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Loading... Flowers for Algernon (Millennium SF Masterworks S)by Daniel Keyes
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will love Sign up for LibraryThing to find out whether you'll like this book.  SuchASmallWorld | Dec 5, 2009 |  Surgery to make ‘retards’ smarter. Animal experiments - namely, Algernon, the mouse on which the surgery finally ‘works’. Speculation - whilst in the midst of the animal experiments, to try this on humans. A human subject – the man, Charlie Gordon, born with extremely low IQ. Timing – to have results of their work ready for a big reveal at an upcoming medical conference. Mix these ingredients, simmer an adult ‘moron’ who doesn’t understand why people make fun of him, add burning flashbacks of a home in turmoil over a retardant son. Yield - the expected result. Fiction, with just a shiver of science fiction folded in. The characters were very believable, each true to the natures depicted, from Charlie’s fellow-workers at the bakery, his teacher, his family, to his doctors. Charlie himself was especially well written, showing a very believable progression through the different stages before and after his surgery. However. The story was so - bleak. The setting, NYC, was painted - bleak. The over-used terms, hard and gritty, are apropos here. As I have a nephew who also faces a dependent future, this was an uncomfortable read for me. Though it was imaginative and well written, I did not like this book. (  ) countrylife | Nov 12, 2009 | This is the book that made me want to write. ( ) JenLynnKnox | Oct 11, 2009 | I just recently finished the classic Fahrenheit 451 and now I have stumbled upon Flowers for Algernon. I must have taken remedial English courses in high school without even realizing it. Because it wasn't until college when I read books like [The Handmaids Tale], [Necromancer], [A Scanner Darkly], and [A Brave New World]. Well I digress, Flowers for Algernon was a wonderful tale. It is about a young man with an incredibly low IQ (70) who is transformed into a genius (IQ of 190, quite close to mine I might add), through the marvels of medical science. Keyes is masterful in the way he portrays this first person narrative, first through the eyes of a mentally challenged individual and then through the eyes of a genius. Although the book was written back in the 60's this is a timeless tale told with vivid imagery. I will be sure to check out some of Keyes other works. What a wonderful world there is out there. I guess I need to look around every once and awhile. (  )1  Ti99er | Oct 8, 2009 | I read this book in highschool (or, at least, I was supposed to), but I can honestly say that I don't remember the story. I absolutely loved the book, and its truly a masterpiece. A page-turner all the way through, you just can't wait to hear what Charlie is going to say next...and if it will be grammatically correct. (  ) Blakelyn | Oct 6, 2009 |  no reviews | add a review
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Following his doctor's instructions, engaging simpleton Charlie Gordon tells his own story in semi-literate "progris riports." He dimly wants to better himself, but with an IQ of 68 can't even beat the laboratory mouse Algernon at maze-solving:
I dint feel bad because I watched Algernon and I lernd how to finish the amaze even if it takes me along time.I dint know mice were so smart.
Algernon is extra-clever thanks to an experimental brain operation so far tried only on animals. Charlie eagerly volunteers as the first human subject. After frustrating delays and agonies of concentration, the effects begin to show and the reports steadily improve: "Punctuation, is? fun!" But getting smarter brings cruel shocks, as Charlie realizes that his merry "friends" at the bakery where he sweeps the floor have all along been laughing at him, never with him. The IQ rise continues, taking him steadily past the human average to genius level and beyond, until he's as intellectually alone as the old, foolish Charlie ever was--and now painfully aware of it. Then, ominously, the smart mouse Algernon begins to deteriorate...
Flowers for Algernon is a timeless tear-jerker with a terrific emotional impact. --David Langford
(retrieved from Amazon Fri, 24 Apr 2009 07:57:52 -0400)
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*** SPOILER ALERT **********************************
In the end, even a person with Asperger syndrome could sincerely showed his compassion to a rat.
*** END OF SPOILER *********************************