Reading Flowers for Algernon awoke all the emotions in me. There was a time before reading Flowers for Algernon when I was a robot of a reader and had few if any emotional reactions to stories; now, after having read it, I cry at the drop of a hat in a story. One of the lines that completely broke me was “I can’t help feeling that I’m not me. I’ve usurped his place and locked him out the way they locked me out the bakery.”
welcome to the channel Evie! It’s such a beautifully crafted story. My empathy for characters definitely fluctuates but in this book it was through the roof!😂 maybe I’ll have tears reading a book one day, haven’t quite got there yet 😭😂
You’ve got to read Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Housseini, it reaaalllyyy tugs at the heart strings in a way most books don’t for me. Really enjoyed Flowers for Algernon, but it didn’t tear me up like this book
I just finished reading it, still processing it. And emotional horror, mentally horrific and a bit psychological horror. IT is a psychological case of psychological horror.
Ugh Billy! You’re making me want to read more books! Love it! Adding this and notes from underground to my wish lists 🤘you may have even twisted my arm into reading LOTR.
You won’t regret reading any of them! Lord of the rings was a journey of high and lows for me but overall I’m glad I read it. I will make a review of notes from underground as it was 🤯
@@DylanDoesBooks yeah you delivered with such conviction and I just froth authenticity, so I’ve added it to my cart and it will definitely be part of my next purchases. Booktube and discord are just so dangerous. A real threat to my savings haha.
That's really nice to hear honestly Victoria! Honesty and authenticity is something I value deeply and I aim to be as honest as possible on my channel. Since Booktube my reading list has blown up so I feel your pain! I had to buy a second hand kindle just so I could buy e-books cheap 🤣
@@DylanDoesBooks hahaha. I’m such a dick, I’ve tried to read Ebooks but I just don’t engage as much as physical ones... but now I’m in this brilliant conundrum of having to buy better and bigger shelves. And I say have like it’s a bad thing but I LOVE it! 🤘💙
It is one day a dream of mine to have a home library! Big books shelves and lots of books is the dream 🤣 I don’t mind e readers too much though I’ll always prefer physical. Physical books are just a bit pricey for me to buy new so I try to find second hand or e book first.
I first read the short story version in eighth grade. (Ya know, the novel is... a bit too spicy for school.) At first I wasn't really interested since we have been learning about the Rorschach test basically the entire first section of the year. After just a few weeks of reading it in class I friggin loved that story, and I literally could not stop ranting about how I ship Charlie and Alice. But seriously, if you asked anyone, they'd say I ship it, I occasionally started miniature wars on who shipped it harder. Even now, I'm still a big shipper of that ship. 😅I shed a few tears when Charlie realized that people had been making fun of him. It honestly impacted me more than the ending. We also watched the 1968 version of the movie. (Same reason for why we didn't read the original novel, same thing for why we didn't see the 2000 movie. Which I watched later, and enjoyed it quite a bit. Personally, I prefer the 2000 movie.) Anyways, that's my experience with Flowers for Algernon! It's a really touching story and will always hold a place in my heart!
I cried so hard while reading this book that I woke up my boyfriend. He held me while I sobbed through the last chapter. One of my favorite reading experiences
Yip, just finished this...talk about making a grown man cry! Slept with it under my pillow the night I finished it, best Sci-Fi read this year. Highly recommend it to anyone, a book that will probably live with you forever once read...like John Williams' 'Stoner'. Great review.
@@DylanDoesBooks No spoilers but...prepare yourself, make sure you have your house in order before reading 'Stoner' and by house I mean LIFE! Read it in February...still reeling.
This book fucking TORE ME DOWN so much emotionally that after finishing it at night at the time and "attempted" to go to sleep, my mind was still swirling with almost _fanfic-ish_ ideas and different scenarios for the book that I couldn't even close my tear-filled eyes. One of the scenarios is that Charlie took in a little girl on the autism-spectrum and cared for her while he was still "Smart Charlie". And when his mind begins to deteriorate, he even shuts-out the little girl, giving her to either Strauss or Nemur to take care of her; asking them to not let her see him in "this way" when he inevitably goes back to his old self. There would be an epilogue where years later, the little girl, now all grown up and is relatively "cured" by the newly revised operation, now works at the Warrens and becomes Charlie's new main caretaker. Just coming up with the dialogue that might happen between both of them in my head made me absolutely ugly cry at 3 AM... 😭😭🥲🥲
Just finished the book and came back to say thanks for the recommendation. Amazing book. I have one request though can you make a video about a good gothic horror book.
