Stories that slay us: Flowers for Algernon
Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes
(later expanded into a novel; also filmed as Charly)
* * * * *
My philosophy is simple: Certain things are perfect the way they are. The sky, the Pacific Ocean, procreation and the Goldberg Variations all fit this bill, and so do books. Books are sublimely visceral, emotionally evocative objects that constitute a perfect delivery system.
Electronic books are ideal for people who value the information contained in them, or who have vision problems, or who have clutter issues, or who don’t want other people to see that they are reading books about parallel universes where nine-eyed sea serpents and blind marsupials join forces with deaf Valkyries to rescue high-strung albino virgins from the clutches of hermaphrodite centaurs, but they are useless for people engaged in an intense, lifelong love affair with books. Books that we can touch; books that we can smell; books that we can depend on. Books that make us believe, for however short a time, that we shall all live happily ever after.
Joe Queenan, My 6,128 Favorite Books
Answers to questions you might be asking, unless you wandered onto this site purely by accident >>>
October 24th, 2012 at 14:22
Reading this story when I was in second year high school is one of the earliest memories of sadness I have, and back then I didn’t have a proper word to describe what I felt.
October 24th, 2012 at 17:37
Here we go again with the persecution of people who use e-book readers. It’s just a matter of convenience. Try looking for a copy of The Fermata or Cryptonomicon or Kitchen Confidential at National Bookstore. Seriously. E-book readers give you a chance to read things that are out of print. Second, for those of us whose workplaces and homes are hundreds of kilometers apart (deployed government employee here), bringing an e-book reader to the province makes more sense than carrying a whole stack of books. Besides a lot of provinces, Marinduque being one of them, do not even have a decent bookstore.
Let’s not bash people for using technology so that they can be well-read. That’s like scroll-readers making fun of bound pages or stone tablet-users putting down the shift to paper for being too ephemeral.
October 24th, 2012 at 18:22
A friend brings stacks of books to and from the province. I understand him even if others don’t find sense in it. There are even times when he asks me to take care of his books while he is away. We both don’t have e-readers. We have nothing against them; we just like reading the real thing.
October 24th, 2012 at 20:16
Edrie, I am with you on this. I would never have joined Jessica’s War and Peace reading group had I not resolved that the best way to be motivated (and stay motivated) to tackle the challenge would be to get a Kindle. Downloading from Amazon was a breeze. The simple fact that I could slog through that behemoth without developing my biceps was a huge advantage. Imagine the convenience of having a library in your handbag while waiting for your flight or when you are in some provincial town miles away from a bookstore.
“Electronic books are ideal for people who value the information contained in them, or who have vision problems, or who have clutter issues, or who don’t want other people to see that they are reading books about parallel universes where nine-eyed sea serpents and blind marsupials join forces with deaf Valkyries to rescue high-strung albino virgins from the clutches of hermaphrodite centaurs, but they are useless for people engaged in an intense, lifelong love affair with books.” (Queenan)
Ah, e-book readers are an inferior class of readers, the condescending and disdainful Mr. Queenan makes that point patently clear. One cannot have “an intense, lifelong love affair with books” unless it is books made of paper. Why must there be a dichotomy in choice of content delivery? I have both e-books and physical books. I love the feel and smell of paper too, and owning a Kindle has not diminished my appreciation for a gorgeous book cover and the tactile pleasure of flipping a page. My English major friend (who is a book fiend and hounded me to get the e-book reader ) reads just as prodigiously (and discriminatingly) with the Kindle as she does paper books. In the end, it may all boil down to ease of access and portability. I wonder if Mr. Queenan sees the irony of people reading his article on electronic devices because, like me, most of them might not have easy access to the paper Wall Street Journal.
Lastly, for someone who is allergic to other people (even friends) suggesting books to him, the author has this to say: “This is how I feel about my favorite writers. If you are an old man thinking of taking early retirement, read “King Lear” first. Take lots of notes, especially when the gratuitous blinding of senior citizens starts in. If you’re a middle-aged man thinking of marrying a younger woman, consult Molière beforehand. If you’re a young man and you think that love will last forever, you might want to take a gander at “Wuthering Heights” before putting your John Hancock on that generous pre-nup.”
