The book “It's good to be quiet. June Bookshelf: S. Chbosky "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" (1999)

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"The perks of Being a Wallflower"(English) The Perks of Being a Wallflower ) is an American film, an adaptation of the epistolary novel of the same name by Stephen Chbosky, who acted as the director of the film. It premiered at the Toronto Film Festival on September 8, 2012. Premiere in Russia - September 20. The film received the Independent Spirit Award for best debut film and was included in the top ten best films of the year according to the US National Board of Film Critics.

Plot

The events in the film take place from August 25, 1991 to June 22, 1992. Epilogue - August 23, 1992.

The main character is Charlie, an introverted teenager. After the death of two people close to him, Aunt Helen and his best friend Michael, he is in a depressed state. One day, entering the classroom, Charlie overhears her classmates talking about a guy who knows how to listen and understand. Plus, he didn't sleep with any of them at the party, even though he had the opportunity. Having found out the address of this guy, Charlie began to write letters to him, expressing his experiences and thoughts, without indicating his address, and changed the names to others and similar ones.

Charlie talks about the strange suicide of his best friend Michael, a new friend in the person of his English teacher, his sister and her boyfriend, and his family. Later, Charlie talks about Patrick taking labor classes with him. Everyone called Patrick “No way.”

Some time later, Charlie meets Sam at a school football game; he later finds out that she is Patrick's half-sister. Charlie tells Sam how he feels, but Sam has a boyfriend, Craig, and advises her to forget about her. Then Patrick tells Charlie about the relationships between guys and girls. Patrick and Sam introduce Charlie to Bob and the whole party. Charlie tries drugs against his will.

The life of the main character changes greatly after these acquaintances. Charlie has his first sexual experience with Mary Elizabeth, but unfortunately he cannot forget Sam. Patrick reveals that he is gay and he is dating Brad. Their relationship later ends because Brad's father caught them together.

One day, Brad's friends trip Patrick, and he falls in front of the entire dining room. A fight ensues, which Charlie witnesses. He passed out, and when he came to his senses, he saw that he had saved Patrick. Charlie and Sam and Patrick's friendship is renewed.

Sam and Patrick finish school and leave to study in another city. On the last evening, Sam and Charlie kiss, thereby confessing their feelings to each other. Against the backdrop of worries about the departure of his friends, Charlie again remembers Aunt Helen and blames himself for her death. Charlie's psyche cannot stand it, and the young man experiences breakdown. At the hospital, Charlie agrees to sessions with a psychologist and increasingly remembers his childhood, during which he admits to the psychologist that his aunt seduced him. The psychologist later tells Charlie's parents about this, and they give him support.

At the end of the film, Charlie, Sam and Patrick pass under that very tunnel, which has become for them a part of themselves and a part of eternity.

Cast

Soundtrack

Music

Filming

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Excerpt characterizing It's good to be quiet

On guardianship matters of the Ryazan estate, Prince Andrei had to see the district leader. The leader was Count Ilya Andreich Rostov, and Prince Andrei went to see him in mid-May.
It was already a hot period of spring. The forest was already completely dressed, there was dust and it was so hot that driving past the water, I wanted to swim.
Prince Andrei, gloomy and preoccupied with considerations about what and what he needed to ask the leader about matters, drove up the garden alley to the Rostovs’ Otradnensky house. To the right, from behind the trees, he heard a woman's cheerful cry, and saw a crowd of girls running towards his stroller. Ahead of the others, a black-haired, very thin, strangely thin, black-eyed girl in a yellow cotton dress, tied with a white handkerchief, from under which strands of combed hair were escaping, ran up to the carriage. The girl screamed something, but recognizing the stranger, without looking at him, she ran back laughing.
Prince Andrei suddenly felt pain from something. The day was so good, the sun was so bright, everything around was so cheerful; and this thin and pretty girl did not know and did not want to know about his existence and was content and happy with some kind of separate, certainly stupid, but cheerful and happy life. “Why is she so happy? what is she thinking about! Not about the military regulations, not about the structure of the Ryazan quitrents. What is she thinking about? And what makes her happy?” Prince Andrei involuntarily asked himself with curiosity.
Count Ilya Andreich in 1809 lived in Otradnoye still as before, that is, hosting almost the entire province, with hunts, theaters, dinners and musicians. He, like any new guest, was glad to see Prince Andrei, and almost forcibly left him to spend the night.
Throughout the boring day, during which Prince Andrei was occupied by the senior hosts and the most honorable of the guests, with whom the old count's house was full on the occasion of the approaching name day, Bolkonsky, looking several times at Natasha, who was laughing and having fun among the other young half of the company, kept asking himself: “What is she thinking about? Why is she so happy!”

