Charlie is an introvert, a typical wallflower. He doesn’t have many friends and loses his only friend when he commits suicide. Being the youngest guy in his family, Charlie finds it hard to uncover the mysteries his life troubles him with. Charlie is sixteen years old, and his life is going to change forever, once he starts his high school.
Isn’t this a familiar set-up, a set-up every young-adult book comes up with. Don’t we already know these stories where the loser turns out to be the really cool, smart guy? Well this is all that one can say while reading the first few pages of the book, but wait and you’ll find so much more. This is where the book starts catching you and surprises you every now and then, at every turn of the page.
In a series of letters written by Charlie and sent to an anonymous person, we get to learn about his new friends, family and especially Charlie himself. He writes about how he appreciates his English teacher Bill giving him extra books to read and asks him to write essays about them. Charlie also states his desire to become an author one day. The writer also makes his readers notice the love Charlie has for his family, especially when he hides his sister’s secrets, despite unknowingly telling Bill about how she had sex with her boyfriend in their basement.
The book catches every part of an average teenager’s life and thoughts which start when Charlie starts finding one of his older friends, Sam, very attractive. He tells her how he saw her naked in his dream once and he feels guilty about it; Sam does not react madly, yet still tells him she and Charlie can’t be together. On the other hand Sam’s brother Patrick introduces Charlie to masturbation and sex.
What’s different is how the book does not stick to one topic but moves on. He finds good friends in Patrick and Sam and accidentally finds how Patrick is gay when he sees him having sex with a boy at a party. Charlie also essentially helps his sister when she hides her abortion and soon finds his first date in a party.
Charlie himself is a mystery. He has mental problems, gets angry, sees things and then passes out. The book is pretty blunt over every issue parents find hard to discuss with their children, from sex to profanity. The book is an easy read and forces the reader to finish it before doing anything else.
What makes this book so special and authentic is its realism. As an adult it takes you back to when you were a teenager, as a child it shows you what lies ahead and as a teenager it inspires you. And as we all know, no other time for finding out who you are and where you belong to is more immediate than when you are a teenager. I found this book a great read and IN THAT MOMENT, I SWEAR, WE WERE INFINITE.
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