Pain and loss are two things that aren’t
new to Charlie. Having dealt with the death of his aunt Helen as a young child
and then the suicide of his closest friend Michael last summer, he knows it
all too well. Charlie’s story is told through a series of letters to an
anonymous source. He suffers severe depression that originated when he was
sexually abused as a child.
Charlie is caught between trying to live
his life and trying to run from it. Once Charlie starts high school he is quite
quick to make friends with Patrick, the class clown from his shop class at a
football game. He meets Sam, Patrick’s stepsister shortly thereafter, who he
mistakes as Patrick’s girlfriend.
Sam & Patrick are starting their senior
year as Charlie starts his freshman year. He is quickly thrust into a world of
partying, sex, drinking, drugs, love and the Rocky Horror Picture Show. This
just made me love the book even more because I love that movie and at the time
that I first read the book I was going through the same sorts of things that
Charlie and his new friends do and I was able to relate to his character.
Charlie has supportive parents but seems to
be a bit lost between his old brother and sister. He was closest to his aunt
Helen, who he states was “his favourite person in the whole world”. She died in
a car accident the night of Charlie’s 7th birthday when she went to get his
birthday present. Since then he has had a deep guilt, believing that it was his
fault.
Patrick to Charlie acts as if he is always
happy, positive and he’s up for anything. But there seems to be a lot more to
Patrick than we originally think, and that he just holds a lot deep down
inside. Patrick is nicknamed ‘Nothing’ by his shop teacher in a comment that
backfires a when he says “You either call me Patrick or you call me Nothing” of
course everyone took that as an invitation. Although he may be nothing to some,
he is certainly not nothing to Brad, the schools quarterback who Patrick is
secretly in a relationship with. Patrick says” he wasn't sad because at least now, Brad doesn't have to get
drunk or stoned to make love."
Right throughout this book Charlie is
forced to try and comprehend new thoughts, desires and feelings. Charlie falls
for Sam. Sam is dating Craig who is about 3 years older than she is. She’s
someone that Charlie can turn to for advice and support, a non-judgmental
shoulder to lean on. She also has an awesome taste in music, so that’s a big
plus!
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of
my favourite books of all time.
From start to finish I could not put it down and it felt as though
Charlie was writing to me personally. I would and already have recommended it
to everyone. I even made my English teacher in my senior years of high school
read it. This coming-of-age story is both emotional and raw and is a story that
you will remember long after you turn the last page.
A book of many very powerful quotes but I
will leave you with one.
"So I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons and maybe we'll never know most of them but even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things and we can try to feel okay about them." - Charlie
- Nikki
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