"And in that moment, I swear, we were endless."

"The Perks of Being a Wallflower" Stephen Chbosky

I learned about this book when its film adaptation came out. And, naturally, I didn’t watch the movie without reading the book. To say that I do not regret reading this work means to say nothing! As soon as I started reading, the book completely absorbed me. 4 hours flew by while reading! I felt for the hero, felt his emotions... In general, the book really impressed me.

Summary: The book is written in the form of letters from a boy, Charlie, to his anonymous friend. It describes the life of a teenager as it is. Drugs, alcohol, sex, love... The main character is Charlie, an emotional teenager who is grieving the death of two of his close people: Aunt Helen and best friend Michael. He enters high school and meets his half-brothers and half-sisters, Patrick and Sam. Patrick is openly gay and Sam is a pretty girl whom he falls in love with, but she is dating another guy - Craig. They introduce him to their crowd, and he slowly joins a new circle of acquaintances. All this time he worries about Sam, who does not want to date him because of Charlie's age. She is a graduate, and he is only a ninth grader. At this time, he begins dating Sam's friend, Mary Elizabeth, but during another get-together, playing Truth or Dare, Patrick told Charlie to kiss herself beautiful girl in the room and he kisses Sam. Because of this action, Patrick advised Charlie to “lay low until everything is settled,” which meant not communicating with anyone from the party for now. Charlie is having a very hard time being separated from his friends, and only Patrick stays with him, because... he himself needs the help of a friend. Over time, the situation clears up and everything returns to normal. Mary Elizabeth forgives him, and Sam is again kind and gentle with him. The end of the school year is approaching and all his friends must leave for college. Graduation takes place, Sam breaks up with Craig, and the day before she leaves, she admits to Charlie that she wasn’t against him inviting her somewhere, so that he would show more persistence, but it’s too late. She allows herself to be kissed and that’s it. she almost gets to sex, but Charlie stops her and says he’s not ready. Sam is understanding and doesn't laugh at him. After Sam leaves, Charlie ends up in a mental hospital for two months. Patrick and his family and friends constantly visit him, and Sam sends letters. Everything ends well and positively.

I would really like to note that the book mentions other wonderful works (since Charlie loved to read): “The Great Gatsby”, “The Catcher in the Rye”, “To Kill a Mockingbird” and many others. I can't help but mention that the piece contains references to a musical that I really love - Rocky Horror Night. And the main character’s birthday, like mine, is December 24 ^_^ .

And finally, I would like to answer Charlie’s letters.

Dear Charlie!

I received all your letters. You know, I was flattered that you chose me to reveal your feelings and experiences.

Honestly, you remind me of Forrest Gump. You are just as kind, shy, honest, and you also live in your own world.

When I received your letters, I looked forward to each new one.

It seems to me that as soon as you finish school, everything will work out for you and Sam. At least I really hope so. You are suitable for each other. And the fact that she is older than you is not a hindrance.

, more Composer Michael Brooke Editing Mary Jo Markey Cameraman Andrew Dunn Translators Maria Junger, Alexander Novikov Dubbing directors Yaroslav Turylev, Alexander Novikov Screenwriter Stephen Chbosky Artists Inbal Weinberg, Gregory A. Weimerskirch, David S. Robinson, more

