The Perks of Being a Wallflower

I´ve read a book called The Perks of Being a Wallflower written by Stephen Chbosky. He was born in Pittsburgh January 25, 1970. The Perks of Being a Wallflower is his most famous novel. Other famous books he has written are Jericho and Rent. He graduated from the screenwriting program at the University of Southern California in 1992. The book was first published on February 1, 1999. Stephen is married to a girl named Liz Chbovsky. They don´t have any kids but he has a sister called Stacy.

The main character of this book is Charlie. It is quite hard to describe him, but I´ll try my best. He is not the biggest geek in school but he´s definitely not popular. Charlie is a so called wallflower.

He writes letters to an anonymous friend and tells her or him about his life and experiences. He doesn’t want this anonymous person to know who he is so he changes his and his friend’s names. In the beginning of each letter he always writes “dear friend” and in the end “love always, Charlie”. He also always mentions the date.

He is a very special and different kid. He looks at the world in another perspective than everyone else. Like in the beginning of the book he describes how he walks around in the school hallways and looks at the people and teachers. He doesn’t look at them in a mean way but in a curios way. And he wonders why they are there or who broke their heart once. Normal people would just walk through, but not Charlie. I like that, it is what makes the book as interesting as it is. He´s very open about everything and often says what he thinks. Charlie is really kind, so when he tells you how he had some anger issues when he was younger you almost can´t believe him. He is more a listener than a talker and he is always there for everyone. He has a good shoulder to cry to.

Even though he is just a freshman he takes advanced English classes. The teacher of the class, Bill gives him a lot of extra work. The extra work is books he reads and writes essays about them. Charlie doesn’t know why Bill gives him the books but he really enjoys reading. He doesn’t have an all-time favorite book, whenever he reads a new one it becomes his favorite. I decided to tell you about Charlie because he is the main character of the book. He is also the most interesting one. I really like his character. 

Eventually Charlie meets Sam and Patrick. They are stepsiblings and quite weird, which Charlie likes. They spend a lot of time eating at Big Boy and smoking cigarettes. They have a lot of smart and different opinions about the world we live in and their life. He starts hanging out more with them, until they are best friends. But Charlie has a big crush on Sam. Eventually she is more than just a crush, he falls completely in love with her. He says she´s unconditionally beautiful. Sam, Patrick and Charlie are doing crazy and fun stuff together. Charlie really likes them, because just like him they are a bit weird. Charlie even gets introduced to Sam and Patrick´s squad. He gets a closer connection with Sam and Patrick´s friends and spent a lot of time with them. They create a strong and unbreakable band. Through the book Charlie have some physical problems. He describes how he spent some time on the hospital before he wrote any of the letters. But he doesn’t give up. He fight the problems by reading books. One of the books he really liked is called “to kill a mockingbird”. I would love to read it just because he really liked the book, so it would be fun to read it myself.

He doesn’t have the strongest connection to his family. His mom and dad cares about him but they doesn’t have a strong band. But the longer you read the stronger band is he creating with his sister. He is always there for her even when she tells him to back off. His brother goes to college so you don´t really get to know him.

I really liked the part when Charlie first went to Sam and Patrick´s house. He thought it was going to be quite small but it was actually really big and modern.

When Charlie writes his first letter it is August 25 1991. And when he writes his last it is August 23 1992.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a deeply affecting coming-of-age story. It is one of the best books I´ve ever read. I think it is very powerful and you go from laughing hysterically to crying. Even though nothing big or exiting happens it never gets boring. The little moments are the one that matters, and that’s what this book is all about. It affected me in a stronger way than I thought. Sometimes I even found myself thinking “what would Charlie do in a situation like this?” Charlie made me see the world in his perspective which I sometimes use myself. I think about the book all the time and I actually think it made me a little bit happier. When I use Charlie´s perspective it makes me think. When I think and observes what happens in my surrounding I don’t care about my own physical appearance, which sometimes makes me feel bad or nervous. It is a lot more fun to observe others than observe yourself.

I think the message of this book is that you just should be yourself. That you shouldn’t let other people affect you negative and you should do things for you, and not anyone else. Like what kind of clothes you wear. What you think looks good should you wear and not what other people think looks good. Because we only live once so you should live your life like you want it yourself. I also think the writer want you to try look at the world a little bit different, like Charlie. It worked with me!

This book is also very easy to read. I understood almost everything. And you want to read it almost all the time.

Through the book there´s two quotes that´s stuck in my brain. The first one is “we accept the love we think we deserve” the one who said it was Charlies English teacher Bill. The other one wrote Charlie and it is “and in that moment, I swear we were infinite”. Whenever I think about the book those quotes is one of the first things that pops up in my head. They are beautiful and powerful sentences.

Paulina Vikström