The Perks of Being A Wallflower

Did I tell you that I love reading books? Who doesn't? Everyone knows that reading sharpens the mind, and makes one a good conversationalist. I'm not boasting, nor bragging, but it does pay when you read a lot. Why? Because of the many things that you can share and you can jump from one topic to another. Remember that the people you meet everyday is diverse, and their interests goes with it. I do admit it too when I don't know what they're talking about, but at least, it doesn't stop there. What's important is, you have something in common that could establish a potential friendship with someone that you meet along the way.



Author: Stephen Chbosky
Genre: Young Adult,
Publisher: Gallery Books
Distributor: National Bookstore Philippines
Distributor Price: PHP495.00
Date of Publication: 1999
Illustration by: unknown
No of pages: 213
Hardbound/Paperback: Paperback
No of days taken to read: 1Week
ISBN: 978-1-4516-9619-6 (pbk)

Synopsis: The perks of being a wallflower is a story about a kid who struggles with finding himself and establishing his identity as he wedges himself through high school. In the world of first dates, family dramas, and new friends, of sex, drugs and the rocky horror picture show, Charlie got a taste of a normal and decent high school experience and of those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up.

My Thoughts: I've been actually hearing a lot of good remarks about The Perks of Being A Wallflower from people, but I haven't really had the motivation to get a copy until someone a friend lent me one. This book's compelling story of a young boy's journey through his adolescent period and how he struggled to deal with the faint but lingering memories of his abuse, hovered in my mind for a while since I last read it. I actually read it a couple of times because that's how engaging the story was to me, and how much I liked chewing on the insights pointed in the book. I guess nobody will really understand how it feels like being subjected to ridicule unless you've been in one, or how depressing it was when you lost someone you love and care for or when people distance themselves to you for no reason at all if not trivial or when people starts leaving because that's just how life flows. It reminded me how poorly I treated quite a few people too and how much I've taken a lot of things for granted. It also made me wonder about how lonely Charlie was and how happy I am that he met two kind people who gave him company and at least guided him accordingly (despite my knowledge of Christian values, I find Patrick & Sam good companies for lonely and confused Charlie). When Charlie described this about his mom and dad; "Sometimes, my dad calls her beautiful, but she cannot hear him." made me think of how poorly I viewed myself at most times. Isn't it funny that when other people ridicule us, we despise it but we are too liberal in mocking our own selves? I quite valued the reference to self-acceptance & self-respect in this book; give a little love for yourself. In a lot of sense, the author of the book did a great job in giving every Charlie in us a voice and expressed it admirably.

Some more of the lines that I loved from The Perks of Being A Wallflower:
Patrick to Charlie (regarding women/girls): "They just like somebody that can give them a purpose." Admit it or not there are women who seek their value in the eyes of men (refers to all human being). But a woman's real purpose in life is not found on men (noun) who tells lies and break your heart. Real purpose is found within you, what God has planted in your heart to do, in order to accomplish your walk here on earth. It may include a husband or a child, parents, siblings and friends. But real purpose is not found alone in one man.

Bill to Charlie (regarding the boy who slapped his sister): "Charlie, we accept the love we think we deserve." I find a simple lesson here. There are people who put up with an abusive relationship because they believed that it's the only love they can find. I can probably say that I have felt this way at one point in my relationship with an ex, simply because I viewed myself poorly at the time. But abuse is not love (read, abnormal use), you cannot treat someone badly and say you love them, that's not even how God operates (John 3:16). If we think we deserve all the negative and bad things in life, then that's what we're going to get (Proverbs 23:7). But changing and the renewing of mind is the answer.

Dad to Charlie (regarding the boy who slapped his sister): "Not everyone has a sob story, Charlie, and even if they do, it's no excuse."

Anyway, The Perks of Being A Wallflower is an excellent read. I guess in a way, one thing that also identified with me with Charlie was that I love reading books and writing about them and that I am improving with my English. :)

My Rating: 5
Awesome book! Engaging and thought-provoking. The story made me believe that Charlie is a real boy and that he's been going through these tough changes/stages that made me feel genuinely sympathetic each time he expresses his thoughts and feelings.