Do you know that

• The film is based on the novel “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” by Stephen Chbosky (1999). The author of the novel also acted as screenwriter and director of the film.
• In an interview, Emma Watson said that she agreed to star in this film because director Stephen Chbosky told her that it would not only be one of the main roles in her life, but in addition, she would spend the summer of her life and also meet some of her best friends. Watson also said that this statement turned out to be true.
• Steve Chbosky decided Emma Watson would be perfect for his film after seeing her performance in Harry Potter and the Half-Blood Prince (2009), in the scene where Ron breaks her heart and Harry comforts her.
• Emma Watson admitted that she refuses to watch her kiss scene and The Ricky Horror Picture Show.
• Ezra Miller auditioned via Skype. Moreover, he was so charismatic that within five hours of the audition he was given the role.
• In the book, Patrick and Mary were smokers, and Charlie himself smoked for some time. This was removed from the film in order to achieve a PG-13 rating.
• Although the film doesn't pay much attention to this, Charlie is not that different in age from Sam and Patrick, which may be the reason why they get along so well. This is only mentioned in the book, but Charlie stayed a second year due to emotional problems, so they must only be one year older than him.
• The novel takes place in 1991-1992. The film does not specify a specific year, but it can be noted that not a single character uses cell phones or the Internet.
• During filming, a scene was also filmed in which Charlie's sister Candace tells him that she is pregnant, after which he takes her to an abortion, which she then has. However, this scene did not make it into the final cut to avoid an adult rating.
• In the film's DVD and Blu-ray commentary track, director Stephen Chbosky mentions that Dead Poets Society (1989) and The Breakfast Club (1985) are two of his favorite films that greatly influenced him growing up.
• During filming, Ezra Miller was 17 years old, about the same age as his character. Logal Lerman was 18 years old, almost two years older than his character. Emma Watson turned 21 during filming, so she was significantly older than her character, as well as the eldest of the trio.
• Emma Watson's first major role since Harry Potter.

Stephen Chbosky "The Perks of Being a Wallflower"

For the first time in Russian - Stephen Chbosky's amazing bestseller, a touching coming-of-age novel.
Charlie starts high school. Fearing what awaits him there after a recent nervous breakdown, he begins to write letters to someone he has never seen in his life, but who he is sure will understand him well. Charlie doesn't like going to dances because he usually likes songs that you can't dance to. Each A new book, read by him on the advice of Bill, a literature teacher, immediately becomes Charlie’s favorite: “To Kill a Mockingbird,” “Peter Pan,” “The Great Gatsby,” “The Catcher in the Rye,” “On the Road,” “Naked Lunch.” .. Bill advises Charlie to “be a filter, not a sponge,” and he honestly tries. Charlie is also trying not to remember tightly forgotten childhood traumas and to understand his feelings for high school student Sam, the sister of his friend Patrick, nicknamed No Way... (c) Summary of the book

The events in the book develop from August 25, 1991 to June 22, 1992. Epilogue - August 23, 1992
The book touches on themes of violence, teenage sex and relationships, adolescence, drugs and suicide, focusing on the dilemma of passivity and passion.
The main character is Charlie, a shy and emotional teenager. After the death of two people close to him, Aunt Helen and his best friend Michael, he is in a depressed state. One day, entering the classroom, Charlie overhears her classmates talking about a guy who knows how to listen and understand. Moreover, he did not sleep with one of them at the party, although he had such an opportunity. Having found out the address of this guy, Charlie began to write letters to him, expressing his experiences and thoughts, without indicating his address, and changed the names to others and similar ones.
Charlie talks about the strange suicide of his best friend Michael, a new friend in the person of his English teacher, his sister and her boyfriend, and his family. Later, Charlie talks about Patrick taking labor classes with him. Everyone called Patrick “No way.”
Some time later, Charlie meets Sam at a school football game; he later finds out that she is Patrick's half-sister. Charlie tells Sam how he feels, but Sam has a boyfriend, Craig, and advises her to forget about her. Then Patrick tells Charlie about the relationships between guys and girls. Patrick and Sam introduce Charlie to Bob and the whole party. Charlie tries drugs against his will.
The life of the main character changes greatly after these acquaintances. Charlie has his first sexual experience with Mary Elizabeth, but unfortunately he cannot forget Sam. Patrick reveals that he is gay and he is dating Brad. Their relationship later ends because Brad's father caught them together.
One day, Brad's friends trip Patrick, and he falls in front of the entire dining room. A fight ensues, which Charlie witnesses. He passed out, and when he came to his senses, he saw that he had saved Patrick. Charlie and Sam and Patrick's friendship is renewed. Sam and Patrick finish school and leave to study in another city. On the last evening, Sam and Charlie kiss, thereby confessing their feelings to each other. Against the backdrop of worries about the departure of his friends, Charlie again remembers Aunt Helen and blames himself for her death. Charlie's psyche cannot stand it, and the young man has a nervous breakdown. At the hospital, Charlie agrees to sessions with a psychologist and remembers more and more about his childhood.
At the end of the book, the three main characters pass under that same tunnel, which has become for them a part of themselves and a part of eternity.

