This was one of my book club reads, and I was hesitant but ended up enjoying the subject matter that got me to thinking about what a person and their families have to deal with in regards to being handicapped, or being highly intelligent. The world just treats you differently, it also highlights how far we've come in how we treat mentally handicapped people and what is presented in this book would be considered abusive now. Charlie Gordon has his IQ increased by a surgical procedure from that of a barely functional mentally retarded person to superhuman intelligence and writes the book in first person experience. The procedure was first tried on a lab mouse Algernon that Charlie befriends and who is the litmus test of what he experiences. But Algernon has a sudden drop in IQ and dies in considerable confusion and pain, so now Charlie needs to discover a cure. Is he condemned to go lose all his self awareness?
@Sunstone That he was, it was so sad to learn why he took his own life, that Lewes Body Dementia robbed him of his self and creativity, pushing his already fragile emotions over the edge :(
