Text-to-Self Paper: Carlie Harmon

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Upon reading the criteria for this assignment I read that within this blog post we are basically recreating the meaning we felt while reading a certain piece of fiction or poetry. Immediately I thought back to about eleventh grade, when I was about 16 (was that really 5 years ago?!), I was completely obsessed with Tumblr and everyone always posted about this book called The Perks of Being a Wallflower by Stephen Chbosky. At this point in my life I had just moved back to the United States, after living overseas in Okinawa, Japan for four years and I sometimes thought of myself as a wallflower. I definitely was always categorized as the "shy" one at my old high school. So after reading this book, I decided to not be the wallflower, like Charlie.

Senior year at Anoka High School was the best school year I ever had. I made a lot more friends then I've ever had before, I got my first job and was finally making money for myself, and overall 

I was completely, utterly, and genuinely happy. 

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While reading you'll find out Charlie has a deep secret the ruins his freshman year. I didn't know at the time I was reading this during my junior year, but I soon had a terrible experience that almost ruined my senior year. I had found out that my parents who were married for twenty years were getting a divorce. This really crushed me during this time of my happiness. I thought back to this book actually, and I remembered how Charlie surrounded himself with great people like Sam and Patrick. 

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The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a novel in my opinion that many teenagers who are in the in between stage of adulthood and still being a teen should read this book. I know after I read this I no longer felt like I had a childish mind. What I mean by that is I was able to grow up. I remember most of my teenage years I always was concerned of what everyone thought me, so most of the time I didn't spread my wings as far as they could go. I think this book is great for those who need to get over that hump. In the book Charlie writes letters to a friend and throughout he grows up tremendously and so does his reader. 

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Besides all of the personal feelings I was reminded of and the coming of age feeling overall this book reminds you life is short and you shouldn't take anything for granted. Charlie is hospitalized for mental reasons in this book and it made me realize that something that could happen in a matter of five seconds could change your life completely. The quote that stuck with me the most is 

"And in that moment, I swear we were infinite." (Chbosky, 39).

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In 2012 of course Hollywood made a theatrical version of this book (like every other great book). Most movies that are portrayed after books usually are so far from good it's ridiculous. I might be biased because I am an avid reader and reading a book makes the feelings ten times stronger. The Perks of Being a Wallflower was different, I mean I loved the book a lot more, but the movies portrayal wasn't half bad. With that, I want to share my favorite scene from the movie. It's the last scene where my favorite quote is also said.