Here's the trailer...
Since one of my personal rules is to always read the book before watching the film, I finally got round to reading it. It's a short book and an easy read which (as I am currently on holiday) I finished in a day.
Ever since, there's been a battle going on in my mind. I'm still trying to make a firm and final decision regarding how I feel about this book. Right after I finished it I thought it was absolutely fantastic, and found myself wishing I had read it as a teenager as opposed to as a 31-year-old. I felt sure I would have loved it and totally related, much more so than The Catcher in the Rye, whose hype and universal popularity I never quite got (but that's for another review). However, as time went on and I thought about the book, I realised there were certain things that were a bit off for me.
Our protagonist is Charlie, a 15-year-old who is the wallflower of the title. The story is told in epistolary form via letters to his Dear Friend, whose identity is never revealed or even hinted at. One of the things I really enjoyed about this book is Charlie's narrative voice. The book covers a year of Charlies's life, namely his freshman year of High School, and his journey as he comes out of his shell and makes friends with Patrick and Sam, who are seniors but who nevertheless welcome him as a friend. He goes through all the rites of passage YA books usually depict; first love, parties, family issues etc.
First, let me share what I liked. I think Chbosky managed to beautifully capture the voice of an introverted, naive, but ultimately golden-hearted yet troubled teen. I found it easy to sympathise with Charlie as he seems so very understanding when circumstances and events around him are not particularly favourable. I also liked the portrayal of his teacher, Brian, who encourages his love of books and reading. We should all be so lucky to have a Brian in our lives as students! I was one of the lucky ones- thanks Mr. Hubbuck & Mr. Livingstone! :)
However, the tug-of-war in my brain was caused by the sheer amount of 'issues' in this novel. Charlie is painfully naive, even for a sheltered teenager. At a point I thought he might be autistic. At the very end of the book there's a revelation which might go some way towards explaining why Charlie is like he is. Yet after hearing about loneliness, not fitting in, depression and other mental health issues, suicide, closeted homosexuality, drug use, abortion, implied sexual harassment, domestic abuse, etc., it began to feel a bit like the author had compiled a check-list of issues that might be faced by a teenager and went checking them off one by one. Yes, obviously these things happen in real life and as such should be written about. I also acknowledge that many people are dealt the most awful possible cards in life and deal with all this and maybe even worse. My issue is that many of these things seemed to be mentioned in passing and never really addressed in enough depth.
On another completely separate issue, I then thought about the person receiving the letters. How fair is it to burden someone with such an intimate account of one's problems when they have not asked for it?
Nevertheless, I'm glad I read this book. Although I probably won't be rereading it, I can see why it's so popular with young adults. It also provides an excellent starting platform to debate a variety of issues, which is always a plus.
Favourite quotes:
"... things change. And friends leave. And life doesn't stop for anybody." - sad, yet so true.
"I guess we are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we'll never know most of them. But even if we don't have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there."
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