Book: Stephen Chbosky The Perks of Being a Wallflower

Describe Charlie!
Charlie is the central figure in this book. At the beginning he is fifteen year old and he was born on december 24. He is in his first year of college and was really afraid of going there. At first he is an outsider, not popular and sitting always in the background. It seems that he is like Peter Pan, who refuses to grow up. He is quiet most of the time, very honest and polite. He also is pretty emotional and sentimental. He always cries a lot but mostly it’s a panicky type of crying. Sometimes he is a roller-coaster with his feelings and a little bit like a freak. But he never lets somebody down and really listens to everyone. He is very anxious to always say the truth. So he thinks a lot about other people or things, just a little dreamer. However, it’s a pity that he thinks he doesn’t deserve something or someone. In addition to that he never feels that he looks “good” until he gets his friend Patrick’s gift, which is a coat. When he makes new friends, he isn’t shy anymore and he tries to act like a grown-up. He also likes to drink and smoke. He begins to solve his problems with taking drugs. His psychiatrist tells him that he is what they call “passive aggressive”. He also asks him questions about when he was younger.
I think he is so “unbalanced” because he repressed the fact that his aunt Helen abused him. Through a dream he realized what had happened to him and after that the psychiatrist’s questions weren’t weird to him anymore.

Book review
The book "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" of Stephen Chbosky was published by Mtv Books/Pocket Books, a Division of Simon and Schuster Inc in 1999. Stephen Chbosky was born in 1970 and to this date “The Perks of Being a Wallflower” is his only novel. It’s a fiction about a teenager and his struggles of growing up, friendships and love. The main person in this book is Charlie, who is a fifteen going on to sixteen-year old boy. The book is a series of letters and a self-description of his life. He likes to read books and he loves music, which makes him feel “infinite”. He is pretty emotional and frequently sentimental. He always cries a lot but mostly it’s a panicky type of crying. At school he is an outsider at first, nevertheless he makes new friends. Whereas the draw back is that he starts to take drugs. Still in addition to it he crossed in love. I believe he is so “unbalanced” because his aunt abused him. I also think the idea of the author is to show that’s not easy to grow-up and to become an adult. Besides, he also points out that abuse of children has far-reaching consequences.
In my opinion this is a really fascinating book. It’s written very excitingly and I can also recommend it. I really can relate to it mostly because it’s written up-to-date. Moreover it’s about teenagers of the same age, who struggle with the same problems like smoking or drinking. I also think it would be a good idea for parents to read this book, so they can get more understanding for their children’s situation.