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Flowers for Algernon
February Book Meet-up
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https://www.facebook.com/events/35487...
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Just to say sorry I can't be there tonight; out of the country at the moment! However, I did read 'Flowers for Algernon' (great choice, by the way, I've always wanted to try it out) and thought I'd share some views?Overall, I thought it was an incredibly interesting, gripping novel, beautifully written and very insightful. I kind of wish Algernon had played a bigger part in it actually, and obviously Charlie grew more and more unlikeable; I did sometimes find this a flaw in the storytelling, as it was hard to concentrate on the words he was saying when they were said in such a cruel, thoughtless way. In a way he reminded me of Sheldon from The Big Bang Theory at some points! Funny how as he thought more he became increasingly thoughtless, right?
The scene with his sister was the best, in my opinion, and the most poignant, excepting the part when he accidentally goes back to the Centre and Alice starts crying.
Just like in Brave New World I ended up unable to decide between Socrates and the happy pig; what did everyone else conclude?
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Alice,
Thanks for your thoughts. Hopefully you can be there next time. I too really enjoyed the book. Much more than I expected I would, and I think it covered so many interesting points, most of all emotional growth versus intellectual growth. When we met today we kind of disagreed a bit on whether Charlie achieved emotional maturity before the story ended. I thought he never quite got there. What did you think?
Also, in terms of best bits of the book, I'll let the others pitch in in with what they liked, but my favourite bit was when he was being presented to the scientific convention. I liked how he struggled internally and the comparisons to Frankenstein's monster.
Any part of the book that didn't work for you? Again in the group we were all a bit frustrated by the variance in time passing. It made sense for the story, but it was always a bit irksome when big gaps were jumped.
But very glad you got involved, and feel free to suggest books for the next vote. We're probably going to go with a WW1 theme.
Dan from Esprit
Hopefully all of you are enjoying Flowers for Algernon. I was hoping to have a meet-up to sit down and chat with all of you, discuss your thoughts on this story, maybe exchange ideas for the next novel we read and even possibly swap some books too.
This meet-up is likely to happen on Sunday the 9th March (not in February, I know) at the Yumchaa Tea House on Tottenham Street (near Goodge Street underground station) at around 12h30. so please save the date and I look forward to your thoughts on Charlie Gordon and his intellectual aggression.
Happy reading,
Dan from Esprit