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Flowers for Algernon
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Flowers for Algernon
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Flowers for Algernon
Ebook290 pages5 hours

Flowers for Algernon

Rating: 4 out of 5 stars

4/5

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Currently unavailable

Currently unavailable

About this ebook

 Winner of both the Hugo and Nebula Awards, the powerful, classic story about a man who receives an operation that turns him into a genius...and introduces him to heartache.
 
Charlie Gordon is about to embark upon an unprecedented journey. Born with an unusually low IQ, he has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that researchers hope will increase his intelligence-a procedure that has already been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

As the treatment takes effect, Charlie's intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment appears to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance, until Algernon suddenly deteriorates. Will the same happen to Charlie?

 
LanguageEnglish
PublisherMariner Books
Release dateDec 1, 2007
ISBN9780547539638
Author

Daniel Keyes

Daniel Keyes (1927 - 2014) was born in Brooklyn, New York, and received his B.A. and M.A. degrees from Brooklyn College. He was the author of eight books, including the classic Flowers for Algernon, first published in 1966, which would go on to sell more than five million copies and inspire the Oscar-winning film Charly. He also worked as a merchant seaman, a fiction editor, a high school teacher, and as a university professor at Ohio University, where he was honored at Professor Emeritus in 2000. He won the Hugo and Nebula awards for his work and was chosen as an Author Emeritus by the Science Fiction and Fantasy Writers of America in 2000.

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Reviews for Flowers for Algernon

Rating: 4.1656410522976355 out of 5 stars
4/5

5,201 ratings213 reviews

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  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    (Original Review, 1980-09-17)Fall from grace? I didn't interpret the book/story at all like ICL.REDFORD@SCORE did. I don't think Keyes intended it to appeal to anti-scientific types either. Other than conveying a sense of what makes up the 'guts of intellect', the book is merely trying to get across the notions that intellectual achievement is useless without compassion and that some scientific methods applied to human subjects are immoral at best, which are obviously true. To take this as an indictment of all science is going far beyond what I feel Keyes intended; however, I'm afraid that many readers did take it this way. As far as the 'treatment of the human condition' is concerned, it is obvious that anything that SF produces which could be considered as warranting study in schools would have to treat the human psyche in some way. A complicated story about gadgets just doesn't fill the bill. I've come across remarkably few full-blown studies of human emotions in SF. More often than not, the author catapults himself into another world and spends the majority of the book creating new characters, more scenery and the like, with a liberal sprinkling of gadgets. Also, the standard SF device of 'creating wonder' doesn't fill the bill either. There's only so much wonder that one can stomach. The Algernon story struck me as one of the better psychological studies I've read, SF or otherwise. I agree that the endless re-hashing of a story into multiple media is pointless.Daniel Keyes was not a total outsider to SF, only almost. He did write some other things, I saw them mentioned last time I read "Flowers for Algernon". I think it was in "Space Mail" that I saw the mention of other works. There are a number of other authors who have been "forgotten" except for one work. Consider Walter Miller, Jr. and "Canticle for Leibowitz", Stanley G. Weinbaum and "A Martian Odyssey", or even Edgar Pangborn. These were not outsiders but I would bet that most people can't name more than one work by these people. Keyes wasn't an outsider, he just wasn't prolific. He may also have found other ways to occupy his time, he wouldn't be the first. The whole "Flowers for Algernon" thing is a depressing reminder of how closed SF is. Can anyone remember anything else that Daniel Keyes ever wrote? As far as I know he was a complete outsider and yet his one sf short story became a book, a play, a movie, and now a musical.The only one of us who went anywhere near that far was Arthur C. Clarke, and he was largely carried along by Stanley Kubrick. And what are easily the most widely taught SF books in high school and college? "1984" and "Brave New World". Why is this? Because they tell us something about the human condition, to use that favorite phrase of language teachers. In Charlie's fall from genius to idiot Keyes found a good modern way of telling the fall from grace, and so touched people who care nothing for science or the future. Does Ringworld have anything as universal? Or "Dune" with its melodramatic intrigue and bogus ecology? I would say that a story like Tom Godwin's "The Cold Equations" does, or LeGuin's "The Dispossessed". They'll be remembered when Asimov and Heinlein are as archaic as Verne.SF = Speculative Fiction.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    A wonderful idea for a short story, but it makes for a longwinded novel. There are no surprises or twists to this one--it's clever idea and a fairly straightforward morality study. Overall, an interesting idea that simply goes on for a little too long.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Engaging but rather simple tale of mental transformation. The most interesting aspect is whether the hero gets emotional maturity along with his enhanced intellect: mostly he doesn't but then suddenly he does. Well he has a brief flash of loving sex, which is not quite convincing. He still has very little insight into other people. At his best more like an idiot savant or Asperger's case. A book for youngsters , I'd say - and it was in fact my daughter's recommendation.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    Beautiful book.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I've read the short story version of this story. It was sad and heartbreaking. It was a story of a man who has Mental Retardation and dreamt of being smart and in the end it cost him. A must-read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Borderline 4/5.

