The Perks of Being a Wallflower — The Book That Packs a Heavy Punch
I don’t believe that any other book has ever made me cry and laugh at the same time. And I’ve read a lot of books.
Exquisitely adorable and oftentimes heartbreaking, The Perks of Being a Wallflower speaks intimately to the soul. Stephen Chbosky saturates every word of his simplistic, yet enthralling prose with depth and meaning more profound than meets the eye. I read it at a time when I felt vulnerable, when I missed my friends, and the nagging loneliness in my heart was catching up to me. The book hit the spot.
This semi-autobiographical novel chooses a very unusual medium in the form of letters to an unknown personage. Despite the fact that I am not usually a big fan of irregular narration forms, I was unusually invested in the plot. But what kept me truly on the edge of my breath were the charming foolishness and effortless likeability of the main character.
It is hinted heavily that Charlie struggles from a detriment, which makes him peculiar, unlike everybody else. Charlie withstands many a hardship — from the death of his favorite aunt and best friend to being bullied at school. But through it all, he manages to stay good and kind at heart, letting his warm benevolence shine through the mask of timidity he was consigned to by his uniqueness.
The understanding, the deep and heartfelt understanding with which Chbosky has painted teenage angst cuts deep the wounds that have only recently healed. He portrays teenagerhood painfully accurately — confusing, long, tiresome, yet at the same time, memorable, ecstatic and so utterly bright.
I particularly liked a moment towards the end of the book, when Charlie, the main character, gets confused about his own feelings because he is both feeling happier than he ever was and pertinently sad because he had just spent one of the best days he had ever had in the loving circle of friends and family, but his love, his best friend, his everything was leaving him behind and going to college, while he was destined to stay for three more years in high school. At that moment, Charlie doesn’t understand what he feels and why he feels and I can so relate to it. Being an adult is hard, but nothing compared to the senseless, baseless agony that is adolescence.
Despite the heavy drama that goes on throughout the book, dealing with a wide variety of themes and social issues from depression to childhood trauma, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a rare gift for those who search for a ray of salvation in the seemingly endless fog of darkness. It teaches people how to hope, how to dream, and what is most important of all — how to be good. And how to stay good.
This is a definite must-read.