October 24th, 2012 at 20:34
You do know that Queenan is a humorist whose style is bitter and cynical, right? Hyperbole is usually a clue.
October 24th, 2012 at 21:10
@jessicazafra: Don’t play that “it was all for laughs” game. Come on, the text stated outright that you can’t have “an intense lifelong love affair with books” with a Kindle, Nook, or Kobo. That was intended to be demeaning not funny.
Also this: http://www.cracked.com/blog/5-great-things-co-opted-by-douchebags/
Why are people who are dedicated to reading taking part in a divisive dichotomy?
@angus25: Stack of books versus the ocean if you are deployed in a place like Jomalig, Quezon or Cagayancillo, Palawan. Hint: Water always wins. The ebook reader will be dead but you only have one thing to worry about.
October 24th, 2012 at 21:32
Read the title.
My 6,128 Favorite Books
Joe Queenan on how a harmless juvenile pastime turned into a lifelong personality disorder.
Of course you may choose to believe he counted them.
People who cling to the book-as-physical-object today are aware of the absurdity of their attachment. We know we have lost. Fortunately we can laugh at ourselves and make bitter digs at the winners.
It is not advisable to interpret opposing views as personal insults.
P.S. The War and Peace argument for e-books? We said that, most recently here.
We were asked how we read books these days. We prefer books on paper because we like that paper and ink smell and because if we hate the book we want to be able to hurl it across the room with great force (Dorothy Parker said that). However, Leo Tolstoy changed our mind about e-books. When we were reading War and Peace it was so heavy and cumbersome that even if we were getting temporary biceps from hefting it we began to wish we had an e-book reader. (Ubud, 48 Hours Later)
October 25th, 2012 at 08:33
Joe Queenan’s article made me smile; he might as well have been describing my reading habits. I too abhor “self-help” books; however, I don’t consider the bible as a “self-improvement manual” (no offense to those who do).
Also, I love my Kindle. I even sleep with my Kindle. I never leave the house without it, in fact.
That and ipod are my tools to drown out the noise around me, especially (and I cannot stress this enough) for a commuter like me.
We cannot change the world, but we sure as hell can ignore some parts of it–those parts that we can. Hey, every little bit helps.
So yeah, Kindle for my eyes, and ipod for my ears.
I like to carry my library around with me.
Having said that, we all have our own Algernons.
October 25th, 2012 at 10:47
Thanks for reminding us of Flowers for Algernon in the first place.
October 25th, 2012 at 16:44
I started reading Infinite Jest on the Kindle, but eventually went out to search for it in its traditional book format. Same thing happened with The Marriage Plot. I can’t explain why, but there are just some stories that are better read in their book formats. Or baka ako din lang yun. Anyway, I find Joe Queenan hilarious.
December 3rd, 2016 at 11:28
I’m not sure if you will see this, because it is kind of an old post, and this is totally a longshot – but my daughter just read this book after seeing the play, and she is really into it. I actually was the play myself when I was in high school, and it’s one of my favorites too. Anyway, I remember reading a version that was written ‘in Charlie’s handwriting’, and it looks like maybe you have that one, from your picture. I would like to find that version again, but book listings on this seem to have no previews at all, and no info about this. So…what version do you have? What’s the cover picture and the date? If you knew which one I was looking for, that would be awesome! I’m really hoping to surprise my daughter with this for Christmas!
December 4th, 2016 at 07:17
AndreaHidalgo: I don’t have the book you are looking for, unfortunately. I wrote that page myself, with my left hand. Good luck with your search.
P.S. Your daughter might like the story “Understand” by Ted Chiang, which has a similar premise and a hard science approach. It’s in the collection Stories of Your Life and Others, reprinted as Arrivak and Other Stories.