Review: The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Blurb:

Standing on the fringes of life... offers a unique perspective. But there comes a time to see what it looks like from the dance floor. This haunting novel about the dilemma of passivity vs. passion marks the stunning debut of a provocative new voice in contemporary fiction: The Perks of Being a Wallflower. 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.

My Thoughts:

I only picked this up because of the movie that's coming out this week. I normally wouldn't read the book when I know that the movie is coming out, but I decided to forgo that thought since it's a short read and I really wanted to know about the story before watching it in theaters.

When I watched the trailer of this movie, it was hipster-like, I loved the cast and I was excited. When I read the book it still went with that theme but there was also a slew of issues being tackled or dare I say tackling the reader as well.

There's Charlie, the main protagonist who writes letters to an anonymous friend. I'm still not sure whether to peg him as the smart shy introvert, the emotionally challenged one or the boy who got molested, scarred and thereby unable to "participate" in a normal setting.

Pretty, smart and older Sam whom Charlie thinks he loves, I like her too. And maybe I'm a little biased because I picture her as Emma Watson in the book and I love that girl. Completing the trio is Patrick, gay friend extraordinaire. He's a fun character and there's always something going on with him.

It's about high school, love, friendship and family. And it's also about drugs, parties, sex, abuse and molestation.

Questions to ponder after reading this book. Are you the product of you're parents and your parents' parents own experiences? Would they be any different if they weren't abused as a child? Would you have been raised different or be different or is it all based on circumstance? 

Favorite Quote:

 

" I'm going to do what I want to do. I'm going to be who I really am. And I'm going to figure out what that is."

Judging the Book by Its Cover/ Movie Stars

By now you might now have noticed that I put on a "currently reading" widget and this week's read is "The Perks of being a Wallflower" by Stephen Chbosky. I've seen this book around the local bookstore for years and years but have never bothered to pick it up until now. Now that I think about it, I never picked it up because it had this green colored cover with a picture on the upper right hand corner showing the bottom half of a person in brown and white (I say this because it wasn't really black and white, it was sort of brown like an old photograph). It looked boring and didn't look like a fun read at all. 

Now that it's a week from the release of the movie, I decided that it was high time I got myself a copy. It had more to do with Emma Watson and Logan Lerman being in the main cast more than anything that made me want to read this book. I know it sounds like a weird connection but that is what motivated me, mostly so that I could imagine them as the cast in the actual book while I read it. Of course there's also the added allure of the book vs the movie debate after watching the film. 

Judging book covers is an art. If I'm going to get a copy of this book, I might as well pick a good one. Not the original green cover or the film tie-in one (which looked good but the paper was white and looked like textbook paper). And so I opted for this one. What do you think?

First Post!

I've wanted to blog ever since I got addicted to reading and hanging out on Goodreads for the past couple of years. I decided that it was time to let go of the leading strings and walk among (or in this case write among) the big boys so to speak. Please bear with me as I tweak and polish this new blog of mine!