Salutations, traveler of The Internets! Welcome to William's Bloody Hell, so named after our founder, Sir Bloody William.
He is seen in the likeness above in a rare, 19th century woodcut. This
image was rumoured to have been
commissioned after a bout of unpleasantness
in the White Chapel district of London. Do enjoy your stay and peruse our many, varied offerings, much of which cannot be found elsewhere!
:: The Perks Of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky ::
by William the Bloody
I hated High School. Ask anyone and they'll tell you. It was the worst experience ever and I wouldn't wish it on anyone. Well, after reading Wallflower I think my mind has changed.
Wallflower is about a freshman named Charlie. He is writing letters semi-anonymously to an unknown person because he needs someone to talk to and he had heard good things about this person's ability to listen. This book collects these letters.
I'll say right off that Charlie is pretty messed up. He's very emotional and secluded. He's pretty much the kind of kid who watches life go by and only does what he is told to do without actually making anything happen himself. He realizes this, and goes about to actually participate in life, not because he thinks he should, but because someone told him he should think he should. You follow?
I enjoyed this book very much. I think the key to my enjoyment was taking the advice of Charlie's teacher and "being a filter, not a sponge." It made me realize what high school was really about. It was about taking weekend road trips with your friends to read open mic night poetry. Its headbanging to the garage bands during the Battle of the Bands. Its feeling that cheek brush up against yours, seeing those eyes look at you expectantly as you lean in for that first date kiss. It's getting everyone to sing along to song that isn't even playing, even if they don't all know the words, or too drunk to remember, so you all just laugh. ...and those little moments in between. Those moments when you hoped the clock would stop so it would go on forever. That perfect moment, on the perfect drive, with the perfect friends, on that perfect night, listening to that perfect song. The moment where we all feel "infinite".
This book may not be for everyone. As I've said, Charlie is pretty emotional in the head. He's very anxious a lot and as result can start crying. There are also a few gay moments, not really dealing with Charlie but his best friend, and I know some people just can't handle that sort of stuff at all. But this book is a very personal portrait and I think it would very difficult for someone not to connect with him at least some level. It is very well written capturing that freshmen naïveté expertly.
The one thing I didn't really like about the book was that Charlie has a sort of cathartic revelation at the end about something which happened to him in his childhood. I'm not really sure how I feel about it. It just seemed kind of odd, and to come out of almost no where, but I guess it does semi-explain his anxiety. It just didn't seem like that kind of book, to have been building up something like this mean. I don't know. Make up your own minds.
Overall, I did enjoy this book very much and I do think anyone who has ever been through high school would enjoy it.
A
