Flowers for Algernon - An incredible, timeless classic!
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What is the overall premise of Flowers for Algernon and why is it considered a classic?
Hello everybody, I'm Cody Troyer. And I'm Brent Gazeford. And we are the Hugonauts. This week we're talking about Flowers for Algernon, the 1966 Daniel Keyes classic. And uh we are deciding it is there a reason it's still taught in schools?
Well, it wasn't for me. I wish it had been though. I've read it three times. I love this book. I think it's so great. I'm very excited to talk about it. But yes, first.
Next time we are doing um in honor of the last episode doing so well, we are gonna talk about all of the novels that have won both the Hugo and the Nebula in the same year. It's gonna be a long list and a fun list.
Hit list, a lot of very good books, and then some surprise kind of mid-slash stinkers on there that we'll tell you about that you can skip when you're when you're going through them. Uh but anyway, yes, there's also a lot of really, really good books on the list. That's what we have thought on.
Um, okay, what did you think about Flowers for Algernon, Brent? What's your rating?
I mean, I adore it. It's a five out of five for sure. This is a book this is one of the very few books that I think literally everyone alive should read. Um it's up there with like nineteen eighty four for me and not You know, if if you're into sci-fi, obviously there's a lot of books I can tell you about. But no matter who you are, you should read Flowers for Algernon. Uh It is every scene is packed full of so much interesting stuff about what it means to be human, how to treat other people, and how to think about yourself. There's some really interesting deep stuff about How did you Handle people in different circumstances than yourselves and And about mortality and about sexuality and about coming of age.
Man, anyway, I have a lot of things that I love about this book. It's crazy how short it is and how much it makes me think. Uh, it often makes me cry. I'm two for three on crying when I read this book. Um, anyway, I love it. I adore it. Five out of five for sure. What do you think?
I'm a like a four and a half out of five. I'm almost there with you. I don't think it's like one of my favorite favorites, so just get a full five from me. But I also loved it. Um it's uh very emotional. Um, it's just that classic great literary fiction meets a speculative fiction idea. Um, and they kinda they blend together in an interesting way that we can learn more about ourselves and others. Um, and it is a bit dated. But kind of in a good way where it feels more like a period piece written in that period, like a snapshot of the year.
How do the hosts rate the book and what makes it stand out for them?
Right. Right. You get to learn about the time with it. Yes, I agree. Yeah. Yeah. Um, so I loved it. Um, and this book is 311 pages. Uh it was first released as a short story or like a version of it in 1959, and then published as the novel in 1966. And it is nine hours on audiobooks, so it's pretty pretty quick. Um, should we should we talk about what it's about for anyone who might not know still?
Yeah, uh I'll also say if you have read the short story, I would love to hear from you in the you know the comments or on Discord, wherever. Um I've only read the novel version and and I'm very curious to hear if the short story It feels like the novel is so dense already. I'm really curious to hear what the short story is like. Anyway, neither here nor there. Um So this book is about uh an intellectually disabled man who is selected to participate in an experiment to uh in an attempt to make him uh radically smarter. And uh we won't reveal the whole plot, obviously. We do a post-spoiler section at the end if you you haven't been here before. Um but it works. And he All sorts of interesting things happen and his perspective on the world changes and you get a a
coming of age story, but a man who's an adult and anyway. We'll have a lot more to say about it. But yeah, that's the basic setup.
Before we get into it, we want to give a quick shout out to our episode sponsor, Gods and God Particles, by Raghavan Juya Kumar.
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Chapters
5 chapters
1
What is the overall premise of Flowers for Algernon and why is it considered a classic?
0:01–2:26
2
How do the hosts rate the book and what makes it stand out for them?
2:26–8:32
3
What is the basic setup of the story without giving away spoilers?
8:32–17:55
4
How does the first‑person journal style evolve as Charlie’s intelligence changes?
17:55–37:26
5
Why do the hosts view Flowers for Algernon as a coming‑of‑age story for an adult?
37:26–45:52