Sophie Reviews... The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

Having watched the film adaptation prior to reading the novel, I knew somewhat of what to expect with The Perks of Being a Wallflower, but of course being aware of the differing experience of watching a film and reading a book, I was excited to see what the latter provided. And I was not disappointed. Having not read a novel for pleasure in several months, I was immediately drawn into the life of Charlie, the narrator, from page one.

The main character Charlie writes of his experiences in his first year of high school through a series of letters to an unknown person, each letter beginning; 'Dear friend'. The form of the epistolary novel (written in letters) allows the reader not only a first person view into Charlie's mind, but also his initial reactions before we are told the events that have just occurred, meaning that we are not only held in a delightful yet frustrating suspense, but it is also impossible not to read on.

Using the setting of high school, Chbosky explores many social issues, such as drug use, sex, teenage pregnancy, mental illness, death and sexual abuse, yet through the eyes of 15 year old Charlie, he manages to create a very real yet innocent response to these subjects. In fact, readers who have never been exposed to such issues may feel that they have learnt something about a world they were otherwise ignorant of.

Something I personally experienced while reading Perks was that it seemed to open up my mind. It made me constantly think about not only the realities of the life, but also the nature of life, and in essence, it's meaning. Although that may seem a little absurd, I feel that the novel opened me up to emotions that may have otherwise been locked away, and I felt more alive and more myself than I had in a while.