2015 Reading Challenge [Closed] discussion

Hey all!

I'm only posting this now to see what others are thinking for week 3. Since I happen to have this book in my possession from my wife's collection, and saving costs on books, I figured I'd give it a read.

It's a fantastic epistolary novel! The thing about the book is that you might or might not be able to relate to the main character, the way the book is written allows the reader to really attempt and comprehend what's happening with the main character, not to spoil anything.

Fantastic book and surprisingly fantastic movie! Dont hesitate to watch the movie after reading book :)

I think I've cemented in my head that this will be on my list of "to reads" for sure. It may or may not be for week 3, but I'll keep an eye on it ;)

I'm not worried about fleshing out the list to bad... my wife works at a library, I'm gold ;)

I finished it two days ago and it was fantastic. Actually the main point that made me love this book was the poem. Also movie adaptation was pretty good too.

It is hard for me to talk about things I have read sometimes. Usually this is because of the nature of the book/story. This story was difficult for me for one reason: I see myself emulated in the book quite well.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower chronicles the journey of a young freshman boy as he faces all of the hardships that comes with being a new high school student. On top of that, he faces the dangerous cycle we call life; both the good and the bad and all that entails. From loss to love and to loss again, Charlie faces challenges many of us as adults can take for granted. While not all of us have had or necessarily desire the day to day events that occur for Charlie, we see in his journey much of what we have or could have gone through in our years as students.

For me, I see myself in Charlie. No I never smoked or did drugs, and no I've never been with someone other than my wife, I feel my life reflected in his story. Sometimes we aren't all outgoing or as personable as the people Charlie came across, and sometimes we face battles too hard for our minds or our emotions to handle and so lose grip on reality for awhile. I think that's what makes this book so special is that it speaks for those of us who weren't popular, who were or weren't the most observant, or even weren't capable of making friends easily.

Needless to say, the story feels like a long, sad journey down a road traveled more often then most of us realize. Some of us, however, are Charlie in our own ways. As one of the characters states: "Your a wallflower", and that's who this book is geared to.

I'm reading The Perks this week, someone with me? :)

I'm reading The Perks this week, someone with me? :)

I really enjoyed this book, maybe because I consider myself a wallflower too and could relate to some parts. But I think even non-wallflowers will enjoy this too.

One of the few books whose movie interpretation was done well. I enjoyed both.

this. is. a. beautiful. book.

I think one of the big reasons that this movie held up wonderfully when compared to the book was that Stephen Chbosky actually directed the movie as well!

This is my Week 3 book too (I'm jumping around a bit with my reading order) - I started it yesterday & am really enjoying it so far!

I forgot to come back after I finished this - wow, I absolutely adored this book. So beautiful.

I just wish I knew who the "friend" was that he was writing, and if the friend ever wrote Charlie back.

Katie,

I always wondered who the friend was too! I read this for the book that took place in high school

I really loved this story. Like some of you, I always wondered who he wrote too. There are theories out there, but none of them that really take me. I read this book in an hour and a half. It is an easy read and I related to Charlie very much.

Funnily enough, it never really interested me who the 'friend' was. I didn't really see it as being important, more a literary device than anything - or just someone anonymous for Charlie to pour out his heart to.

I read it last year and loved it.

I read this book a few months ago and really loved it. Based on some comments I might watch the movie soon.

Jody wrote: "Funnily enough, it never really interested me who the 'friend' was. I didn't really see it as being important, more a literary device than anything - or just someone anonymous for Charlie to pour ..."

I didn't think there was a friend. I could be extremely wrong in my interpretation and my theory may be completely off but I thought the letters may have been something that he was advised to do by his therapist as a way of expressing himself and his feelings so that he wouldn't have to keep it all bottled up. I could be very wrong about that but it does seem like the kind of thing that a therapist might ask a patient to do like write letters or keep a diary/journal. The letters might have never been read by anyone and it was just a way to let him get his feelings and thoughts off his chest.

Again, I don't know if that's correct or not but that was my interpretation.

I loved this book though and the movie! They were both fantastic and I could really identify with the characters!