SUPER BOOK!!!
I re-read it 7 times if not more! They say that it changes the way the reader thinks. Is it true!
I RECOMMEND IT TO EVERYONE! (+ there is a movie for the book)
And in the film there are Emma Watson and Logan Lerman (well, you know what I mean)

Stephen Chbosky's book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" became famous in our country after the movie of the same name starring Emma Watson appeared on the screens. First we'll talk about the book, and then a little about the film.

The book, undoubtedly a wonderful example of young adult prose, was included in the ten banned books of the Association of American Librarians for the reason large quantity immoral scenes involving teenagers. So in the USA it will be difficult for a minor to get this book from a library.

Chbosky's work is written in the genre of epistolary prose and describes the life of a very inadequate but smart guy named Charlie, who has just entered first grade. high school. The situation is difficult for any child, but in the case of Charlie everything is aggravated by the fact that he really has problems with his head. At the age of seven, his beloved Aunt Helen died, and this caused such difficult experiences for the boy that he even had to be hospitalized. He has never recovered since then. And before transferring to high school, in May, Charlie's best friend Michael committed suicide. In general, the same picture.

Against this background, Charlie begins to write letters to the guy who was discussed by the girls in his class. The girls claimed that he knew how to listen and did not take the opportunity to sleep with them at parties, although he could have. The novel is presented in the form of letters to this mysterious man. Charlie lives his academic year and tells what happens to him in letters. And the reader plays the role of a mysterious person who knows how to listen.

Together with Charlie, we experience his process of adaptation to the surrounding reality, his friendships and his first novel in his life, the first cakes with cannabis...

The trick of this novel is that everything that happens: drugs, parties, first sex, masturbation... is actually told by a child. An intelligent, kind, extremely open, vulnerable and defenseless person.

It is precisely the contrast of this “ children's perception"and the surrounding "adult" teenage reality makes this novel stand out from total mass. Without this technique, the book would either turn into a heavy youth drama, or into variations on the theme “ American Pie" Fortunately, the author managed to avoid both the first and second.

Instead, Chbosky wrote a book about being accepted by others and finding our place in the world. About relationships that allow us to avoid madness. In fact, the entire book is an illustration of Laing’s famous experiment. At one time, psychiatrist Laing took schizophrenics, dressed them in normal, not hospital clothes, and sorted them by diagnosis. After this, they were allowed to communicate normally and spend time together. After some time, the patients recovered and were sent home. Once in ordinary life, without support, alone with their own feelings of isolation and abnormality, less than six months later they were all back in the hospital.

The author himself said in an interview that he was prompted to write the book by the fact that many excellent people with whom he knew, during the teenage period of their lives, allowed themselves to be treated like garbage, because they believed that they deserved such treatment. In the same way, Charlie watches how people hurt each other, and with his clumsy kindness begins to act out support for those around him, theoretically more “normal” people, the function of support and support. And the space of their relationship allows Charlie himself not to go crazy.

If I try to express the main idea of ​​the book in one sentence, I would say that the book is about how being crazy does not mean being bad. Yes, Charlie is completely inadequate, but he still remains a living human being worthy of compassion and sympathy. And even the fact that he does not understand half of what is happening, but still remains a sensitive and compassionate person, says more good than bad about him.

The book ends with Charlie hospitalized, but in the end he was able to touch on his deepest and darkest secret, and in the long term this big step forward to his “recovery”.

Reviews of the novel are divided into two polar categories. In the first, more attention is paid to Charlie's relationships with others, and the dominant attitude is that this is a very warm book about friendship, feelings, isolation and overcoming it.

The second category of reviewers is fixated on empty and stupid philistine morality, in the worst sense of the word. They see only the surface instead of looking deeper, focusing on and deeply condemning "adult" topics. Well, what can I say about this! - “He who is without sin among you, let him be the first to throw a stone at her.”

