The wonderful tale of Charlie Gordon….
I first came across this book when I was watching Person of Interest. If you’ve watched the show, you would remember it’s the one book that Root kept on sending back to her home town. I was intrigued.
The book was an easy read. It was first published as a short story and then turned into a novel. It’s a science-fiction story written in the 1950s but it’s just as good today, as it was when it was first published. I would recommend reading it.
*Spoiler Alert*
I really liked the book. The book is about a boy named Charlie Gordon, who is mentally retarded and undergoes an operation to become intelligent. Algernon is the mouse who undergoes the same operation before him.
I was conflicted about Charlie. Sometimes I liked him, sometimes I hated and sometimes I just felt sorry for him. The entire book is written in the first person by Charlie, as a series of diary entries that he keeps. The way the entries progress as he gains intelligence, is interesting. But even at the height of his intelligence, Charlie isn’t happy. He had thought being smart would make his life better, yet he turns into a bitter man not feeling anything is right or good enough. It’s painful as he remembers his past and it really brings to light how mentally challenged people are treated.
I’m not going to give away the ending. But, it was a book really worth reading.
Looking through a frosty window... 