I am happy you enjoyed it Herb! If you have discord, I have a server, we're small but relatively active if you ever want to discuss anything! In terms of gothic horror, the only two that comes to mind that I have read are Haunting of Hill House and Woman in Black. Maybe Frankenstein too? I shall make a note mate and if you have any books to recommend in the genre then let me know!
@@herbertwestiron I have not heard of The Monk, would it be the one by Matthew Lewis by any chance? Dracula I have not read but I'm sure I will one day.
You should read The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn. It is what the movie (and subsequent TV series) Limitless are somewhat loosely based on. But while Limitless is given the slick upbeat Hollywood treatment, the book has a sobering ending. And you should also check out Understand by Ted Chiang. It's a novella, with similar themes, but taken to an even further (albeit plausible) extreme with superlative cognition engendering low-key superhuman abilities. But it also has a fairly dark ending. Those dark endings seem to be a recurring theme with works like this. Oh, and as for Flowers for Algernon, you should read both the short story (novella) and the full length novel. In that order. They both focus on slightly different things, and reading both lent an added dimension to my appreciation of Keyes' masterwork.
Reading Flowers for Algernon awoke all the emotions in me. There was a time before reading Flowers for Algernon when I was a robot of a reader and had few if any emotional reactions to stories; now, after having read it, I cry at the drop of a hat in a story. One of the lines that completely broke me was “I can’t help feeling that I’m not me. I’ve usurped his place and locked him out the way they locked me out the bakery.”
welcome to the channel Evie!
It’s such a beautifully crafted story. My empathy for characters definitely fluctuates but in this book it was through the roof!😂 maybe I’ll have tears reading a book one day, haven’t quite got there yet 😭😂
I feel I'm normally desensitized to tragedies in books but good lord this book made me cry ugly tears!
Such a fantastic story. I need to read it again sometime.
This book broke my heart at the end.
Same! Really pulls on those heart strings.
This book was the one that probably most deeply impacted my life and way of thinking of all I've read - great review!
Thank you for those kind words! I will have to read it again sometime but it's still up there with one of the best I have read
Hardest cry I ever had reading a book. Was glad I was alone in my bedroom so no one could hear me. Masterpiece.
I re read it this year. Doesn't punch as hard the second time, but there is so much more depth the second time. A true masterpiece
@@DylanDoesBooks BTW, I like the original shorter version better than the book-length expansion, personally.
You’ve got to read Thousand Splendid Suns by Khalid Housseini, it reaaalllyyy tugs at the heart strings in a way most books don’t for me. Really enjoyed Flowers for Algernon, but it didn’t tear me up like this book
I looked up a synopsis and I am not sure it would be the type of book I enjoy, though I will not rule it out, it might surprise me!
I just finished reading it, still processing it. And emotional horror, mentally horrific and a bit psychological horror. IT is a psychological case of psychological horror.
It certainly gets heavy towards the end. I did a second reading last year and it hits just as heavy a second time
Ugh Billy! You’re making me want to read more books! Love it! Adding this and notes from underground to my wish lists 🤘you may have even twisted my arm into reading LOTR.
You won’t regret reading any of them! Lord of the rings was a journey of high and lows for me but overall I’m glad I read it. I will make a review of notes from underground as it was 🤯
@@DylanDoesBooks yeah you delivered with such conviction and I just froth authenticity, so I’ve added it to my cart and it will definitely be part of my next purchases. Booktube and discord are just so dangerous. A real threat to my savings haha.
That's really nice to hear honestly Victoria! Honesty and authenticity is something I value deeply and I aim to be as honest as possible on my channel. Since Booktube my reading list has blown up so I feel your pain! I had to buy a second hand kindle just so I could buy e-books cheap 🤣
@@DylanDoesBooks hahaha. I’m such a dick, I’ve tried to read Ebooks but I just don’t engage as much as physical ones... but now I’m in this brilliant conundrum of having to buy better and bigger shelves. And I say have like it’s a bad thing but I LOVE it! 🤘💙
It is one day a dream of mine to have a home library! Big books shelves and lots of books is the dream 🤣
I don’t mind e readers too much though I’ll always prefer physical. Physical books are just a bit pricey for me to buy new so I try to find second hand or e book first.
P.S. please if you get a chance put some flowrs on Algernons grave in the back yard.
I first read the short story version in eighth grade. (Ya know, the novel is... a bit too spicy for school.) At first I wasn't really interested since we have been learning about the Rorschach test basically the entire first section of the year. After just a few weeks of reading it in class I friggin loved that story, and I literally could not stop ranting about how I ship Charlie and Alice. But seriously, if you asked anyone, they'd say I ship it, I occasionally started miniature wars on who shipped it harder. Even now, I'm still a big shipper of that ship. 😅I shed a few tears when Charlie realized that people had been making fun of him. It honestly impacted me more than the ending. We also watched the 1968 version of the movie. (Same reason for why we didn't read the original novel, same thing for why we didn't see the 2000 movie. Which I watched later, and enjoyed it quite a bit. Personally, I prefer the 2000 movie.) Anyways, that's my experience with Flowers for Algernon! It's a really touching story and will always hold a place in my heart!
