Young Writers Society

Since the book was gifted to me by a good friend at age 14 while I was going through a particularly rough patch of depression and felt particularly alone, Perks has grown to be the most ragged, highlighted, dog-eared, and annotated book of fiction in my collection.

And that includes House of Leaves and Girl, Interrupted.

The film is less ragged, highlighted, dog-eared, and annotated, as films are less capable of these things. But make no mistake: I love the film utterly, albeit the lack of length and the need for the pauses and elongated pauses the book begs of its narration. All the same, Chbosky made wonderful work of his film adaptation, and even gave us further insight into Charlie's life and almost created complementary material for fans of the book.

I'm curious of you, then: first, how did you feel about the book? The film? Which form did you prefer, if either? Beyond that, I'd prefer this to be an open discussion because I'd like to come back later with more points on the matter, possibly after diving into the book again.

I love the book. I've reread it a few times the last two years, and every time I can't get over how much I fell in love with the characters, especially Charlie and Patrick. I first picked it up a couple of days before my sophomore year started, filled with a strange nervousness, and I could connect with his thoughts so much. One of the things I'll never forget is the poem he recites - those words hit me so hard.

I also really love the movie. I felt that the actors did a pretty great job of portraying their respective personalities. There were a few scenes I didn't care for on the big screen, especially the drug ones, but they didn't really take away from the movie; they just made it awkward to watch the movie with my parents.

I don't think I can pick which version I like the most, since they both brought out different emotions from me. Hearing Heroes in the movie was such an empowering moment to me at least, but the typewriter scene in the book will always be a favorite scene of mine, even though the repercussions were so awful.

I might enjoy the movie more, because I couldn't hide from the truth about his aunt and everyone's past. When I first read the end of the book, I was shell shocked, after all the love he felt for her, that was how he was repaid? The movie makes that scene worse for me, maybe because visuals sometimes are more memorable to me, but I can't forget how my parents reacted when they realized what happened to Charlie.

Sorry this was so long XD.