Books I Have Read

I read 4 books, the equivalent of 6 books.

• Scarlet Letter by Nathaniel Hawthorne- 232 pages (counts as 2 books, because of the INTENSE diction)
• The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky- 224 pages
• Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas by Hunter S. Thompson- 206 pages
• Neon Angel: A Memoir of a Runaway by Cherie Currie- 328 pages

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is not the everyday novel-- it's a epistolary novel, meaning that the book is in letter format. I don't find the novel to be the every day epistolary novel either, because the reader does not know the identity of the sender nor the receiver, even though the sender of the letters refers to himself as "Charlie." Through these letters, the reader sees scenes in Charlie's life which include drugs, sex, abuse, homosexuality, suicide, introversion, and just plain awkwardness. Some of those scenes do not involve Charlie directly, but as an observant and thoughtful wall flower, he sees all. The novel is based in Charlie's freshman year in high school, 1991-1992. His friend committed suicide the school year prior to that, causing Charlie to start high school as an outcast. He remains friendless until he meets Patrick and Sam, seniors who are step-brother and step-sister, who then befriend him and shows him a side of the world he has never seen before-- parties. Charlie quickly develops feelings for Sam, often referring to her as the most beautiful person in the world. On the flip-side of the party-life, Charlie is a very deep thinker and quite intelligent. His English teacher gives him extra assignments and becomes somewhat of a mentor for Charlie, often telling him to "participate." His writing style noticeably improves throughout the novel. I find the character to be very relate-able, because I too am a wallflower.