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Most books get one chance to make an impression. "Flowers for Algernon" got two, and it won a science fiction award each time.
Daniel Keyes first told the story in 1959 as a novelette, a piece of fiction much shorter than a novel. It won the Hugo Award, a science fiction prize. He then spent several years rebuilding it as a full novel, which came out in 1966 and shared the Nebula Award for Best Novel, another science fiction prize. So before you buy a copy, it helps to know that there are two versions of this book, and that they are not quite the same.
The writer behind it
Daniel Keyes was born in New York City on August 9, 1927, and died in Boca Raton, Florida, on June 15, 2014, at the age of 86. His path to fiction was a winding one. At 17 he joined the US Maritime Service and worked as a purser on oil tankers. He earned a degree in psychology from Brooklyn College in 1950, edited the pulp magazine Marvel Science Stories, and later worked as an associate editor at the comics publisher Atlas Comics under Stan Lee.
The seed of "Flowers for Algernon" came from the classroom. Keyes taught high school, and his students included both gifted students and students with intellectual disabilities. A boy in his special-needs class set him wondering what might happen if a person could be given greater intelligence. From 1966 he taught English and creative writing at Ohio University. His later books include "The Minds of Billy Milligan" (1981), a work of nonfiction.
Two versions, and how to choose
The novelette appeared as the lead story in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction and won the 1960 Hugo Award for Best Short Fiction.
Keyes worked on the expanded novel from 1962 to 1965. It was not an easy sell: five publishers turned it down over roughly a year before Harcourt, Brace & World published it in 1966, with a Bantam paperback following in 1968. The novel tied with Samuel R. Delany's "Babel-17" for the 1966 Nebula Award for Best Novel, and it was nominated for the Hugo for Best Novel the following year.
The two versions differ even in their basic details. In the novelette, Charlie is 37 and works as a janitor in a factory. In the novel, he is 32 and works at a bakery. If you are buying the book to read on your own, the novel gives you the fuller, longer version of Charlie's story. If you have read only the shorter version, the novel is worth reading as something new. Either way, check the page count and the description before you buy, so you know which one you are getting.
Meeting Charlie
Charlie Gordon is a man with an IQ (intelligence quotient) of 68. In the novel, he works at a bakery. He also attends reading and writing classes for adults with intellectual disabilities, taught by a teacher named Alice Kinnian.
Two researchers, Professor Nemur and Dr. Strauss, have developed an experimental surgical technique intended to raise intelligence. They have already tried it on a laboratory mouse named Algernon. Now they need a human subject. Partly on Alice's recommendation, they choose Charlie over other students in the class.
Everything we learn comes to us through Charlie's own progress reports, written in the first person. That is where the book begins. What follows is something to discover for yourself, and it is best discovered without a guide.
Why it is worth your time
The form does the work. There is no narrator standing above the story. You read only what Charlie writes down, in his own words, from his own point of view. It is a simple device, and it creates an unusual closeness between reader and character.
It is science fiction close to home. The premise is a speculative one, a surgery that might raise intelligence, but the world of the book is one of bakeries, classrooms, and laboratories. Readers who think they do not like science fiction may find this book an easy way in.
Two versions make a natural pair. Because the novelette and the novel set Charlie up differently, with a different age and a different job, reading both is a rare chance to watch a writer rework his own story. Start with the novel, then look for the novelette, or the other way round.
It also reached a wide audience on screen. The 1968 film adaptation, "Charly," earned Cliff Robertson the Academy Award for Best Actor.
Who will enjoy it
This is a strong choice for readers who like stories told through diaries, letters, or other first-person records. It suits book clubs well, because the first-person form gives every reader the same narrow window to talk about. Teachers, parents, and anyone who has worked with people of different abilities may find it especially rewarding. And if you have avoided science fiction because you expected rockets and aliens, this is a good place to change your mind.
Open the first progress report, and let Charlie tell it his way.
Sources
- Wikipedia, "Flowers for Algernon" (novelette first published as the lead story in the April 1959 issue of The Magazine of Fantasy & Science Fiction; 1960 Hugo Award for Best Short Fiction; novel written 1962-1965, rejected by five publishers over about a year, published in 1966 by Harcourt, Brace & World with a 1968 Bantam paperback; joint winner of the 1966 Nebula Award for Best Novel with Samuel R. Delany's Babel-17; 1967 Hugo nomination for Best Novel; first-person progress reports written by Charlie Gordon; opening setup, including IQ of 68, age 37 and a factory janitor's job in the novelette versus age 32 and a bakery job in the novel, Alice Kinnian's reading and writing classes for adults with intellectual disabilities, Professor Nemur and Dr. Strauss, the mouse Algernon, and Charlie's selection partly on Alice's recommendation over other students; 1968 film Charly and Cliff Robertson's Academy Award for Best Actor) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Flowers_for_Algernon
- Wikipedia, "Daniel Keyes" (born August 9, 1927, in New York City; died June 15, 2014, in Boca Raton, Florida, aged 86; joined the US Maritime Service at 17 and served as a ship's purser on oil tankers; bachelor's degree in psychology from Brooklyn College in 1950; editor of Marvel Science Stories and associate editor at Atlas Comics under Stan Lee; taught high school students who were gifted and students with intellectual disabilities, and a boy in his special-needs class sparked the idea; professor of English and creative writing at Ohio University from 1966; The Minds of Billy Milligan, 1981) https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Keyes