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Lisa of Troy's Reviews > The Perks of Being a Wallflower
The Perks of Being a Wallflower
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Hi All My Introverted Friends!!!!
Charlie is a freshman in high school where he meets Sam and Patrick. With the help of Sam, Patrick, and his trusty English lit teacher, Charlie tries to navigate the awkward teenage years.
The Perks of Being A Wallflower is told in a collection of letters with Charlie writing to Dear Friend, someone that he has never met before but heard was a really great listener.
The listening part really got to me because I have realized that most people don’t really listen. When someone sends me a letter, I read it over at least three times. I want to make sure that I’m not reading anything into it, not hearing what I want to hear. I want to understand what the other person is saying and not saying. It seems that nowadays people are really distracted with pings, dings, and notifications.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower started off strongly, and it made me laugh several times. Plus, it mentioned Walden, my second favorite book, quite a few times. Always bonus points for mentioning Walden.
However, this is a coming-of-age story, and this trope has been done a lot of times. The competition is fierce. The ending was unexpected and didn’t seem to fit in with the coming-of-age theme. “Cry” was mentioned 104 times! And this book isn’t even that long….
As an introvert (according to an online quiz 97% introvert), I was disappointed with Charlie. Some well-intentioned person decided to coach him on some of his social skills. However, why didn’t Charlie just come out and embrace his awkwardness? Why didn’t Charlie just say, “Hey, I am always going to come up with an excuse not to go on the Team dinners”? Not everyone is going to be the life of the party, and why can’t society stop trying to turn introverts into extroverts? We aren’t extroverts-in-training! There is nothing wrong with valuing a deep relationship with one or two people rather than spending our time enduring vapid conversations with a bunch of random strangers that we probably won’t ever see again.
2025 Reading Schedule
Jan A Town Like Alice
Feb Birdsong
Mar Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
Apr War and Peace
May The Woman in White
Jun Atonement
Jul The Shadow of the Wind
Aug Jude the Obscure
Sep Ulysses
Oct Vanity Fair
Nov A Fine Balance
Dec Germinal
Connect With Me!
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Charlie is a freshman in high school where he meets Sam and Patrick. With the help of Sam, Patrick, and his trusty English lit teacher, Charlie tries to navigate the awkward teenage years.
The Perks of Being A Wallflower is told in a collection of letters with Charlie writing to Dear Friend, someone that he has never met before but heard was a really great listener.
The listening part really got to me because I have realized that most people don’t really listen. When someone sends me a letter, I read it over at least three times. I want to make sure that I’m not reading anything into it, not hearing what I want to hear. I want to understand what the other person is saying and not saying. It seems that nowadays people are really distracted with pings, dings, and notifications.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower started off strongly, and it made me laugh several times. Plus, it mentioned Walden, my second favorite book, quite a few times. Always bonus points for mentioning Walden.
However, this is a coming-of-age story, and this trope has been done a lot of times. The competition is fierce. The ending was unexpected and didn’t seem to fit in with the coming-of-age theme. “Cry” was mentioned 104 times! And this book isn’t even that long….
As an introvert (according to an online quiz 97% introvert), I was disappointed with Charlie. Some well-intentioned person decided to coach him on some of his social skills. However, why didn’t Charlie just come out and embrace his awkwardness? Why didn’t Charlie just say, “Hey, I am always going to come up with an excuse not to go on the Team dinners”? Not everyone is going to be the life of the party, and why can’t society stop trying to turn introverts into extroverts? We aren’t extroverts-in-training! There is nothing wrong with valuing a deep relationship with one or two people rather than spending our time enduring vapid conversations with a bunch of random strangers that we probably won’t ever see again.
2025 Reading Schedule
Jan A Town Like Alice
Feb Birdsong
Mar Captain Corelli's Mandolin - Louis De Berniere
Apr War and Peace
May The Woman in White
Jun Atonement
Jul The Shadow of the Wind
Aug Jude the Obscure
Sep Ulysses
Oct Vanity Fair
Nov A Fine Balance
Dec Germinal
Connect With Me!
