Flowers For Algernon

Although this book has been around for a very long time, I only encountered it earlier this year.

It is a scientific fiction novel based on a supposed treatment given to a mentally handicapped young man (Charlie) that gave him great intelligence. This treatment had been tried earlier on mice (one being Algernon), enabling them to do cognitive tasks impossible for ordinary mice. The basis for much of the book was that the treatment was not permanent, and first, Algernon and then Charlie deteriorated back to where they were cognitively before the treatment.

The book beautifully describes what it was… show more.

I had an out-of-body experience reading this book! Because it’s written in the first person, the way the narrator—who has mental disabilities—describes his life after undergoing surgery to improve his capabilities becomes increasingly fluid and sophisticated.

The reader literally witnesses Charlie Gordon’s transformation as he becomes more engaged in his life and navigates new relationships and situations. So, when Charlie’s aptitude peaks and then declines, you grow viscerally full of dread as the language he “uses” becomes less nuanced and more broken. Algernon is a mouse that undergoes the same surgery, a detail that makes you… show more.

The thematic and character work are really what struck me with Flowers for Algernon.

The book covers themes like ‘what it means to be human’ and ‘what is intelligence’. These are questions that I not only love to ponder on in my own time, but I also studied both aspects in my university degree, so it combined one of biggest interests in a very compelling narrative.

The thematic work mostly manifests itself in our main character, Charlie. Charlie is one of the best characters I've ever read. We experience the highs of lows of Charlie's journeys, and the entire experience… show more.

This is one of the most heartbreaking yet thought-provoking books I’ve read in my life.

It is an experimental story that raises the question about intelligence and human connection and asks us whether having more knowledge is indeed a vice or virtue. For the narrator, they discover the reality of their relationship and friendship with others after gaining greater intellect before losing it once more. 

This is a classic I read back in high school. Charlie Gordon is born with an unusually low IQ. He has a job and is self-sufficient. He is offered a procedure that could greatly increase his intelligence, and eventually accepts. The experiment is initially a success and his intelligence grows, eventually surpassing everyone around him. But with his intelligence comes new-found problems, and Charlie has difficulty dealing with them. I will not ruin the ending but suffice it to say this is a heart-warming, coming-of-age story dealing with the complicated social and development issues we all experience. A must-read if… show more.

I came across this science fiction book since my children studied it in Junior High school in Canada. The protagonist in the story is a young man, 32-year-old Charlie Gordon who has a low IQ. The setting of the story is New York City in the USA in the 1960s. Charlie has battled disability since his childhood and yearns to be smart. Having observed discrimination towards people with disabilities, I was curious to find out what happens if we increase human intelligence artificially. What piqued my interest were the letters Charlie wrote. Upon reading the book, the message that resonated… show more.

I could not leave Flowers for Algernon off my list because it inspired my pseudonym and exemplifies what I value most highly in science fiction: its ability to show us the human (and non-human) mind facing new situations. 

The experience of Charles Gordon challenges assumptions about intelligence that remain relevant to society today. Neurodivergent people and people whose intelligence or learning abilities don’t measure up to a particular standard are too often ignored, overlooked, or demonized. Flowers for Algernon illustrates that our worth and the validity of our life experience do not depend on our cognitive abilities.

Charlie Gordon was born with an extremely low IQ, and that is why he was selected as the subject for an experimental surgery that scientists hope will increase his intelligence—a procedure that has been successful when tested on a lab mouse called Algernon. Charlie's intelligence grows at an alarming rate, but his new intellect comes with a great cost.  

Flowers for Algernon studies the relationship not only between the intelligent and unintelligent but between the powerful and the weak. As Charlie traverses between these two worlds—going from intellectually disabled to near genius, and then ultimately back to intellectually disabled—he both… show more.

Those who haven’t read either the short story, or novel, are missing out. This is the rags-to-riches-to-rags story of Charlie Gordon, a mentally retarded janitor. When Charlie gets tested by two scientists, he meets Algernon, a mouse that was experimented upon to increase his intelligence. Initially, Charlie is jealous of how smart Algernon is, but when the same procedure is performed on him, his own IQ triples.

Unfortunately for Charlie, his newfound intelligence brings him more complications than happiness. There are many themes at play here; it is a Frankenstein story, and more. Charlie foresees his own future in Algernon’s;… show more.

This bittersweet story about a mentally challenged man who becomes a genius moved me deeply when I first read it. With his new found intelligence comes a new, unsettling perspective on a his life.

Charlie Gordon has an I.Q. of 70. He has a job at a bakery where he considers his co-workers to be his best friends. He has his own apartment, and he attends a special school. Charlie volunteers to have an experimental operation that makes him a genius. But as his intelligence grows, Charlie discovers that his world is not the safe and happy place he’d thought… show more.