    Utterly fantastic, simple, inspiring and tugged at my heartstrings.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    A wonderful book.Charlie, mentally retarded adult gets an operation that greatly increases his IQ. He then goes through it again backwards.As Charlie gets smart he has to deal with the realization that his "friends" had been laughing at him and treating him as a joke. As he gets smarter he has trouble relating to people.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    What an excellent book that I never read when I was young! My sons have to read it for their November book club and I decided to read it as well, though I was familiar with the story. Glad I did. I think Keyes did a fanstastic job exploring the original and changed Charlies. I imagine that if I had read it at say, age 14, much of the middle might have breezed over my head as Keyes intended.

    And props to him for sticking to his original ending. Tragic...but necessary.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Excellent science fiction. Well thought out and has several meaningful concepts. One of the best books I have read.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    So sad. Good, but so sad in the end it's painful. A mentally handicapped man undergoes an operation that makes him super-smart, but only for a little while. Long enough for him to fall in love, and know what he might have been missing out on. Was it worth it? If you're looking for something to make you cry, look no further.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Such a sad, yet intriguing novel that began as a science fiction short story. Algernon is a laboratory mouse who undergoes surgery to artificially increase his intelligence. After seeing success with Algernon, the operating doctors look for a human test subject and find Charlie, a mentally disabled man. As Charlie's intelligence increases, his personal relationships begin to deteriorate. Charlie then detects a flaw in the surgery, as Algernon and he eventually regress to their original states.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Simply put: Amazing Book. This is the type of book that I think should be considered as required reading for high school. Flowers for Algernon brings all sorts of questions forward about intelligence, friendship, morals, how to live and what's truly important in life. I would recommend this book to anyone.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    This book was really quite clever. The story was obviously fictional and felt a little hokey at times but overall was something enjoyably new. I wasn't attached to the main character which is why I gave it a middle of the road rating. I felt there was something lacking to the story that would have made it more profound... but I can't put my finger on what that might be. I enjoyed this book and give a big thumbs up for such an original idea.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    While not a perfect novel, Flowers for Algernon is pretty dang close. I loved this book.Every once in a while, when I read the last page of a great novel, I want to cry. This book did that. I closed the book and my vision blurred. I had to take a little walk and clear my head. So powerful. This book is pushing 55 years old - and is remarkably current. Keyes glosses over actual science enough that there are no glaring inaccuracies. It's enzymes!I cant believe I didn't read this before now.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I always worry, when picking up a book I "missed" reading for school in my early years the way many people did, that I'll be disappointed - that I'll be too far past the stage in my life when the novel would have been revelatory and impactful and I just won't appreciate it. This has happened in the past and I know it will happen again, but I shouldn't have worried about Flowers for Algernon; this is one I'm sure I'll be thinking about on and off for quite a while.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    The language was a bit uncomfortable at times. Looking back to when it was written, 1959, that was the language of the time and the book acknowledges the changing of attitudes. It was very interesting to be inside Charlie's head.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Brilliant, inspiring and moving tale of a simpleton undergoing brain-enhancement surgery and training.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    I believe this may be the greatest science fiction work ever written. Beautiful written, yet horrifying in its implications, Flowers for Algernon is the story of a mentally handicapped man who is offered a chance to participate in an experiment to increase his intelligence. You know where the book is leading as you read it. There are no surprises. Yet it is this inevitability that gives the story its power and sadness. On one level I hated this work, because you desperately feel for the main character. But I also recognize its excellence.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A sad story, but maybe real someday. Written with high sensibility and with an innocent insight of life, seen through the eyes of Charlie, a special main character. You'll fall in love with him and his innocence.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    This is about a boy with a really low IQ who underwent surgery to increase it. It is written is his point of view through his "progress reports."Loved it! It was a bit hard to get in to it, but the story really catches you. A very interesting read. Five out of five.
  • Rating: 2 out of 5 stars
    2/5

    Eight out of ten.

    Charlie Gordon, IQ 68, is a floor sweeper, and the gentle butt of everyone's jokes, until an experiment in the enhancement of human intelligence turns him into a genius. But then Algernon, the mouse whose triumphal experimental transformation preceded his, fades and dies, and Charlie has to face the possibility that his salvation was only temporary.

