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| 1959 novels | |
| 1966 novels | |
| nebula award winner for best novel | |
| epistolary novels | |
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''Flowers for Algernon'' is a Soft Science Fiction story and play written by Daniel Keyes . It was originally published as a Novelette in the April 1959 issue of '' The Magazine Of Fantasy & Science Fiction '', winning a Hugo Award for Best Short Fiction in 1960. Keyes later expanded it into a full-length novel under the same title, which won the Nebula Award For Best Novel , awarded by the Science Fiction And Fantasy Writers Of America , in 1966 . PLOT SUMMARY The story of ''Flowers for Algernon'' centers on Charlie Gordon, a Mentally Retarded janitor (37 years old in the original novella, 32 years old in the full novel), who volunteers to take part in an experimental Intelligence -enhancing treatment. His progress parallels that of Algernon, a laboratory mouse who had been "enhanced" earlier. The story is told from Charlie's point of view and written as a journal, in progress reports or ''progris riport'' as he initially spells it, which he keeps as part of the experiment. Succeeding entries trace Charlie's ever-increasing comprehension and intelligence in the aftermath of the treatment, as he passes through " Normalcy ", and then reaches super- Genius level, becoming vastly more intelligent than the doctors who invented the procedure (he learns 20 languages, reads books at one page per second, writes a piano concerto, and disproves the hypothesis of the experiment that he was the subject of - among other accomplishments). He discovers both the advantages of intelligence and awareness, including his sexual-emotional relationship with his former teacher, Alice Kinnian; and the disadvantages, as he discovers that the people he thought were his friends had only viewed him as 'entertainment' and now resent his superior abilities. He feels isolated from those less intelligent than him. Yet, all else seems to be well, until Algernon's enhanced intelligence begins to fade rapidly. As Charlie himself confirms, the neural enhancement is only temporary, and he too is doomed to revert to his original mental state. Some say that Algernon's death is supposed to imply that the treatment will also eventually kill Charlie, but his own notes on the subject - dubbed the Algernon-Gordon Effect - say nothing of his impending death. He records his struggles to find a way to stop the decay until he realizes the futility of it all. The title's mention of flowers is a reference to Charlie's last request that "''please if you get a chanse, put some flowers on Algernons grave in the bak yard...''". As Charlie's mental state begins to recede back into the sluggish darkness, it is reflected in his writings. He becomes depressed, for example, when he realizes that his cognition will have begun the unstoppable downward spiral decay when he could no longer understand his own proof - the pinnacle achievement of his genius. We watch him, desperately unable to act, as the biochemistry of his brain reverts to its original state. By the end of the story, Charlie has disappearred back to existing without the intelligence that he'd briefly wielded. LITERARY SIGNIFICANCE AND CRITICISM In January 1970, the School Board of Cranbrook , British Columbia , Canada , as well as Calgary , Alberta , Canada, Banned the novel-length expansion of ''Flowers for Algernon'' from the local grade-nine curriculum and the school library, after a parent complained that it was "filthy and immoral." The president of the BC Teachers' Federation criticized the action. ''Flowers for Algernon'' was part of the BC Department of Education list of approved books for grade nine and was recommended by the BC Secondary Association of Teachers of English. A month later, the board reconsidered and returned the book to the library; they did not, however, lift its ban from the curriculum. | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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