Throwback Thursday – Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes

Throwback Thursday is a weekly feature to highlight books from the past. It can honestly be anything as long as its not a book that is a current release. Maybe its a book that I read and reviewed and just want to highlight, maybe its a book I read before I started reviewing or maybe its a book that has a sequel coming out soon or maybe its a backlist book from my TBR that I just want to revisit and decide if I will make the time to read. Pretty much, anything goes. 

This week’s choice is Flowers for Algernon by Daniel Keyes.

This is a classic book that many people read as an assignment for school. I wasn’t one of those, so read it with the Fantasy Faction book club a while back. It’s a really interesting book and concept. After scientists found they had increased the IQ of a mouse with an experimental procedure, they decided, “Hey, let’s get a human!”. They take someone with a low IQ and do the same experimental procedure on him as they did on the mouse, because, why not? We get journal entries from Charlie, the human test subject, and it is interesting to see and read his thoughts as his IQ, vocabulary, ability to verbalize and reason all clearly change.

It’s a short read, and is both intriguing and can be a bit emotional. Definitely recommend taking the time to go check it out if you haven’t already.

The story of a mentally disabled man whose experimental quest for intelligence mirrors that of Algernon, an extraordinary lab mouse. In diary entries, Charlie tells how a brain operation increases his IQ and changes his life. As the experimental procedure takes effect, Charlie’s intelligence expands until it surpasses that of the doctors who engineered his metamorphosis. The experiment seems to be a scientific breakthrough of paramount importance–until Algernon begins his sudden, unexpected deterioration. Will the same happen to Charlie?