Now I should say a few words about the film. The film is good, the acting is beyond praise. If you compare the book with the film, then, paradoxical as it may sound, the film does not provide a deep enough immersion into what is happening. However, all the main points of the novel were conveyed. This is not surprising, given that the director and screenwriter of the film was the same Stephen Chbosky.

In the book everything is described through Charlie's eyes, but in the film we just see what is happening. From the outside, Charlie seems like just an ordinary quiet teenager. Each of us had those in our class, or we were like that ourselves. But when you read a book, you understand what exactly is going on in this person’s head. After all, there really is concentrated madness, which simply does not fully manifest itself outward. This makes the immersion effect in the book 50 times stronger than in the film. This is despite the fact that I first watched the film, and only then read the book.

Separately, it is worth mentioning the line between Charlie and his sister that was cut from the film. In it, he took her to the hospital to have an abortion. Unfortunately, due to timing, this part of the film was cut. However, it can be easily found on YouTube. Worth a look. The scenes are simply heartbreaking.

P.S. I have a strong suspicion that when the girls in class talked about an understanding guy, they meant Charlie. So he was essentially writing to himself. The author also hints at this indirectly.

Rating: 10

"The Catcher in the Rye" of our day? I’m not too fond of such comparisons in summaries; they tend to encourage one to be suspicious of the book rather than making it more open to the reader. But damn it in this case I couldn't agree more!

Here is a teenager in front of us. Here are his friends. These are his problems. And this is how he lives. But this is what he thinks about. And nothing extra. There is nothing new either, but is that bad? And what could be new here? This is not what makes the book good, but the sincerity and openness it carries. She makes her warm and light, and I want to believe in something... I don’t know what. Just believe, being inspired by the heroes of the novel.

In one of the last chapters, where the heroes say goodbye, I find for myself not only an explanation between Sam and Charlie, but also an explanation between the author and me, the reader:

“I don’t want him to rush around with his feelings, keeping them inside. I want him to reveal them to me, so that I can feel them too. I want the person next to me to be able to behave the way he wants. And if he starts doing something that is unpleasant to me, I’ll tell him honestly.”

It's so simple - to be honest.

It's even easier to say thank you. This is the second thing that really caught my attention. Bill telling Charlie: “I want to thank you. Because it was a pleasure to teach you,” cannot but inspire. I don’t know, maybe somewhere this is in the order of things, but it amazed me. At the school where I studied, there was no question of a teacher saying something like that (and graduation doesn’t count here at all). No, the teachers were not bad, far from it; rather, they were professionals in the bad, detached sense of the word. And after such books and phrases, something inside me is shaking, and, in currently Being a teacher myself, I believe that I am doing the right thing by following Bill's path.

All in all, a captivating book. With your kindness, openness, honesty. And even if this boy Charlie does not always behave adequately, even if the life of a teenager with its sex, drugs, rock and roll is shown in all its “glory” - it doesn’t matter! It is important that this boy, in his letters (to you, reader!), with all simplicity and trustfulness, presents you with his own soul on the palms of his hands, teaching you that being yourself is priceless. Endlessly.

Rating: 9

Damn, damn, damn! Did you feel like you both liked and disliked a book? Surely it was. But the book made me both delighted and furious at the same time. I'll try to explain. The plot of the book is great, I have a weakness for such books about difficult life teenagers, and where main character very much unusual person, with all sorts of cockroaches in my head. Plus, all this is narrated in the first person. But at the same time, the main character - Charlie - so often drove me crazy with his inappropriate behavior that I just wanted to howl. Throughout the entire book, and the book is small, I read it in a day and a half (this is almost a record for me), Charlie cries all the time, with or without reason. Have you often seen a sixteen-year-old boy cry? Yes, maybe once or twice he will shed a tear, and then when no one can see him, but for every little thing, and sometimes even out of nowhere, to shed tears, I don’t understand this and in the end I chalked it up to the unsweetened biography and impressionability of the main character.

In this book you will meet many aspects of teenage life: sex, parties, alcohol and drugs, homosexuality, love, friendship, study, etc. and so on. And this book will be useful to read for both young people and older people, because... The action takes place in 1991-92, where there were no cell phones yet, and the computer was a luxury.

