Flowers for Algernon

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     Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes was an exceptional book. When I started reading it, I had a very biased outlook; I didn’t think I was going to enjoy it. It wasn’t long until I got totally overwhelmed by this book and the message Daniel Keyes is sending.
     In this book, you are pulled along on Charlie’s journey of going through a procedure to make him “smart” and his experiences afterwards. He volunteered as the first human subject to have this test, up until him it had only been tested on animals. They had positive results on a mouse named Algernon and were sure of Charlie’s progression after the procedure. As you’re reading the book, you see that Charlie’s IQ levels weren’t the only thing affected by the procedure. He has to learn to cope with adult-level intelligence while still having the emotions of a child. Charlie’s world is turned upside down when he starts to notice romantic feelings that he has never felt before. He doesn’t know how to get a handle on them and express them appropriately. Not only does Charlie reach a “normal” IQ level, he completely surpasses it and forgets all the wonderful things people have done to help him reach this level and he becomes selfish.
     I have never read a book like this. I was literally incapable of putting this book down to focus on anything but reading. It had me gasping and crying and has me feeling a certain way. This is a book you must read. I promise, you will get absorbed in the world of Charlie and Algernon.

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