The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

"It's like when you are excited about a girl and you see a couple holding hands, and you feel so happy for them. And other times you see the same couple, and they make you so mad. And all you want is to feel happy for them because you know that if you do, then it means that you're happy, too."

Guys, it looks like I have another new favorite book.

It's funny. My two favorite books, Paper Towns and The Perks of Being a Wallflower, are both constantly compared to Catcher in the Rye, which was a book I really did not enjoy. It's weird how that works.

Anyway, The Perks of Being a Wallflower is Stephen Chbosky's first novel. No one would be able to tell that from reading his work. Written in the form of letters to an anonymous recipient, it tells the story of high school freshman Charlie. He's not exactly a social butterfly. As the title suggests, he is more of a wallflower, more content to observe the life around him than participate in it. But Charlie is an insightful and incredibly introspective person. He has a big heart and a pure soul that permeates the pages of the story.

When Charlie makes friends with step-siblings, Patrick and Sam, he falls in love with the "unconventionally beautiful" Sam right off the bat. But more than that, he quickly becomes close with the two and they help introduce him to exactly what it's like to be himself and live his life.

I personally found Chbosky's writing compelling and beautiful (even if I can't pronounce his last name). His narrative draws you in from the start and there was never a moment where I wanted to put it down or where it became boring. I eagerly devoured it and, in the spirit of Charlie, am seriously considering going back and immediately reading it again. I'll try to resist, though. I usually like to give myself time between re-readings.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower was an inspiring and intoxicatingly beautiful book. It was a joy to read and is a delight to have on my shelf.

Rating: ~★★★★★~

"I'm going to do what I want to do. I am going to be who I really am. And I'm going to figure out what that is."

The Catcher in the Rye by J.D. Salinger

Don't ever tell anybody anything. If you do, you start missing everybody.

I heard a lot of fuss about The Catcher in the Rye before I ever picked up the book. Generally read in high school sophomore English classes, I somehow dodged the bullet and never had to read it. Yet, because of all the hype people keep making about it, I decided to read it on my own time, convinced it was necessary that I read such a classic novel.

Written from the perspective of a teenage boy, Holden Caulfield, who has just gotten himself kicked out of another prep school he had been attending, he feels no remorse or regret about it, only worry that his parents will be upset with him for flunking out. Instead of heading straight home, he decides to drag his feet, letting us in on his inner (and outer) dialogue as he wanders through the city and ponders what his life has become and where it might be headed.

While I'm usually quite the fan of introspective coming of age novels, I only found the book satisfactory. While I loved the writing style and the abundant symbolism, the main character himself was irritating to the point where I just wanted to finish the book so I wouldn't have to hear his every complaint and issue with everything under the sun. He hates everything, he's not kidding about anything, he thinks everyone's a phony and doesn't realize that he is a phony himself. It's meant to make him the narrator you can see through, the sort that's both reliable and unreliable, but it seems only to serve the purpose of driving the reader up a wall.

I did enjoy seeing the character grow, though. It was natural and realistic. The ending wasn't some life-altering revelation, but you could see that Holden was growing into his breeches, so to speak. He was getting there.

So though the main character is quite an irritating kid and uses the word goddamn so many times that you'll be dying for him to choose a new adjective, I'm glad I read it. The style in itself was one I definitely enjoyed experiencing.

Would I read it a second time, though? Probably. I've heard it's a thousand times better the second time around, that it's much more gratifying and Holden reminds the reader of oneself, so that  you're both irritated and understanding. However, I'm going to have to get over my current annoyance with him before I can give him that second reading.

Rating: ★★☆☆☆

"Anyway, I keep picturing all these little kids playing some game in this big field of rye and all. Thousands of little kids, and nobody's around - nobody big, I mean - except me. And I'm standing on the edge of some crazy cliff. What I have to do, I have to catch everybody if they start to go over the cliff - I mean if they're running and they don't look where they're going I have to come out from somewhere and catch them. That's all I do all day. I'd just be the catcher in the rye and all. I know it's crazy, but that's the only thing I'd really like to be."