
The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky is a coming-of-age novel that follows the life of Charlie, a high school freshman who navigates through the complexities of teenage life. The story is uniquely told through letters written by Charlie, allowing readers to delve into his inner thoughts and emotions as he grapples with issues such as friendship, love, loss, and self-discovery. The narrative captures the essence of being a teenager in the early 1990s, touching on themes of loneliness, mental health, and the challenges of growing up.
The book portrays Charlie's journey as he forms relationships with his peers, including the charismatic Patrick and enigmatic Sam, who help him navigate the ups and downs of adolescence. Through Charlie's introspective observations and poignant reflections, readers are drawn into a world of teenage struggles and triumphs, ultimately leading to a powerful and emotional exploration of identity, acceptance, and the complexities of youth.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
Content warnings for The Perks of Being a Wallflower include themes of mental illness, suicide, sexual abuse, drug and alcohol use, and bullying.
Has Romance?
There is a significant element of romance in The Perks of Being a Wallflower, particularly through Charlie's feelings for Sam and his experiences with relationships.
From The Publisher:
The critically acclaimed debut novel from Stephen Chbosky follows observant "wallflower" Charlie as he charts a course through the strange world between adolescence and adulthood. First dates, family drama, and new friends. Sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Devastating loss, young love, and life on the fringes. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it, Charlie must learn to navigate those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.
A #1 New York Times bestseller for more than a year, an American Library Association Best Book for Young Adults (2000) and Best Book for Reluctant Readers (2000), and with millions of copies in print, this novel for teen readers (or "wallflowers" of more-advanced age) will make you laugh, cry, and perhaps feel nostalgic for those moments when you, too, tiptoed onto the dance floor of life.
Ratings (351)
Incredible (90) | |
Loved It (120) | |
Liked It (87) | |
It Was OK (37) | |
Did Not Like (9) | |
Hated It (8) |
Reader Stats (618):
Read It (371) | |
Currently Reading (3) | |
Want To Read (147) | |
Did Not Finish (5) | |
Not Interested (92) |
14 comment(s)
This book provides a journey into a young’s man search for friendship as well as understanding why he feels he doesn’t belong anywhere. He expresses his feelings of being adrift through a series of letters written to an unnamed friend.
In part one of the book, Charlie details his family life including an older brother who is going to college on a football scholarship and a sister who is a senior in high school. Charlie is saddened by the death of his friend Michael and has a strong desire to make more friends. Charlie overthinks everything and is constantly anxious but doesn’t know why. By the end of part one, Charlie has made two friends who are Sam and her stepbrother Patrick.
In part two of book, Charlie enjoys the friends he has with Sam and Patrick since they accept him the way his is without judgment. Later in the chapter, he shares a story about Patrick’s romantic relationship and his romantic feelings for Sam. By the end of this part of the book, Charlie has his first kiss.
In part three of the book, Charlie is recovering from a bad drug trip and begins smoking as a coping mechanism to stop being anxious. During this part of the book, Charlie gets a girlfriend named Mary Elizabeth but discovers quickly that the relationship is one sided and she only talks about herself. Eventually, him and Mary Elizabeth break up over due to Charlie making a wrong decision at a Christmas party.
In part four of the book, Patrick’s hidden relationship is brought to light with violent results, Charlie deals with the reality of Sam and Patrick graduating from high school and therefore leaving him. Charlie and Sam share a intimate moment but it’s cut short when Charlie freaks out but doesn’t know why.
The book ends with an epilogue in which Charlie explains that he has been in the admitted into the hospital as well as sharing a traumatic childhood experience at the hands of his favorite aunt.
This book provides a genuine glimpse into the mind of a teenage boy as well as show the transformation of a young man from someone constantly questioning everything to a someone who is confident about who he is and what he wants out of life.
Not what I thought it would be. Interesting to have a modern novel written in letter/diary style. It brought back allot of memories of the nineties.
Unnecessarily childish writing
my favorite book ever! read it for the first time as a 15 year old, then again this summer and i was shocked with how little i understood the first time i read it. i think every highschooler should read this book many times to understand life better
The back of this novel describes it as a meditation on passion vs. passivity, the story of growing up, and the modern American high school experience in book form. While I don't completely disagree with these things, that's not what I think this book is about. I think it's about silence, the benefits and lack thereof; families, and how they perpetuate cycles; and "participation" (as Charlie would put it) as a way to destroy silence. This book is about abuse and all the ways we perform it upon each other. Maybe that is the modern American high school experience. It certainly has a lot to do with growing up.
It's also been said that this book is "in the tradition of"
The Catcher in the Rye, and while I see why, I have to say that reading
TCINR is like being dumped into an adolescent's brain, while reading
Perks is more like being dumped into one's world. Big difference.
YA..... Aaaarrrrgggghhhhhh.....
I hate YA books, where people seem so stupid for silly things. I hate to think that i too went through this phase of life, a dumb phase.
It was a OK read. You won't loose much even if u skip some pages, may be some sex scenes or partying or some suicides or drugs, alcohols. Is a teen life full of these? Well mine never was, so I always find it difficult to relate to the events in YA books. What is common in YA and my YA life, is dumbness :P
Charlie, narrates the story to the readers with letters (only good part in this book). He has a good family, not goody goody but average caring one, but still he has to cry over all the silly things, he struggles to keep himself sane, he drinks, he gets stupid friends (yet a little caring), he smokes pot, watches his sister having sex (how ridiculous) and rape(too much)...
And the climax was horrible...Chbosky has tried to fill in all the bad things that can happen in a teen school life in to charlie's life. That was unbearable and unfair. How can these may things happen only to him and effect only him?
Only the narration saved it from getting 1 star from me :)
This was a quick read and a good little novel, but the portrayal of adolescent mental health was just all over the place, cliched, outdated, stereotypical, just plain wrong, etc. The main character just made no sense.
I absolutely love this book! Charlie's POV is just incredible. Before reading this book, I wasn't a fan of coming of age stories but now I love them.
I've been meaning to read this book for a long time, but only now I did. And while it's not something I usually read, I understand why so many people like it and why it's so important to them. I think if I had read it as a teenager, it might have had an even greater impact on me.
There is something really touching about the way the main character tells his story. And in how he deals with his otherness and difficulties with understanding the world in which he functions. Sometimes we want to shake him, and sometimes we want to hug him, but there is no doubt that this book has a big impact on the reader. Some events really break our hearts. And it's hard to calmly watch the mistakes the main character makes.
The book is written in the form of letters to an unnamed friend, which gives us the impression that we are the recipients of the main character's story. And it all feels so much more personal. This book deals with so many difficult topics. At the same time, it does not age at all and remains relevant even today. I think this is one of those books that will still be relevant even in a few years or even decades. And it will touch teenagers in the next generations as well.
This is an important and truly moving book. One of the few books I really think everyone should read.
This is a beautifully crafted coming-of-age story. Charlie has good qualities and bad ones. The story being told through letters was something I really liked.
About the Author:
Stephen Chbosky wrote and directed the feature film adaptation of his award-winning novel, The Perks of Being a Wallflower. He has worked in film and television, on projects including the film version of the smash-hit musical Rent; the TV show Jericho; and others. He also edited Pieces, a collection of short stories for Pocket Books. A native of Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, Chbosky graduated from the University of Southern California's Filmic Writing Program. His first film, The Four Corners of Nowhere, premiered at Sundance Film Festival. Follow Stephen on Twitter @StephenChbosky.
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