“I absolutely loved this book. You can relate so much to the characters created. I like how you can see the main character king of bloom out of his shell and become more social. I also liked that this book is written about a wallflower in school and not the good-looking, popular boy. It added a twist.”
“FIrst Person NarrativeHave you ever imagined the book written from a different point of view? How would that change the way you reacted to each of the characters? What if the book was still written in the first person, but not written in the form of letters? Would you still be as drawn to Charlie by the end?”
“This is by far my most favorite book, and I very much agree that Charlie seeming to be writing a letter to us allows there to be a deeper connection with him. By writing a letter instead of a normal first-person point of view, he's not only telling a story--he's trusting the reader, letter him or her get a glimpse into his secrets. I also don't think the book would be the same from a different character's point of view because Charlie has a very innocent, original thought process that the other characters don't seem to possess (not that i don't like them, because they're all pretty amazing). ”
“Mr. Chbosky did an amazing job with Charlie, I agree. And it was not only Charlie that I felt connected with, but it was with every character. I think Chbosky used Charlie as a window, rather than an actaul narrator, we see these events taking hold and yet don't have a detached feeling that most first person narratives leave you with. It was if you were right there, as I said, looking through a window. I think that if it was not written in letter format, it would've taken away a bit of the uniqueness and complexity of the story, but the book would've been stunning nonetheless.”
“Such a detailed question...hmmmm...I guess I would say that, like most books written in diary entry, letter, etc. format, you tend to see and understand more about the character than you would if it were written in another format or from another perspective. The type of character that Charlie comes across as is really what drew me to this book. He is shy yet bold, he is young yet well defined, and he is sad yet he loves!! I think these features make him the perfect complex character for this type of perspective in such wonderful novel. That's why I named my doggy charlie!”
“From the moment Charlie wrote "I am writing to you because she said you listen and understand and didn't try to sleep with that person at that party even though you could have," I was hooked. It made me feel like I Charlie was a real person and he was sending me real letters and that this was a real story. I wanted to figure out who "she" was so I could figure out who the real Charlie was and give him a hug. No author has ever drawn me so quickly into any character before... ever. If the book was written in a different perspective, even if it was still the first person but not in letter form, I don't think I would have been drawn to Charlie so quickly. Steven Chbosky did an amazing job characterizing Charlie into your everyday kid down the street that everyone could relate to, and he definately used the first person narrative to his advantage. That's my answer, but I posed this question to see what everyone else thought...”