Somewhere towards the end of the book, the following phrase flashes: “try to let it pass through you, and not absorb it.” I would recommend the same thing to you, read the book abstractly, without taking it too to heart, in order to fully enjoy this book.

Rating: 9

A good book should be heartbreaking, and good book about teenagers - I simply have to, because this is the law of the genre and the law of life... It seems to me so. Puberty is a time when you don’t like everything, even yourself, you swing from all-encompassing joy to deep sadness, and even these acne! It’s hard from yourself, and they also force you to read books where people are doing worse than you - who has unrequited love, who killed their grandmother with a hatchet, who wasn’t on the lists.

“It’s good to be quiet” is a rare case when a teenager is happy with everything. He likes to mow the lawn for pocket money, he likes to study, he likes to dream about the girl who forbade her to dream about herself. Charlie (we learn the name of the hero from his letters to a stranger, it has been changed so that he remains incognito, but since he chose it for himself, we will also use it) immediately stipulates that he has his own oddities. But, firstly, his friend recently died, secondly, he is experiencing the death of his own aunt, who loved him more than his parents, and thirdly, he lacks attention from these same parents (eight hugs from 7 up to 15 years old, they said three times that they loved him during the same time). In his letters, Charlie writes about everything in his life - how he studies, what he reads, what music he listens to, how his relationships with family, teachers and peers develop. At school, he meets Patrick and his sister Sam, who are older than him, but they invite Charlie into their company. They watch movies together, smoke weed, and go to parties.

In fact, we have been living with Charlie for exactly a year. Each event that he describes in his letters generally leaves a warm and touching trace - he is growing, experiences are an integral part of growing up. Time will pass, and he will remember everything with a smile, like all of us, remembering our past. I hope that's it.

Honestly, I expected some kind of achtung from every letter. Will something happen to Charlie? Will anyone else close to you die? An out-of-the-ordinary event will happen, and everything is lost, everything is lost! But I never expected what awaited me at the very end.

Having cried all night and half a day, I have to say the following: it’s good that the truth was revealed, even if not in hot pursuit, but I hope not everything is lost for Charlie, because the psyche is adaptive; it’s bad that all this took place at all, because if the parents had been a little more attentive, and their parents had been a little more attentive, and the parents’ parents... and so on ad infinitum, then everything could have been different. But as Charlie's father said, "Not everyone has a sob story, Charlie, and even if they do, that's no excuse." While living our “pretty happy” life, we must not forget about those whom we have tamed... That is, we have given birth to. Children are not cold toys. It shouldn't be the case that their friends give them more love and attention than family.

Except storyline I liked everything about the book! Girls, quick and early, relying on natural wisdom, giving the right advice. Boys who are searching for themselves and are torn between important issues“Do my aunts’ family discuss my family?” and “For my first time, will I want to cuddle?” The teacher with whom I was initially offended, but who turned out to be right based on common sense. Right and pleasant, to be honest. Even the group enchanted me and sent me back to my youth, where there was also a lot of things and it was so cool that it was just like that! Relatives! Oh, family is the icing on the cake! Every frame there is a diamond - both the maternal grandfather and the paternal grandmother. And the fact that my father secretly gave money to his less successful sister is also an indicator for me. True, buying off his sister at a high price, gold fish messed up with mine youngest son! How did it happen? But I still hope that everything will work out even in this difficult family.

How to sum it up? Love your children and they will love you back! I would like my grown son to read this book someday in a few years. It seems to me that she will not sink into oblivion and will not be lost; the stage of growing up is described here too well.

Rating: 10

I feel sorry for the boy, but nothing more. As a character, he doesn’t evoke even a bit of sympathy, although one can sympathize with all his experiences. At the end, the missing piece of the puzzle is revealed, but this is not much of a breakthrough and does not force you to rethink your attitude towards the hero. The whole book is the story of one boy who copes with his psychological traumas with the help of friends, drugs and alcohol. Exactly in that order. But, unfortunately, for all the authenticity of the description of experiences and teenage everyday life, the book leaves nothing behind. If the side goal was to make you cry over other people’s problems, then thank you, no need. I listened honestly to Charlie's story, but he didn't offer any new thoughts. For the most part, he sheds tears and acts as a prop on the path to realizing himself as infinite. I'd like to say I'm happy for him, but I don't care.

