Perks of Being A Wallflower -Friday Rewind

Before The Blog is/was a feature hosted by YA Litwit... and is super cool! The whole idea is that we've all been reading a lot longer than we've been blogging, so why not pull out one of those old books and feature it?? It's a way to rediscover books from our past...

I decided I'm going to do this on Fridays because it looked fun and there's a lot of books I read before March that I want on this blog :)

Go there and check it out!

 

 

My Choice this week is:

The Perks of Being a Wallflower
By Stephen Chbosky

Why did you choose this book? I chose this book because the movie came out TODAY!  Plus I gotta show some love to Stephen Chbosky since he's from Pittsburgh and the setting of the book is there. 

When did you read this book? November 2011

Who would you recommend this book to? For people who liked It's Kind of a Funny Story By: Ned Vizzini or The Misfits By James Howe

Goodreads Synopsis:
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:
This book is told through letters that the M/C is writing to a "friend" that he doesn't know.  He just started H.S. and his only friend committed suicide the year before.  After a few weeks he meets Sam & Patrick at a football game and they take him in.  They're Seniors and typical teenagers, and Charlie is not.  He overthinks everything and spends too much time worrying about things.  Basically he has this crew, but still he just doesn't fit in.

It was an interesting book for sure, but odd.  It took a while to get used to Charlie's voice because his writings are meant to seem as though they've been written by a 14 year-old.  The character of Charlie was very hard to relate to in my opinion.  He's painfully honest and over-analytical.  He just thinks too much about everything (but maybe that's from all the pot?).  I wanted to be like "Live damn it, go live Charlie!!". 

Without giving anything away, the book left me with so many questions and head-scratchers.  I can't help but wonder who the friend was supposed to be (the reader?) and what is going to happen to Charlie now that his friends have graduated?

It was published by MTV Books and I think that is a great place for it.  This book to me is like The Catcher and the Rye for the next generation.  They both have a unrelatable main characters and they both left me with an overall questioning feeling... why?  What was this book really meaning to say?  I'm not sure I really got it or ever will, but that's ok with me.  I'm still glad it happened :)

 

 

 

Add it to your To-Read List!

My Rating:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Movie Trailer:

I see you Pittsburgh :)