Shaped by a book discussion

Hi, I'm Lily (which you could probably tell), one of Noa and Sasha's friends from elementary school. I'm the discussion leader for Perks. I am not sure where everybody is in the book, so don't read this until you are done - I am going to talk about some of the things that go on at the end of the book.

In all honesty, I didn't love this book. I thought it was interesting. I enjoyed the time I spent reading it. But I'm not sure I would consider it to be as amazing and life-changing as people say it is. Let me know what you all think in that regard. Part of it was the way Charlie's trauma from the way he was abused by Aunt Helen manifested. Maybe that was the author's purpose: to show the way that impacted his life, and then reveal what the cause was at the very end. It could have also been to show that his past wasn't what made him the way he is. On one of the last pages (not giving a number because I have a strange edition) it says, "I'm not the way I am because of what I dreamt and what I remember about my aunt Helen. That's what I figured out when things got quiet." I understand what Chbosky was trying to say here, that what happens to us doesn't define us, but I think a little more attention should have been paid to how abuse impacted him in his life. I also found it difficult to tell if some of the scenes earlier on, like when he goes out in the cold, falls asleep, and wakes up blue, were do to drug/alcohol usage or PTSD from Helen.

Apologies if this was too critical. I'd love to hear all of your thoughts on this part of the book, and the rest of it!

I totally agree. I really wanted to love this book, however I honestly found it a bit slow and all over the place. While there where some really touching moments and lines, the author addressed so many different topics. by trying to talk about sexuality, drugs, sex, rape, suicide, and violence all at once the author (to me at least) wasn't able to go very deep in any one topic. I know a lot of you will disagree, so please respond/argue!! I do believe this is a beautifully written book, however I just didn't love it. Sorry if this review is kinda all over the place!

Exactly! There was just so much going on, and it was hard for meaningful exploration of any of the topics. One in particular that I can think of off the top of my head: Patrick and Brad's relationship, and the homophobia around them. Maybe this was partially the book being very dated from the early 1990s, but it felt like their relationship was being treated both as a taboo and like a hidden straight romance. There was an opportunity to really talk about why they had to keep secret and why Brad's dad was so violent when he found out, but it didn't really take that bait and go into that. Instead of a pro-gay message (which I'd like to think is what the author was going for), it just seemed to reinforce the idea of queerness and being gay as a taboo subject that kids don't need to know about. Again, would love to hear other peoples' opinions. :)

Hi everyone! I’m Lillian from Noa’s class, and I actually love this book.
I completely understand where you both are coming from as the book is a little all over the place, but that is actually one of my favorite things about it. I feel like rather than making it a slow read it makes it personal and relatable for me as I am all of over the place . I’m obviously not saying that this book or just any book for that matter can touch and relate to everyone but having read this book multiple times now, I feel that the book grows in meaning the more you read it. Although I think we can all agree that it’s beautifully written, and Charlie’s perspective is quite unique in the sense of his voice, I think that that the more you read it (specifically close read it) the more the beautiful lines that were just there become. One thing I especially love about this book is that by the end I feel like I was there. Like I was a friend of Charlie’s and like I experienced everything with him, felt his pain and went on the journey. Although it is definitely debatable, I personally found his growth as a person and his finding of himself as a journey, and I think that the book really beautifully captured all of the emotions and all over the placeness that comes with the journey that is finding who you are.
Again I’m not trying to disagree and I completely understand where you both are coming from but I personally feel very close to this book and thought the conversation could benefit from another perspective

I agree with Lillian. In life, there is no one main focus. Life is all over the place. All the issues, while mostly only delved into at around surface level, were incredibly rich and still had many layers if that makes any sense at all. It was like life - in life, you may have many issues/themes, and you may not be able to deal with each one as deeply as a reader would like, but that doesn’t make it any less complex. But I do agree with all of you! Sorry if this wasn’t cohesive!

Dam. I totally hear where you are coming from! I think in a sense you are right-life is all over the place. Although I do wish the author tied up some loose ends (like with Patrick and Brad) I can understand where you are coming from. What does everyone else think?

Hi! I'm Izzy!
I understand why this book is hard to understand. I remember when I first read it, I thought to myself, 'some of these chapters are kind of useless.' I agree that the author includes a lot of topics in this book, but I do think that makes it interesting. I am not really sure whether I like this book or not. I think a lot of parts are kind of unnecessary, but maybe it's just that I don't really understand why they are there. If someone could explain some stuff to me, that would be cool. Like why include that rape scene? I just don't think it adds to the book at all. But there are some scenes that I like, so like I said before, I don't really know what to think.

Okay so I think (possibly) that rape is the one of the overarching themes in this book, and it weaves its way into a lot of chapters. I guess that scene is Charlie wrestling with his identity and realizing his past has a big part in it. As in, he has to remember and think about his aunt Helen and what she did in order to figure out who he is as a person.

That might be incredibly stupid sorry... if I am being honest I felt the same way!

That’s a really interesting point. His past is weaving into his present and will inevitably weave into his future. In order to truly “find himself”, he must remember who he was and what happened to him (not that being raped has anything to do with who he was). An enormous theme in this book was identity, and I thought that the Helen storyline really conveyed the message that finding your identity doesn’t mean neglecting your past or forgetting it. You can’t ignore trauma/PTSD in order to get over it. Of course, there was also a bigger message about rape, but in regards to identity, these were my thoughts. What do you think? Am I just trying to make a stretch that can’t be made?

that could have also been why when he witnessed the girl getting raped he didn’t realize it. he had blocked out all memories of being abused by Helen and stuck them into a compartment in his mind so he didn’t think about it. because of that, he had no idea what it looked like, and was kind of a blank slate who didn’t know anything about rape or assault without the prompting that came at the end. maybe that’s also why he was so forthcoming about his dream to Sam - his only other experience along that line had been molestation in secret, so whether he realized it or not, he perhaps wanted any thoughts or dreams of a sexual nature about Sam to be out in the open so it was as different from his abuse as possible. maybe i’m drawing conclusions about things that aren’t related but let me know what y’all think.

OH MY GOD, I NEVER THOUGHT OF IT LIKE THAT. WOAH.

I totally agree.

That makes so much more sense! thanks guys!