BOOKS: Flowers For Algernon

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We’re not enemies, but I do believe in protecting the innocent from the sort of moral sewage that seems to have become wallpaper in our society.
 
I seem to recall a movie, or maybe a TV special of this. It may have had the title Charley with the “C” written backwards.
 
I remember reading Flowers for Algernon. It wasn’t that bad.

Other required reading for school

Go Ask Alice
Slaughterhouse Five by Kurt Vonnegut
Stranger in a Strange Land by Robert Heinline
Lord of the Flies
Diary of Anne Frank

this was in the 70’s…I don’t recall any mounting protest for any of these books.
 
Can you show me exactly where I called Flowers for Algernon 'moral sewage?" Did I specifically name the book?

DId you bother to read my other posts where I said I had read the short story?
 
Nepenthe said:
I myself read the full novel Flowers for Algernon in first or second grade, and oh yes, it moved me to tears of both wonder and joy. I learned immense lessons about compassion, humility, and living the best you can while you can. I -needed- those messages, and I should hope someone nearing 8th grade is more than ready for what treasures this book has to offer, in either full or shortened form.

As to the ‘sexuality’ objections, they didn’t bother me at that age or any other - they made the protagonist more human, and once he has a true intellect and sense of social morality, he deals with it appropriately too, rather than sliding into over-scrupulosity and fear, he understands that such is how the body functions. And if your daughter is in late 7th or about to start 8th grade, chances are she’s had some experience with her own ‘nocturnal emissions’ as well (yes, females have them too) since menarche is very likely any time now! :o

Eheh, sorry to be the bearer of a little traumatic news there, perhaps, but it deals with the flesh as it is, natural and no sin.

It is a beautiful and heartbreaking read, as well as groundbreaking. At that age, don’t discourage discovery, please! Now is the very best time of all to read and learn and grow, though all times are wonderful.
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I agree wholeheartedly. I read it in 8th grade and I still remember how sad it was. You make an excellent point - it is the character’s reaction to the experience that is important. The personal growth that results. Life it like that. Reading a fictional account and hopefully being able to grasp the character’s reaction and learning experience is much better than having the experience yourself, IMO. That’s what good/great literature does. It’s what makes it great. We learn, we understand, we grow as human beings. And 8th graders are matuing fast, as you pointed out.

I would never presume to tell someone how to raise their kids, but I would suggest that the parent try to focus on the total story, the message, rather than just focus on one section of the book. I know this is really hard for some folks to do (my mom is one of them), so I do understand.
 
Sailor_Kenshin said:
We’re not enemies, but I do believe in protecting the innocent from the sort of moral sewage that seems to have become wallpaper in our society.
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So you think book banning is the order of the day? The books I read in high school (listed in an earlier post) had no affect on me. I knew it was fiction…some touched my heart as Flowers for Algernon did…it was sad. So was the movie “Awakenings”…reminded me alot of FFA.

I don’t think we keep our children in a fish bowl.
 
A little more care is needed in this pagan society as to what level of degradation is ‘all right’ to inflict on youngsters.
 
My daughter was assigned this book as summer reading before starting 8th grade this year. I had never read it before, but trusted our charter school to make reasonable choices in literature. My daughter was uncomfortable with it and didn’t think it was an appropriate book for middle graders. Of course she didn’t tell me this until she was 85% or so through the book (It is the novel version, but she is a fast reader). Then she asked if she could be excused from the rest of the book, but I figured she’d probably gotten past all the objectionable sections, and told her to just finish the last little bit. (I know the basics of the story ending.) However, I will be talking to administration once school is back in session. The world is full of countless amazing works to read. There is no reason not to assign something age appropriate.
 
PenelopeMcG said:
My daughter was assigned this book as summer reading before starting 8th grade this year. I had never read it before, but trusted our charter school to make reasonable choices in literature. My daughter was uncomfortable with it and didn’t think it was an appropriate book for middle graders. Of course she didn’t tell me this until she was 85% or so through the book (It is the novel version, but she is a fast reader). Then she asked if she could be excused from the rest of the book, but I figured she’d probably gotten past all the objectionable sections, and told her to just finish the last little bit. (I know the basics of the story ending.) However, I will be talking to administration once school is back in session. The world is full of countless amazing works to read. There is no reason not to assign something age appropriate.
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Welcome to CAF! 👋

Yeah, 8th grade seems a little early for this book to me, too.

Just FYI, this thread is nearly 5 years old. Although, a remarkably high percentage of the previous posters are still here posting away. 🙂
 
I would agree that 8th grade is early for this. It is a very good book but it has some “adult themes” - for example one of the subplots is Charlie overcoming some hangup over sex from his overbearing mother, and what ultimately helps him to overcome this is to have meaningless sex with a woman he doesn’t love.
 
I think the moral value of both the original short story and the novel is that it allows the reader to feel a little of what it is like to live as a mentally retarded man - the casual cruelties and pranks and thoughtless comments by co-workers, the desire for connection, the constant fear of being in situations he doesn’t fully understand. I read the novel (and saw the film adaptation, “Charly”) when I was in 6th grade (by which time I was well aware that people had sex, and sometimes had sex with people they shouldn’t), and I don’t remember being titillated by the sex scenes at all, or suddenly being tempted to have illicit sex with a divorced woman.

What I remember still, after all these years, and what I think most people remember, is the profound sense of shame and sorrow at how society treats those who are mentally handicapped, and the deep sense of empathy for Charly’s human dignity, and the tragedy of his brief period of hyperintelligence and eventual decline, which can also be seen as a metaphor for dementia and Alzheimers. I think it would be difficult for any young person who connected to the book to mock or belittle someone in Charly’s position. I don’t think the short story or novel are immoral, quite the opposite because it leads us to value human dignity in those who are different.
 
Personally, I LOVED that book, I read it a few years ago, and it was really moving and inspirational in its own way.
 
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