Author: Stephen Chbosky
Publisher: MTV Books, Feb 1999
Number of Pages: Paperback, 213 pages
Genre: Realistic Fiction, Young Adult, Romance, High School
Plot: 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.(Goodreads.com)
Personal Thoughts: This book took me back to high school - some of the best and the worst days of my life happened during high school. The novel itself was interesting and opened my eyes to a lot of things and feelings towards the different characters - helping me characterize people from my past in the book. But, as interesting as the book was, it got on my nerves too!
First of all the book is written in letters - from the main character Charlie, to some random unknown recipient. Second, the character of Charlie is certainly not your typical kind of guy. He's young, he's immature, and he's socially awkward. I like Charlie, I like that he's writing about all these experiences, but I somehow found myself feeling ashamed for reading these personal thoughts. Reading this book made me feel as if I was reading someone's diary without permission and it put a very weird spin on things. I liked getting his insight, but then again it was WAY too much information sometimes.
Charlie is so intelligent, but so naive. It was hard to read his thoughts on drugs, sex and masturbation without feeling like I was a perv. There were a few times I wanted to put down the book and stop reading. But I kept reading, mostly because it was a quick read, but also because the voice and the point of the book overall was almost amazing. I enjoyed his observation that hearing one song can make a person feel infinite - I too share that sentiment. By the time I got towards the end of the book, I started to understand Charlie a lot more - and that made the book seem better in some way. By then he made a little more sense to me.
Honestly, it was overall a 'good' book, but it probably would have been a 'GREAT' book if I had read it at the age of fifteen when it was written/published. I feel like I would have understood it better back then somehow. But that by no means insinuates that a person should not read this book. I get now why it's considered a cult classic. It's addicting and I find myself actually looking forward to the movie now.
Recommended Age Level: 15+
Rating: 3
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