WARNING this post contains spoilers.
Like Holly lays out the entire plot of this book on the table for
you. This won't take away your enjoyment of the book however, since
it makes no bones about how it is going to end, but y'know SPOILER
ALERT.
You know what book you shouldn't read
whole in one evening and finish right before you go to bed?
Flowers for Algernon.
Yeah. Everyone who's ever read this
just winced a little. For everyone who hasn't well, let me sum up.
Scientist take a willing retarded
(mentally challenged whatever you want to call him) man and using
science make him smart. Like really really smart. High level genius
of the whole world smart. The world is his oyster smart. Everything
is going according to plan smart. But then he starts to regress and
everything he's studied and learned and fought so hard to understand
leaves him. Of course it does this slowly enough that he has time to
morn all that he has lost.
I shouldn't have to explain to you why
this is terrifying.
This all led to the following
conversation where I ambushed my husband coming out of the bathroom.
ME: “Scott, promise me you'll shoot
me if I ever start loosing all my knowledge!”
SCOTT: “Um... why can't you just
shoot yourself?”
ME: “Because I won't remember.”
SCOTT:
“You won't remember
how a gun works?”
ME: “Flowers for
Algernon Scott. Of course I won't remember. Promise me you'll shoot
me in the face.”
SCOTT: “Did you
finish it? Did you like it?”
ME:
“Yeah, it was thought provoking.
I'll never sleep again. It
was a book I could never have written.”
SCOTT:“Why's
that?”
ME:
“Because as soon as he stole the hyper intelligent lab mouse from
the scientists when he realized they were just using him I would have
had him and the mouse team up to fight crime!”
SCOTT:
“Ah.”
ME:
“Look. I need to go look at cat pictures on the internet to
mitigate the horror.”
SCOTT:
“I didn't find the book that horrific.”
ME:
“How could you not? Can you picture being able to read and then
just...just loosing that? I think I need to eat another dessert, to
mitigate the horror.”
SCOTT:
“Uh huh.”
Now I
feel horrified and fat. Also, every time I misspell something my
brain is all 'we're regressing JUST LIKE CHARLIE AND ALGERNON!
You
know what? I think I need to go look at some cat pictures on the
internet.
Lot's
of cat pictures.
I try to aim low, that way, the things that I forget seem less important. It is a good book though, and a movie as well. At least I think it was a movie? I don't remember? :)
ReplyDeleteIt sounds like a souped up version of Alzheimer's. The Mister's grandfather has it, and it's been fairly terrifying to not only watch poor grandpa KNOW that he's loosing his memory and asking questions that he's asked a thousand times before, but also to know that puts the Mister at a higher risk for being afflicted as well.
ReplyDeleteMy Grandfather has it as well, as though he doesn't seem to be that aware of it. Although we did accidentally convince him it was Halloween a few weeks ago.
DeleteI would prefer my hypothetical (because he doesn't exist yet) husband to poison me rather than shoot me in my face, but agree that I would NOT like to lose all of my knowledge. Also, internet cats are the BEST thing that ever happened to me and scary movies.
ReplyDelete