I must admit, I'd never heard of 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' until I was at the pictures waiting for a certain amazing film (Snow White and the Huntsman!) to start when a trailer for the film version came on and it happened to mention that it was 'based on the bestselling novel'. "oooooo, I neeeeeed it" was the only thing that popped in my head so as soon as I got home, I downloaded it onto my trusty e-reader and off I went! The lovely people from goodreads.com give it a mighty four and a bit stars and say this......
Standing on the fringes of life offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor.This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. This is the story of what it’s like to grow up in high school. More intimate than a diary, Charlie's letters are singular and unique, hilarious and devastating. We may not know where he lives. We may not know to whom he is writing. All we know is the world he shares. Caught between trying to live his life and trying to run from it puts him on a strange course through uncharted territory. The world of first dates and mixed tapes, family dramas and new friends. The world of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show, when all one requires is that perfect song on that perfect drive to feel infinite. Through Charlie, Stephen Chbosky has created a deeply affecting coming-of-age story, a powerful novel that will spirit you back to those wild and poignant roller coaster days known as growing up.
Now, wow.....four and a bit stars....that's pretty impressive, but unfortunatly I just didn't get it! It's not really my type of book. Don't get me wrong, it's a 'nice' book but through the whole thing I just couldn't stop getting frustrated at the fact that I had no idea who he was writing to!! Is it just a diary? are they actually letters to people? It may even have told me half way through but due to the fact I kept getting distracted and finding myself daydreaming whilst reading, I could have infact missed it! I know it shouldn't be a big deal but it just bugged me so much and I couldn't really enjoy the story because everytime a new letter (or chapter) was started I found myself getting mad about not knowing who he was writing to!
On the plus side, despite having no idea who Charlie, the main character, was writing to, I at least found out about him and his life and loves whilst reading his story. As the story progressed I really began to feel a bit sorry for Charlie. He seemed so niave and through the way the book was written I kind of assumed he had some kind of learning disabiltiy but when I went to get the synopsis from the goodreads website I began reading the comments and reviews from other people and one person, (I don't know her details other than she's called Tatiana so apologies) has the exact same opinion and points out that other people, rather than describe him as I have, (she also described him similarly), say that instead he is actually just 'gifted, observant and socially awkward' and she highlights EXACTLY what I have thought when I found this out......what does this say about Stephen Chbosky's writing?
From reading other reviews, it appears that a lot of people can relate to how Charlie feels and the experiences he went through and these people seemed to love it and maybe that's why I couldn't really get into it....don't get me wrong, of course I went through the whole awkward teenage stage but it's difficult to imagine someone being quite so innocent and niave at Charlie's age- (I like to think that I wasn't but who knows!). While looking into this book, I found that actually, it has been massively hyped....it was apparantly promoted by MTV (although I seemed to have missed that) and of course made into a film but I can't help but wonder why.
In saying all this, despite the complaining, I am glad I read it. Despite the frustrations it's a pretty easy book to read, and helped me pass the time whilst I was suffering from Tonsillitis and I have the feeling that if I hadn't have read it now I would have ended up seeing the film and then reading the book afterwards....at least now I can save some money and not have to go see it at the pictures!
Regardless of my opinion, it's obviously a well loved, successful book and if you ever get a particularly nasty dose of tonsillitis....this will help pass the time.....I'll let you decide for yourself if that's a complement or not! :)
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