I cried so hard while reading this book that I woke up my boyfriend. He held me while I sobbed through the last chapter. One of my favorite reading experiences
Dragon Heart kills me mate. Great video! Really thought through analysis. I'm intrigued by this book now👌🏻
Literally cried for like an hour. It's worth a read mate and it's short too.
Oh not me. I am a Gods Damned River when it comes to the sad moment in stories!
I think you would like it Shrimp, though if you cry easily you might drown reading this 😂
Yip, just finished this...talk about making a grown man cry! Slept with it under my pillow the night I finished it, best Sci-Fi read this year. Highly recommend it to anyone, a book that will probably live with you forever once read...like John Williams' 'Stoner'. Great review.
Thank you for the kind comment my friend. John Williams' Stoner is on my list to read in March, very much looking forward to it!
@@DylanDoesBooks No spoilers but...prepare yourself, make sure you have your house in order before reading 'Stoner' and by house I mean LIFE! Read it in February...still reeling.
@@georgehsmyth1456 That's a big ask, I'll just have to take my chances 🤣
Excellent review man ! It’s such a good book, we read it for English in 2nd year and I loved it
Thank you mate! Aw man I’m jealous you got to read this in school. It’s an excellent read though
@@DylanDoesBooks yeah haha it was one of the few ones I enjoyed in school haha
@@bentheoverlord of mice and men is one I remember from school. I think I like algernon more though
Alright i'm gonna read it, :D
I know you will enjoy this one Luis!
Great thumbnail
10/10 thumb
This book fucking TORE ME DOWN so much emotionally that after finishing it at night at the time and "attempted" to go to sleep, my mind was still swirling with almost _fanfic-ish_ ideas and different scenarios for the book that I couldn't even close my tear-filled eyes.
One of the scenarios is that Charlie took in a little girl on the autism-spectrum and cared for her while he was still "Smart Charlie". And when his mind begins to deteriorate, he even shuts-out the little girl, giving her to either Strauss or Nemur to take care of her; asking them to not let her see him in "this way" when he inevitably goes back to his old self.
There would be an epilogue where years later, the little girl, now all grown up and is relatively "cured" by the newly revised operation, now works at the Warrens and becomes Charlie's new main caretaker. Just coming up with the dialogue that might happen between both of them in my head made me absolutely ugly cry at 3 AM... 😭😭🥲🥲
Just finished the book and came back to say thanks for the recommendation. Amazing book. I have one request though can you make a video about a good gothic horror book.
I am happy you enjoyed it Herb! If you have discord, I have a server, we're small but relatively active if you ever want to discuss anything!
In terms of gothic horror, the only two that comes to mind that I have read are Haunting of Hill House and Woman in Black. Maybe Frankenstein too? I shall make a note mate and if you have any books to recommend in the genre then let me know!
@@DylanDoesBooks I will join the discord server and I usually recommend the ones you have already read plus dracula and the monk.
@@herbertwestiron I have not heard of The Monk, would it be the one by Matthew Lewis by any chance? Dracula I have not read but I'm sure I will one day.
@@DylanDoesBooks Yes.
Tea is better 😂 really want to pick this book up!
I drink copious amount of both tea and coffee 😂 you should! It’s one of my favourites.
You reminded me of Edward Norton.
I get that a lot 😆
@@DylanDoesBooksI wonder if Ed Norton gets mistaken for you as well?
Any other books like this?
Sorry for such a late reply mate! For similar books I have not read any myself that are like this. I do not tend to read sci fi or many tear jerkers.
You should read The Dark Fields by Alan Glynn. It is what the movie (and subsequent TV series) Limitless are somewhat loosely based on. But while Limitless is given the slick upbeat Hollywood treatment, the book has a sobering ending.
And you should also check out Understand by Ted Chiang. It's a novella, with similar themes, but taken to an even further (albeit plausible) extreme with superlative cognition engendering low-key superhuman abilities. But it also has a fairly dark ending.
Those dark endings seem to be a recurring theme with works like this.
Oh, and as for Flowers for Algernon, you should read both the short story (novella) and the full length novel. In that order. They both focus on slightly different things, and reading both lent an added dimension to my appreciation of Keyes' masterwork.
Of Mice and Men by Steinbeck, not a sci-fi tho but I found the two very similar. Both heartbreaking :((