Rating: 2

“I don’t believe it” was beating in my head throughout the entire reading. I don’t believe that a 16-year-old teenager can write so naively. Not understanding obvious things. Smoking, drinking, taking drugs to the fullest, but at the same time not seeing or understanding the obvious at all human relations. Even when they tell him about it directly. And when he periodically asked himself the question “what did I do wrong,” I really wanted to take him by the shoulders, shake him well and shout.

No, I can admit that, given his treatment in childhood, he may be like this now - a little retarded, withdrawn and inhibited. But how then does one explain his excellent academic performance, friendships with guys two years older, and such casual night outings to bars?

Just as much as I was struck by The Catcher in the Rye at the time, I was just as unimpressed by this book. Maybe it’s closer to modern times (although the action takes place in 1991-1992, don’t forget), but it’s completely far from my personal teenage experiences. Yes, I was a completely different child, without such a past, with other problems, we also discussed all sorts of nasty things, but I was not so naive.

The guy runs after “friends” who only need him when things are bad, and who don’t really need his opinion (the episode with the play is indicative). He is experimenting with drugs with all his might - and in many ways not of his own free will! There they gave him a cupcake, here they gave him jelly. It was presented in such a way that the dude himself did not understand what he was using. And in contrast, he deeply appreciates the serious literary works, from The Great Gatsby to Naked Lunch!

On the positive side, I would like to note the language of the work. I can’t judge the quality of the translation, but it’s really written in more or less teenage language - and even the teacher’s lessons mentioned are traced; the guy in the text tries to expand the language and deepen it along the way. At the same time, remaining quite a teenager, without pretending to be Shakespeare. However, I wanted to write down many of the thoughts voiced by the hero and his friends.

The ending is amazing, yes. I even considered increasing my grade by half a point. But on reflection I decided that I wouldn’t do this - the book didn’t grab me enough to remember it later. And, I admit, I figured out the final twist approximately halfway through the story. True, at first I suspected something a little different.

Rating: 6

Dear friend!

You are probably wondering why I wrote to you again, because my last letter was a farewell letter. If you remember, I then said that maybe I’ll write more if I have free time.

Well, now I'm in the tenth grade of high school. The workload is, of course, heavier compared to the last academic year, but I still have more free time than before. This is all because my friends have left for colleges, and I am now left to my own devices. So “immersing myself in life” has now become more difficult, and I read more and more or just wander around the city. My advanced English teacher Bill didn't go to New York and he still gives me cool books to read.

Sometimes, however, it can be quite sad and lonely, but I text and often call Sam and Patrick. They promised that they would come in the summer and we would spend this time together.

Everything is calm in the family, and my sister also left for college, if you remember. He often calls home, but talks more and more with his mother, she says she has a new boyfriend there.

I still have to go to a psychologist, now he increasingly asks not about my childhood years, but about what happened quite recently. He says that I have such relationships with friends and family because I put their interests above mine. Because of this, sometimes I get overly emotional and I can cry. And you shouldn’t do this, well, sort of withdraw yourself. Just like in the book I read last year - “The Source,” as that architect told his friend: “I am ready to die for you. But I won’t live for you.” By the way, Sam said something similar to me then, at the end of the summer: that she doesn’t need a person next to her who idolizes her, but he himself adjusts and does not behave as he wants. She said that you have to be yourself, and if she doesn’t like something, she’ll say it. There is something in this, probably this is the way to do it. I'm just not very good at it so far. And this psychologist also says that it’s like this because I still subconsciously blame myself for the death of Aunt Helen, well, that she then went to get a gift for me and was killed in a car accident, and that’s why I sometimes think - if it hadn’t been It’s my birthday that day (if I hadn’t been born, it turns out), she wouldn’t have died. I thought about this myself, if anything. Apparently this is not only because of her death, but also because of those dreams about her that actually turned out to be true. So the psychologist did not discover anything new. So “scrupulously” (Bill advises inserting such words into the text; before it was difficult, but now it’s getting easier and easier) he examines my actions and behavior, but for some reason he doesn’t say how to fix it.

