The Perks of Being a _____________.

I like puzzles. I appreciate the complexities and the constant need to try to find a solution, an answer that makes sense. I like knowing that you have the clues right in front of you and that if you tweak everything just enough, you can turn into Nancy Drew or Sherlock Holmes without leaving the comfort of the tattered pages in front of you.

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is not a puzzle.

Many readers get caught up in who Charlie is writing to, but that isn't the point. Who cares who he wrote to? Does it change the context or the meaning of the things he said? Does it make him less credible? Does it make us (as readers) less willing to read? Does it make it less enjoyable as a novel?

No. It doesn't change anything because knowing who Charlie wrote to is not the point. The point is that he wrote to someone in the first place Unlike Melinda, he told someone about his problems, his dreams, and every little detail that may seem insignificant, but that make up the most interesting and quirky aspects of Charlie.

I guess in writing this blog I'm like Charlie, too. Who knows who will see this, but the fact that someone will, that someone may take something away from the words I'm writing is all that matters. Charlie wasn't looking for a response. I'm the same - I just don't have the anonymous friend that he did.

I think everyone is getting far too caught up in who he is writing to. It really does not matter. If all you take out of the book is some pit of curiosity resonating inside you, then you missed the entire point. It is not vital to know who he was talking to; it’s just important that he - unlike Melinda - was talking at all.

I like that I don't know who he was talking to. If I did, I might worry more about their reactions to Charlie's escapades than my own. And then I really wouldn't have been challenged as a reader, and that would be a shame.

---

These are not books, lumps of lifeless paper, but minds alive on the shelves. - Gilbert Highet