Reading Response- Flowers for Algeron (Spoilers)

   This week I read Flowers for Algeron and finished it. It was about a man who was retarded and his name was Charlie and he had an operation that made him smart. At Charlie's intelligence peak he was smarter than most college professors. However, when Algeron's intelligence begins decreasing and eventually dies they know CHarlie isn't to far behind. So within a month Charlie is back to mentally disabled.
     I can't decide if I actually enjoyed this book. I liked reading about Charlie's journey and how he basically did the one thing he wanted to do with his life, become smart. However, when Charlie becomes smart he realizes that now he doesn't have any friends and maybe a high IQ isn't worth it. I felt upset for him then but I was so sad at the end when he couldn't even remember all the great things he did. It nearly killed me when he knew his intelligence was declining and he was just waiting to loose everything he worked so hard for. The worst was on pg. 310 when he said "I dont no why Im dumb agen or what I did rong. Mabye its because I didt try hard enuf." I like to read books that have a remotely happy ending, but otherwise I thought the book was interesting.

Reading Times:

9/4: 30min, 9/6: 40 min, 9/9: 90 min
Total: 160 min p. 182-310