Flowers for Algernon by Daniel KeyesMy rating: 5 of 5 stars
A very immersive and thought-provoking story
Why did I give this book 5 stars? What can I write about it? Well, I floated between 4 and 5 stars. What made me tip the scale was my immediate feeling that I was an observer in the story, not solely a reader. I found the transformation of the protagonist, Charlie Gordon - as illustrated by his writing in his progress reports - to be an especially effective narrative device.
The story was so organic and straight-forward, that I felt transported to another time and place. Perhaps that result was also due to my empathy with the protagonist Charlie Gordon and my identification with the academic environment, where most of the narrative took place. Some members of my extended family are mentally challenged. I couldn't help but think of them when I read about Charlie. Also, my dad worked with mentally challenged young adults at a clinic when he was a college student. He was one of the few assistants who would bring the young adults on field trips. I graduated from the the same college as my dad. Here is what my dad wrote about the clinic:
"Back then many of the patients were there 24/7 and some were there permanently so it required a full time staff with shift workers. I believe now it is only a daytime clinic and the words mentally retarded have been removed. It was a nice job with no stress and much of my time was taking kids to bowling alleys, skating rinks and just hiking outdoors especially around Turkey Creek [Joplin Missouri]."The research laboratories of "Beekman College" reminded me very much of my own engagement in psychological undergraduate research at my alma matter. The setting of Beekman College also reminded me of how I was inspired to choose higher education as a career field. Again, while reading this story, I was transported to a different time and place which in turn, echoed imprints from my past.
Whether it may be a novel, painting, music, or other form of art, whenever I can identify with the creative expression, I am immersed into its narrative. This is what "Flowers for Algernon" did for me.
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I didn't initially realize the short story was first published in 1959 (the book, 1966), so one of my first reactions was even though it was obviously a fictional story, how did this human research/experiment on Charlie pass "Beekman College's" Institutional Review Board (IRB), Human Participants Committee, etc.? Then I thought about it some more and refreshed my memory that IRBs weren't set into motion until 1974, see https://hrpo.wustl.edu/participants/institutional-review-board/ .
ReplyDeleteHello, This is Grace from the US office of operations for the Korean Literature Review Contest.
ReplyDeleteI'm writing to you in response to one of your Goodreads posts regarding City of Ash and Red by Hye-young Pyun
This book has been selected as a designated book for the 2021 Korean Literature Review Contest.
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