the perks of being a wallflower

You can say the book came to me serendepitiously. I was at National Bookstore at Ever Gotesco Ortigas looking for fantasy books to purchase when I found the book on the new arrivals table. I've heard about it before but never really gave it much attention. But there it was, with a nice cover and a blurb putting it alongside JD Salinger's "The Catcher in the Rye." Being a fan of coming of age stories, I decided to get it.

I was introduced to Charlie, the first person narrator of the story. I flipped page after page, getting involved with him and his friends. I read on and on and find myself loving Charlie. Charlie must be one of the most sincere and most beautiful persons I have come across.

Despite joining along the many crazy things American teen-agers do, illegal even, Charlie shows that young people are more three dimensional that they are often portrayed to be. He shows how young people are blessed with their own kind of wisdom, the kind filled with wonder and intuition. The very things that make Charlie beautiful to me.

As for the Catcher in the Rye comparison, I would hardly say so. I'd say the similarity ends with having a young teenage boy who smokes and drinks as a protagonist. Charlie hardly has the angst of Holden Caulfield.

"I feel infinite." A powerline from Charlie that captures what every teenager feels upon discovering freedom and independence. That feeling of looking up at the vast sky and being sucked into its vastness and sensing every bit of the world.

"Ang ganda." It's beautiful. A phrase I often throw around about books. But it has been a while since I FELT a book, a character to be beautiful.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is beautiful because it is simple and quiet and real. And with the crazy noise surrounding the world, we need more books like this.