I bought one of the books I’ve been eager to read for a long time now, The Perks of Being a Wallflower, I saw it once at the mall, there were about four copies and when I visited it again, there was only one copy left. The book reminds me of J.D. Salinger’s The Catcher in the Rye, but this one’s easier to understand. It gives one a perspective of a teenager about the things happening around him, how he’s able to deal with the issues of drugs, sex, bad influences, relationships with family and friends, dealing with love, gay issues, the books he read and the mix tapes he listens to. I found myself laughing, shocked and sometimes, saying “aww” at some parts of the book. I found myself agreeing at Charlie’s ideas and was amazed at how a kid like him thought of such things at an early age.
I love how he mentioned the books Bill asked him to read and how he spoke of his opinions regarding them. I also love how he made mix tapes for his friends and the depth of his passion for music. Reading his letters to his “friend” made me feel a certain connection with him, it’s just a little funny how he entrusts the secrets to a stranger.
Most of his thoughts were interesting and true:
“How about your favorite book?”
“This Side of Paradise by F. Scott Fitzgerald”
“Why?”
“Because it’s the last one I read”
I like how honest Charlie was on this part, and I found myself agreeing with him. I realized that the books I last read would always be the one stuck on my head whenever some people ask me what my favorite book is, and since this book is the last book I read, I consider it as my favorite as of the moment. The last time I wrote an entry, I mentioned how I loved “One Day” and I was honestly considering it as my favorite book them, and now, I’m kind of torn which is my favorite, since both books are still fresh to my memory.
“The thing is some girls think they can actually change guys. And what’s funny is that if they actually did change them, they’d get bored. They’d have no challenge left. You just have to give girls some time to think of a new way of doing things, that’s all. Some of them will figure it out here. Some later. Some never. I wouldn’t worry about it too much.”
Well, some girls sometimes want to change guys. I just didn’t think that changing guys would mean having no challenge anymore, I thought if they’re able to change guys, especially the not so good traits in guys, the challenege begins. I guess, every person’s entitled to his or her own opinion. There are some traits better when changed and there are some better when retained.
“We accept the love we think we deserve”
People, not just girls, tend to draw a picture of the kind of love they want to deserve, and this is the kind of love they accept. This serves as a standard of what to accept and what to ignore. What’s sad is when one fails to meet this standard or this picture of the love one wants to have and it then becomes the end of it. I probably should not try to make this explanation long, I’m no expert on such things.
“It’s strange because sometimes, I read a book, and I think I am the people in the book. Also, when I write letters, I spend the next two days thinking about what I figured out in my letters.”“And all the books you’ve read have been read by other people. And all the songs you’ve loved have been heard by other people. And that girl that’s pretty to you is pretty to other people. And you know that if you looked at these facts when you were happy, you would feel great because you are describing “unity”.”“We are who we are for a lot of reasons. And maybe we’ll never know most of them. But even if we don’t have the power to choose where we come from, we can still choose where we go from there. We can still do things. And we can try to feel okay about them.”
It made me realize how it’s normal to cry when you really cannot help but cry, that girls and boys (and gays) are different in their own ways and deal with issues differently, that some secrets are too heavy to handle and must be shared to others, while some secrets, no matter how heavy they are, must be kept. I learned how important relationships are, be it with family or friends. I also learned how important it is to have some quiet and alone time for self sometimes, and that it’s normal.
