The Perks of Being A Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky

This book was really intense. There are no chapters, just letters to someone addressed "Dear Friend," and we never learn who Charlie is writing to. Charlie himself is an interesting person, who thinks about anything and everything, recording whatever he can in these letters to cope with what happened in his life. The first thing you learn is that his friend Micheal died, and with no other friends, Charlie keeps to himself and reads the extra books and does extra work for his English teacher. All of the books that Charlie reads, relate to what's going on in his life. He reads Peter Pan, Catcher in the Rye, The Great Gatsby, The Fountainhead and many other books that he says are his favorite. Then, Charlie meets Patrick and Sam and his life changes, he learns what friendship is again, and he learns about crushes and so many other High School topics that he explains in (too much) detail at times. But Charlie is dealing with something that he can't even remember, and once it is revealed, you understand why he is the way he is. His coping is a subtle detachment from everything and everyone. At times, he only records things logically and tells them with precise details and truth.
This is one of those books that makes you think. Charlie is philosophical and often wonders the reasons why people do what they do. He has some clever quotes about life, and living and even not living. His experience in school is just as complicated as his internal struggle to cope with something he doesn't understand or remember, because he blocked it out long ago.
I kind of understand why people call this story "The Breakfast Club" of the new generation, but at the same time, I found it ironic that Charlie didn't like comparing things to older and more well known pieces of art.
In some ways, this is a book all its own. It uses a clever tactic that keeps the reader interested. Charlie is talking to the reader, whoever receives the letters that he mails randomly, whenever something interesting in his life happens. He trusts this person with many secrets, and seems to care about them, and the way they view the world. It's a powerful and yet familiar voice that sounds like your own inner dialogue, and a story from a friend. I very powerful and interesting read.
(I will warn readers that the events and details can be brutal at times, and Charlie doesn't always know how to filter things that pop into his head)
This book is complicated, but then so is life.