"I am finding it hard to put into words the vast range of emotions I experienced while reading this tale of hope, perseverance, truth and humanity. When it comes to science fiction in general, I would hesitate before declaring myself a fan. The books I have enjoyed most from this genre tend to be the softer, more humanity-focused stories. Like this one. I'm a huge fan of science fiction that doesn't seem too far away; something that I could imagine being just around the corner - and that's how I felt about Flowers for Algernon.

This story is about Charlie Gordon who - with an IQ of 68 - can only hope to sweep the floors at the bakery. Well, that is until he is invited to participate in an experiment previously only tested on animals. The experiment is an operation that will gradually make him a genius and allow him to become the person he's always longed to be.

But intelligence comes with a price. Charlie learns that the people he's known for years are not what he'd always thought. Where he once associated laughter with friendship, he soon learns that it is mockery. It has been said that intelligence is mostly about having a good memory - and Charlie Gordon finds that out the hard way. Memories that had been forgotten come flooding back, bringing pain with them.

Flowers for Algernon looks at so many different things: mental disabilities, human nature, intelligence and love. It made me feel sad, angry, frustrated and hopeful. It made me shake my head at people's abhorrent behaviour, and it made me incredibly thankful for so many things-- I know how cliche that sounds but it's true.

Even though Charlie's intelligence grows to beyond that of a normal human, he is emotionally still very much a child and has to learn the things other people learned long ago. He doesn't understand what is happening when his body becomes sexually responsive to a woman and he often doesn't understand why people say one thing but mean something completely different. It's a very sad story and it made me think about so many things. The ending just about broke my heart.

| | | | "

"Author Daniel Keyes has presented a very riveting description of the human condition if it is pushed too far. I have read this book twice and I have to say that it is one of the best books I have ever read.
Enduring unbelievably cruel tortures as a child at the hands of his stepfather, including sodomy and being forced to dig his own grave-and yes, being buried alive in that same grave, Billy Milligan's mind fragmented into 24 seperate and distinct personalities. I have posted the alter ego's below from this book, so that the potential reader can see how fantastic, and at the same time, how horrifying this man's condition was at the time of his arrest for several campus rapes, which he claimed he had no rememberance of committing.
1. Billy Milligan (William Stanley Milligan) is the core personality.
2. Arthur is a sophisticated Englishman. He is an expert in science and medicine. He is in "the spot when intellectual thinking is required.
3. Ragen Vadascovinich is the "keeper of hate". Ragen is Yugoslavian, has a Slavic accent and he can write and speak in Serbo-Croatian. He controls the spot when danger is immenent.
4. Allen is a con man and a manipulator. He is the most common person to talk to the outside world. He plays the drums and paints portraits. Also the only right-handed self. He is the only personality that smokes cigarettes.
5. Tommy is the escape artist; he is often confused with Allen. He plays the tenor sax and is an electronics expert. He is also a painter, specializing in landscapes.
6. Danny is afraid of people, especially men. He only paints still lifes, saying that this was because Chalmer made him dig his own grave and buried him in it.
7. David, age eight, is the "keeper of pain". He comes to the spot to take the pain of the others.
8. Christene, age three, was the one who would stand in the corner in school when "Billy" would get in trouble. She has dyslexia, but Arthur taught her to read and write. Ragen has a special bond with her.
9. Christopher, Christene's brother, plays the harmonica.
10. Adalana, a lesbian, cooks and cleans house for the others, and writes poetry. Milligan's attorney claimed that Adalana had admitted to committing the rapes without the knowledge of Milligan or the other alters
11. Phil is a thug and took part in planning some small time crimes. Has a Brooklyn accent. Marked due to him being a criminal.
12. Kevin is a criminal planner; he helped devise a plan to rob a drug store. Labeled also because he is a criminal.
13. Walter is Australian. He calls himself a big-game hunter and has an excellent sense of direction. Was often used as a spotter. He was labeled because he shot and killed a crow.
14. April only has thoughts about destroying Billy's stepfather. Declared an Undesirable when she convinced Ragen to kill Chalmer. Luckily though Arthur was able to talk him out of it at the last second.
15. Samual is the Jewish person. He is the only one who believes in God. Was marked because he sold some of the other people's personal paintings.
16. Mark is the workhorse. He is often referred to as the zombie because he does nothing unless he is told, and will stare at walls when bored.
17. Steve is the impostor, he uses imitations for comedy. Steve never accepted that he was an MP. He was made to be undesirable because his comedy caused the family problems.
18. Lee is the prankster and his practical jokes normally get the family into trouble. He does not care about consequences for his actions. He was made an undesirable because one of his jokes put them into solitary confinement.
19. Jason is the pressure valve. He was used at the beginning to release tension for the family, but he caused them to get into too much trouble and was marked as an undesirable.
20. Bobby always dreams of leading some adventure or fixing some global crisis, but he has no ambitions and was labeled due to that fact.
21. Shawn, who is four and deaf, makes buzzing sounds so he can feel the vibration in his head. He was labeled an undesirable because there was no benefit from being deaf later on in life. (Even though he is an undesirable he was never cast into the shadows beyond the spot; he was just never allowed to take the spot.)
22. Martin is a snob, from New York. He wants things just handed over to him without earning them.
23. Timothy worked in a florist shop until he encountered a homosexual who flirted with him. He went into his own world after that.
The Teacher
24. (Note: the teacher is not an Undesirable.) The Teacher, was by far the greatest milestone to helping Billy achieve fusion. He is the sum of all other 23 people put together, and has almost total recall of all the other people's actions and thoughts.
There are several pictures in this novel of exquisitely detailed paintings his personalities created while he was incarcerated that simply dumb-founds me.
I like this book because it is REAL. I strongly recommend this book to anyone who has ever wondered how far the human mind will go to protect itself.
"