The Perks of Being a Wallflower

The Perks of Being a Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky *Very Very light spoilers* You might not even think they're spoilers...but just in case haha.


Where do I begin? When I saw the trailer for the movie, I knew I wanted to read the book first and I’m glad I did. My favorite parts of this book are the format it’s written in and the character Charlie himself. I love most novels that are not written in the standard narrative format. So when I saw that it was written as letters, I got really excited. There were moments where I felt like I was really reading a letter and it made things a lot more intimate. I guess I haven’t read enough books where a man is actually writing a sensitive male character, but I loved Charlie. He is realistic; although naive at times, but as I got to know him I just realized it was part of his personality. I knew that he was struggling with something and I appreciated how that underlining feeling lasted until the end when we finally found out what that was. I also appreciate that it was hinted at and not a full blown chapter dedicated to it. It just shows how he didn’t allow the incident to change him. Last year was a bad year for me personally and I like the motto “I am not what happened to me, I am who I choose to become.” That is pretty much the theme for this book so I really liked it. This book made me laugh, tear up, and just smile. I was never the social butterfly in school myself and I certainly did not participate. But I did have my 2 or 3 friends that made everything better. I am a girl, but I could still relate to this without a problem. WITHOUT feeling like Charlie was girly or overly sensitive. It’s truly a story anyone could relate to. Anyone who is/was an introvert and is/was a lot less concerned about being “cool.” I definitely recommend reading this book. It’s a refreshing read, and a beautiful coming of age story. I’m off to watch the movie now.

Oh and I only gave it four stars because there were times that I felt it got confusing and wasn’t enough detail, but that’s kind of what happens with a sort of stream of thought narrative.

Edit: Now that i've watched the movie, like every person that reads, I like the book better lol. But I'm getting my Masters in screenwriting for film so now I understand the differences between writing for film and writing for novels. But I think since the movie is written and directed by the author of the book, I think he did a good job with the movie version. I don't really understand his decision to tone it down. I guess so he could get a rating that's fit for a younger audience. None the less, I did like the movie.
Logan as Charlie was priceless. And I will say I like the relationship between Sam and Charlie in the movie better.