Paperback, 224 pages
English language
Published Aug. 14, 2012 by MTV Books.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a story about what it’s like to travel that strange course through the uncharted territory of high school. The world of first dates, family dramas, and new friends. Of sex, drugs, and The Rocky Horror Picture Show. Of those wild and poignant roller-coaster days known as growing up. --back cover
For ei bok. Så masse på så (relativt) få sidar. Eg skulle ynskje eg las den tidligare. Samtidig var no den rette tida.
Continuing my journey through the land of banned books. This book is written as a series of letters, and is one-sided correspondence: we only see the letters written by Charlie, the protagonist. This format is unusual and I found it to be engaging. It also means that in addition to describing the action, Charlie is constantly reflecting on it as well, talking not just about the events themselves but also what he perceives as their meaning. Charlie seemed at times to be something of an empty vessel, constantly buffeted by the stronger personalities around him. But the author delivers on why that might be the case.
Content warning Minor spoilers
I haven't read widely on the reaction and existing views on this book. At this point is is on that clearly has a passionate cult following, and has had a significant impact. I think both of these things are deserving.
It's a warm and very humane story of a sympathetic teenager's first year in high school. A series of letters written to the reader, Charlie, the point of view character, is clearly neurodivergent, and provides an 'outsiders' view of that transition period toward adulthood.
Due to sometimes long periods of time between the 'letters', the story cuts out the day-to-day life and skips straight from drama to drama, touching on all of the various complexities of teenager-hood, including sex, sexuality, drug use, anxiety, and both positive and abusive relationships. While it sometimes feels a bit like a checklist of controversial or complex topics, and Charlie's naiveté is a little tedious at times, these issues are dealt with in a mature, nuanced and think very humane way. Though there is a clear morality in play, it is not a preaching kind. To be honest, I can imagine the book being very eye-opening for teen readers, and importantly useful in its discussions and representations of sex, sexism, consent, drug use, sexuality, and more.
It writing style - explicitly wide-eyed and innocent - is occasionally excruciating, which is probably necessary, but was sometimes a bit of a grind for me, which is why I haven't gone all in on the five stars. In a minor point late on there is also a rather positive (though also ambiguous ) view of Ayn Rand, who I find to be so ignorant as to be basically evil, and which unsettles things. There's also what felt to me as rather than unnecessary abuse-and-repression angle, which I is a bit problematic because of how little it adds to the story overall.
I was also lucky to read this in an interesting manner. A friend organised an mailing list which meant that the 'letters' arrived in my inbox as messages. (On the dates written, which is probably a quirk - perhaps they should arrive the day after?) It gave the whole reading experience and extra twist, though did also sometimes have me losing track of what had come before.