Blog Twitter BookTube Insta My Bookstore at Pango
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Reading Progress
February 8, 2022
– Shelved
March 29, 2022
–
Started Reading
March 30, 2022
–
Finished Reading
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I agree with your last paragraph. I think that if the book had been written at least 10-15 years later, Charlie would have been able to embrace being an introvert because then we were starting to be able to grasp that there is nothing “wrong” with introversion (honestly, people are still trying to grasp that). I read this book when I was a freshman in high school. I can still remember the girl who recommended it to me. I think that’s why this book is one of my top favorites, because of when I read it. Lately, I’ve found that if I read a newly published YA book, I can’t stand any of it. The Perks Of Being A Grownup?
Hi Paul - Good question. For my reading groups, I invite all of my friends. GoodReads only allows me to invite 1,000 people at a time so don't worry if you aren't in the first wave of invites. I also post a link so anyone (even those not my friend) can join.For the groups, I set them up one at a time so I haven't yet set up the June group.
This last readalong though, there was almost no discussion. So if this trend continues, I am probably going to discontinue.
Lisa of Troy wrote: "Hi Paul - Good question. For my reading groups, I invite all of my friends. GoodReads only allows me to invite 1,000 people at a time so don't worry if you aren't in the first wave of invites. I al..."Thanks, Lisa. I'll look forward to the invite and I'll cross my fingers that the participation for April is better than March. I hope that was simply a statistical low ebb because I thought the participation for ANIMAL FARM was excellent, entertaining, informative and educational.
Totally agree, Asha! Someone was on YouTube talked about how society in the 90's really shamed people for being introverts. With the book entitled Perks of Being a Wallflower, I really thought that this book would be a rallying cry for introverts, but sadly it was not.
We aren’t extroverts-in-training!Exactly. I love how you put that.
Hi from a fellow introvert, Lisa! Loved your thoughts on this book. "We aren’t extroverts-in-training!" - a resounding YES!!! No one tells extroverts how to start becoming more introverted, then why this bias against us... ♥
Well, your review is good but the story isn’t compelling enough for me to pick it up. Wonderful review, Lisa.
Great review. Loved extrovert in training! I definitely think introvert used to be a dirty word. I think the pandemic made the difference so obvious. All us introverts were cool with the limits while extroverts were freaking out. Honestly, my life didn’t change all that much.
Hi Rosh! Exactly correct! It seems that society still hasn't fully grasped that being an introvert is a personality trait, that it is hardwired into a person. And we don't want to change into an extrovert. Not everyone has to process things externally. But there is a big push and pressure to do things that don't feel right as an introvert. And all of the pressuring is usually a waste of resources. If I am always going to hate going to a party, why should I keep going to parties? The character in this book kind of just drinks and smokes his cares away. Maybe he should have focused that attention on some college courses? Maybe he could have written a book? The Perks of Being a Wallflower is certainly not a rallying cry for introverts.
Couldn't agree more, Kwoomac! I thought that the pandemic was a great time to slow down a little and reflect. Plus, I got to do a lot of gluten-free baking. :)
Thanks, Kat! Hope you are enjoying your latest read! :)
Nataliya wrote: " We aren’t extroverts-in-training!Exactly. I love how you put that."
Haha! Thanks, Nataliya! Hope you are enjoying your current read! :)
Whitney Erwin wrote: "Nice review, Lisa!"Thanks, Whitney! Hope you are enjoying your current read! :)
This is the most emo book ever written, and I mean both in a loving and eye rolling way
Nice review and find the points you make about listening show you're more evolved then most. In Stephen Covey's iconic "7 Habits of Highly Effective People" I feel the most important one is: Seek FIRST to understand, THEN to be understood. Where listening is concerned, we can ONLY achieve this by being IN the moment, giving our FULL attention to the person speaking and PAUSE once they're done.
I give you 100 bonus points for you giving bonus points to someone for mentioning Walden too
Walden is one of the best books of all time! It is easily the book that I have reread the most. So many great quotes!
It is also the very best book of all time! I don’t know why anyone ever wrote another book after Walden was written 💁🏻♂️
If a man walks in the woods for love of them half of each day, he is in danger of being regarded as a loafer. But if he spends his days as a speculator, shearing off those woods and making the earth bald before her time, he is deemed an industrious and enterprising citizen.PS
Does being allergic to people apply to being considered an introvert?
Rare case where I liked the movie 🎬 better
Do you have links for these reading groups or are they by invitation only? I'm most interested in LITTLE WOMEN in June.