky did an exquisite job of writing from the 15-year-old view of a wallflower. From the syntax to the observations I bought that the story was told from a teenager’s perspective who was a little outside the norm and marching to their own drum. And it wasn’t just Charlie’s quirkiness, Chbosky’s characterization of all of the characters was great and varied enough to make the book fill full of characters when it was mostly about Charlie and his experiences. I felt like I met Sam and Patrick, Charlie’s Family, Brad and the other students.

Surprisingly, I enjoyed the epistolary set up of the novel. I generally find them very hard to read, but as this was a one-sided narration of a year in Charlie’s life it wasn’t too difficult to follow. It also added to my enjoyment that ‘Charlie’ was an alias and he was upfront saying names and places were mostly changed to keep everything anonymous. It’s little details like this, and the occasionally reminding that he won’t write something to keep things anonymous, which made the novel excellent!

I also appreciated the frank treatment and inclusion of gay characters. Although it didn’t seem like a happily ever after, the inclusion of characters who happen to be gay was an added benefit. The drama was of course added with Brad, but with the number of times you hear about similar experiences in the ‘real world,’ it doesn’t seem to noteworthy.

If there was one thing I didn’t like about the novel it was the anonymity of the letter recipient. I guess technically we, the reader, are the recipient, but it just left me at the end wondering who it was and what their opinion of Charlie was!

Recommendation: Chbosky sums up the book with one line, ‘I feel infinite,’ and in doing so leaves the reader with myriad choices over future potentialities.  Does Charlie suffer a relapse? Do Charlie and Sam ever get together? What about Bill? Who received all of the letters and what were their thoughts?

Opening Line: “I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn’t try to sleep with that person at that party even though you could have.”

Closing Line: “And I will believe the same about you.” (Whited out.)

Additional Quotes from The Perks of Being a Wallflower
“Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve.” (24)

“Not everyone has a sob story, Charlie, and even if they do, it’s no excuse.” (28)

“I think it was the first time in my life I ever felt like I looked ‘good.’ Do you know what I mean? That nice feeling when you look in the mirror, and your hair’s right for the first time in your life? I don’t think we should base so much on weight, muscles, and a good hair day, but when it happens, it’s nice. It really is.” (67)

“I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that. I think wanting that is very morbid, but I want it when I get like this. That’s why I’m trying not to think.” (94)

“I don’t know how much longer I can keep going without a friend. I used to be able to do it very easily, but that was before I knew what having a friend was like. It’s much easier not to know things sometimes. And to have french fries with your mom be enough.” (144)

“It’s strange to describe reading a book as a really great experience, but that’s kind of how it felt. It was a different book from the others because it wasn’t about being a kid.” (169)

“It’s great that you can listen and be a shoulder to someone, but what about when someone doesn’t need a shoulder. What if they need the arms or something like that? You can’t just sit there and put everybody’s lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love. You just can’t. You have to do things.” (200)

“I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.” (211)

15 thoughts on “Book 164: The Perks of Being a Wallflower – Stephen Chbosky”

  1. I’m so glad you enjoyed this book! And the I can’t rave enough about the film. A former student of mine gave me the book a few years ago and when I found out it was being adapted for film I was ecstatic. Chbosky is my YA Lit hero

  2. I loved this book and read it right after college. I haven’t seen the movie, though, and I’m sure I will, but I’m not in a rush. On a funny side note, the whole remembering thing? Not that I think it’s creepy, but my husband was the same way before we got married (which I joke now that he remembers nothing after 3 years of marriage that his memory was like a trick to get me to marry him). When we first started dating, he would say all this stuff that he remembered and it totally freaked me out! I told him that too at some point. But at the same time, it was flattering! So that’s probably how most people feel about you remembering. 🙂

    1. Haahaa! It was a good week for reading. I highly doubt my next two are on your list, but I could be shockingly surprised 😀 (Perks was great and it’s a good book to put between two tomes if you’re planning ahead!)

  3. I can’t wait to get to this one–it’s sitting patiently on my shelf, just waiting for me! 🙂 So glad to hear that you liked it.

    1. I’m still so jealous you won it! And I’m still searching for a used copy of Boy Meets Boy. Can’t wait to hear your thoughts on it.

  4. I’ve had this on my to read list for a while now, but I didn’t realize when it was written.
    I also have a very good memory and remember things people say that always surprises them when I mention it…I too sometimes wonder if they think it’s creepy… haha

    1. I didn’t realize it was only written in 1999. I assumed it was an older book with the cult following it has! You should definitely read it and like I told Rob, it’s a great book in between heavier books. Apparently we’re all creepy rememberers in the book blogging world (or know creepy rememberers).

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