  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    I just recently finished the classic Fahrenheit 451 and now I have stumbled upon Flowers for Algernon. I must have taken remedial English courses in high school without even realizing it. Because it wasn't until college when I read books like [The Handmaids Tale], [Necromancer], [A Scanner Darkly], and [A Brave New World]. Well I digress, Flowers for Algernon was a wonderful tale. It is about a young man with an incredibly low IQ (70) who is transformed into a genius (IQ of 190, quite close to mine I might add), through the marvels of medical science. Keyes is masterful in the way he portrays this first person narrative, first through the eyes of a mentally challenged individual and then through the eyes of a genius. Although the book was written back in the 60's this is a timeless tale told with vivid imagery. I will be sure to check out some of Keyes other works. What a wonderful world there is out there. I guess I need to look around every once and awhile.
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    an all around great book of a mentally challenged individual who gets an operation that supposobly should make him "smarter" and his adventures along the road to become smarter with his trusty pet mouse algernon
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    this book is about a young mentally handicapped man, charlie gordon, who opts to have an experimental surgery to 'make him smart'. algernon is the mouse that shows successful results, and with high expectations, charlie develops quickly into a genius. written from a journal perspective, we can see the mental and emotional changes that charlie undergoes. a touching story, with a clean and simple writing style.i mostly liked the story line and character development, although the midpoint of the book made me feel like the author was reaching beyond his own intellectual means and it sounded forced, at times.i'd give it a 3.5/5 stars, definitely worth reading, but it didn't blow me away.
  • Rating: 3 out of 5 stars
    3/5
    I was told this was a good book. I didn't believe it. I was then forced to read it as an assignment for school. Well lets just say this, I LOVED THIS BOOK!!!!!!! I couldn't put it down. The way he goes through life with the struggles but still makes the best of it. How can he go through the pain of loosing everything he knows just to proove a scientific operation a sucess. Then the sad part when Charlie's inteligence declines and he goes to the Warren State Home. He makes this decision all on his own knowing it's the best. This book was no bore. It was amazing and I wish I didn't have doubts about this book in the begining and read it with a more open mind.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Keen and heartfelt; only rarely have I encountered a book in which I felt so in tune with the character. Every insight and anguish felt like my own. I've read the negative reviews on Amazon and found them to be extremely ironic and written (probably) mostly by children. I'm not sure why they give this book to high-school and younger students, as they are unlikely to understand to any depths the psychological aspects of this book. This isn't a fast-paced adventure novel, and it definitely shouldn't be!
  • Rating: 4 out of 5 stars
    4/5
    A man who was once mentally retarded must face his gradual return to his former state when the astounding results of an experimental surgery that increased his intelligence proves only temporary.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Charlie Gordon is a grown man with the mental capacities and personality of a child. He undergoes an experimental operation to "make him smart" and this book is the journal of his day-by-day progress. I have just finished the book and am completely taken by it. It begins in stilted and episodic fashion but, after the climactic turning point exactly mid-way through, the story can make its way into one's heart as empathy for Charlie Gordon grows and one cheers him on. The ending is magnificent as he engages reality completely, with full insight and understanding, and heroically confronts his tragic limitation. He is a full-fledged hero not to be forgotten. Five stars on the basis of the ending alone. And three hankies. Read it for its wonderful insights into life and human nature.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    Flowers for Algernon is one of those books that really makes you think about the human condition. It is a story about the importance of emotions, of feeling good about yourself no matter who you are, and most importantly, about the ability to laugh at yourself, because if you can laugh at yourself, it does not matter if others do.Charly is a retarded adult. He works as a janitor at a bakery by day, and attends a school for retarded at night. He really, really works hard to be smart like other people. Then he is chosen to become a subject in a neuropsychilogical experimental surgery, which makes him smarter really fast. But becoming smarter he also becomes more self-aware, and looses his ability to enjoy life and laugh at himself.It is an emotional roller-coaster ride to read Flowers for Algernon. First I learned to love Charly and his efforts to get friends by becoming smarter. Then, as he got smarter, I started to despise, almost hate him because of what an "arrogant, self-centered, antisocial bastard" he became. But, in the end, I was still heart-wrenched as he began to see the errors in his ways.This really is a book about change. How we can all change for the better. But we also must think very carefully, which better it is that we strive towards.One of the few books that has made me cry. Truly thought-provoking.
  • Rating: 5 out of 5 stars
    5/5
    i absolutely loved this story i thought it was great. i think that everyone should read this book. it almost made me cry a couple times. i think that this story is so powerful.