443 pages
French language
Published March 18, 2011
Des scientifiques ont réussi à rendre une souris intelligente, Algernon. Désormais ils veulent tenter l'expérience sur un homme attardé mentalement. Charlie Gordon a toujours rêvé de devenir intelligent. Au collège de Bikman, il est alors choisi pour être opérer et traiter. Les résultats dépassent tout ce qui pouvait imaginer et Charlie devient même un génie. Pourtant, alors que l'on riait hier de sa lenteur d'esprit, désormais on le haït pour son savoir et ses facilités. Mais le pire arrive : l'état de la souris Algernon s'aggrave et la souris finit par mourir. Charlie comprend alors qu'il subira le même sort et se réfugie dans un asile pour terminer sa vie. Sous la forme d'un journal intime, un récit palpitant pour une histoire originale, où science-fiction, souvenirs et tendresse s'entrecroisent. (www.ricochet-jeunes.org)
This was part of my middle school curriculum. I initially read it in seventh grade and a few times later in my early teens. This is one of the few books that I have a full memory of. It haunted me. It still does. Is it better to have something and lose it or never have it at all?
This was a great book! It is clear why it won so many awards. You know the conclusion almost immediately, but the tale is gripping and interesting enough for you to see how it gets there. Flowers for Algernon is about love, loss, and most importantly self-discovery. My only complaint is that the book is a bit slow to start with all the bad grammar but that comes with the territory. All in all recommended.
Goodness gracious. So many themes are touched on in this book, and I think I'll be haunted for some time to come by the ideas raised.
I'm a sucker for both an epistolary-style novel (which this classifies as, given the diary format) and the bildungsroman genre which I can also see reflected in the type of story it is, albeit not perfectly—so if either of those butter your biscuits well dangit bring out the tea cause these biscuits are ready to be eaten, buttered and all!!
Recommended read for many reasons, and not only because it's hard to let go of once started.