If you don’t mind, I will write to you sometimes, not as often as last year, but still. I think you good man and you know how to listen, and this is very important. You understand that it is stupid to keep a diary when you can write to a living person, it creates a feeling of unity, and, besides, the diary can be found. Although, it seems, I already wrote something like this to you before. I do not remember.

By the way, today is my birthday, I turned seventeen. But you probably remember that I don’t really like my birthdays. As planned, I gave a gift to my mother on this day. And he explained that this was because if it weren’t for her, none of this would have happened (well, that is, me, and therefore no reason for the celebration). She was very surprised, but I think she was happy too. I told her that now we will have such a “tradition” - others give me gifts on this day, and I give her gifts.

It's late now, I'm going to bed. Look how much I've dashed off, now you have to read it.

I also decided to list you my favorite books, these are all the ones that Bill gave me to read last year. I wrote about them before, but suddenly you forgot. And these are books that are worth reading. Believe me.

Here they are: “To Kill a Mockingbird” by Harper Lee, “This Side of Paradise” and “The Great Gatsby” by Fitzgerald, “A Separate Peace” by Knowles, “On the Road” by Kerouac, “Peter Pan” by Barry, “Naked Lunch” by Burroughs, “Hamlet” (I don’t think I need to say who wrote it), Camus’s “The Outsider,” Salinger’s “The Catcher in the Rye,” Henry Thoreau’s “Walden or Life in the Woods,” and Ayn Rand’s “The Fountainhead.”

Well, I hope everything is fine with you and you can still be turned to for advice and support.

Happily.

Rating: 10

And I liked it.

At first I didn’t even understand why. There is nothing new or revolutionary for me that could have happened if I had read the book when I was 15. And nothing high either - ordinary, in general, the problems of an ordinary teenager. And the plot doesn’t particularly shine: well, a boy, well, a quiet one, reads books, makes friends, supports his family, falls in love, periodically suffers, whines and cries.

And then I understood. The main thing in this book is not what I wrote above, but amazing, absolute, cosmic honesty and the simplicity that follows it. It's as if thoughts were taken straight from my head and put on paper. Without beating around the bush, without censorship, without regard to anyone’s (and your own) opinion. It’s like naturally getting into the head of a fifteen-year-old teenager and seeing how everything works there. And this is the most valuable thing, something that probably does not happen in real life.

As I read the book, I became more and more imbued with the idea that frankness is not as scary as it might seem. And maybe sometimes we should think less about what other people might think about our thoughts.

Charlie's new friends are Patrick and Sam, a very charismatic company for a young social phobe. Sam is a girl a couple of years older than Charlie, who immediately interested him. in love terms Main character. A few years earlier, it was popular among high school students because... they loved to solder her. Patrick is a cheerful guy who has his fans, but has a penchant for homosexuality. In addition to his peers, Charlie begins to closely communicate with his literature teacher, who, in turn, opens the door to the world of books for him, explaining this by the fact that Charlie would make a good writer.

Charlie believes that he is the cause of the death of his beloved aunt, so he spreads rot on himself in every possible way and thereby throws himself into the pit of despondency.

The novel is very touching and... good friend helps guide you through growing up and avoids many problems.

Too little has been written.

You read other teenage books, and the 12-year-old characters there are much more complex and interesting.

But then I came to the idea that Charlie’s primitivism is due to his mental inferiority. He's mentally retarded! More than once I lay in psychiatric clinics, stayed at school for 2 years... He is inadequate. Sport causes aggression in him. Charlie is constantly depressed, crying for any reason. He is being treated by a psychiatrist. This probably explains that the main character behaves like Small child and his development does not correspond to his age.

But then, why did he finish the school year with an A? When all the time he was either drinking or smoking? One has little connection with the other.

And how it made me laugh when Charlie’s teacher, Bill, calls him the most talented and gifted student he ever had. The teacher himself imposes semi-pornographic and homosexual literature on Charlie, forces the teenager to read it and write essays on it! Complete perversion.

I liked Patrick very much positive hero, and their friendship makes you believe that this happens!!

Although the books do not show modern youth in the best light, the book still has a deep and kind message!))

I'm going to watch the film, I hope they didn't make a mistake with the film adaptation!!

I'm very glad I read this book Thanks a lot for this Stephen Chbosky!!