I finished this one a short while ago. Here's my little blurb about it (posted on my blog):
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a series of letters written to an unknown person, from Charlie, a 16 year old sensitive, introspective ‘wallflower’. It covers all the usual teenage angst, but so much more than that, largely due to Charlie’s extremely analytical take on the things going on around him. My first thought when I finished it was that it was like The Catcher in The Rye, for the current generation. However, give that it’s been years since I’ve read that book I may be way off on my comparison!
I can’t say I was as taken in by it as I expected to be; maybe because I have left all that angst way behind me. What kept me interested is Charlie’s unique way of looking at things. Sure, it covers the usual teenage lifestyle, without any restraint: sex, drugs and overly dramatic friendships, but Charlie’s voice takes you into a world so much deeper than that. His frank, down-to earth, style from the observers point of view can be quite an eye-opener and thought-provoking at times, and I’m sure that there will be plenty of times that the reader will put the book down and say: ‘Wow, I never thought of that!’.
People who are after a book with an busy, fast plot would probably be quite irritated with this, as it is extremely self-indulgent. But instead of being bland and all about ‘me me me’, it actually has some interesting points to make. I can see why this is such a favourite book amongst younger people, as the message that is being put across is essentially one of: ‘It doesn’t matter what your life is like, and your background is like, and what problems you encounter in life, you are still OK.’
It’s also full of so many quotable tidbits. I really wish I’d kept a pen and paper handy while I was reading, as there were many things that I would have liked to make note of.
