Dear friend,
I remember the first time I read Stephen Chbosky's The Perks of Being A Wallflower. It was over three years ago on a quiet Sunday afternoon. Everyone at home was asleep and I was looking around for something to do when I stumbled across the book on my computer, having downloaded it a long time ago but never touched (if you're outraged that I download books, please remember: I live in Sri Lanka and access to books isn't that great, so I get them from the Net; to date, I've only come across a hard copy of the book once- just once). Having nothing better to do, I sat down and read the first page. Then the next page. And the next. Four hours later (I'm a fast reader), I had finished The Perks of Being A Wallflower and I knew that my life had somewhat been changed by the experience.
I don't know what was it that made The Perks of Being a Wallflower different from most books of its genre. It had the trappings and workings of a generic coming-of-age story (set in the 90s) with a meek and introverted protagonist who falls in love with a beautiful girl out of his league... and yet, there was something undeniably charming about how Chbosky wrote it. Somehow, his characters felt real- real and flawed. The protagonist, an aspiring writer named Charlie, is a great friend. To quote a description of him by one main character: "You see things. You keep quiet about them. And you understand". That's why they call him 'a wallflower'.
Charlie's love and empathy for the few people in his life is tremendous; he is the kind of person who'd take a bullet for you without even hesitating. He always puts other people's concerns ahead of its own. It's his greatest strength... and also his greatest weakness. To quote another character: "You can't just sit there and put everybody's lives ahead of yours and think that counts as love".
Charlie isn't a saint, though: when he wants to break up with his girlfriend whom he doesn't like but doesn't know how to, he seizes his chance at a truth-or-dare game: when dared to "kiss the prettiest girl in the room on the lips". He kisses his friend and long-time crush, Sam. Needless to say, Sam wasn't the girlfriend. Not the nicest way to break up with someone.
Charlie's new best friend is an outgoing lively guy named Patrick. He happens to be gay. His step-sister is Sam. She has had a bit of a reputation in the past. They hang out with a stoner named Bob. Charlie's sister, Candace, has an abortion later in the story. Do you get what I'm saying? It's these little flaws that help add that third-dimension, one that make the characters stick in your mind long after you've closed the book.
I'm rambling, though... see, I read this book all the way back in 2010. And I was certain that at the time, from the people I knew and the circles I ran in, I was probably the only one who'd read The Perks of Being a Wallflower. I would later recommend it to another friend who ended up loving it just as much as I did and then I was certain that we were the only two people from our friends who'd read this book.
And there was something quite nice about it. The feeling of having read a book that others didn't. It didn't feel mainstream. It was like having a little secret all to yourself or maybe amongst the few people who would have been aware of its existence. It was a book, after all, that came out over a decade ago.
Then came the news of the movie.
Just as with the book, I was one of the few people aware that such a movie was being made. Which is a little surprising given that Logan Lerman and Harry Potter-alum Emma Watson was starring as Charlie and Sam respectively. I remember the excited state I was in when they released the very first trailer for the film, somewhere around July 2012- it was just before I got ready for school. The rest of that day felt pretty brilliant after I watched it.
And people were still pretty much in the unknown about it.
The movie released in the US and it was a quiet modest hit. Everyone went on with their lives.
Then the DVD released in early 2013.
And all of a sudden, it was as if an asteroid had hit the planet! Every single person was talking about The Perks of Being a Wallflower! And they were raving about it and saying how good it was and how much they loved it! Quotes from the film started appearing all over Facebook, specially as status updates and captions for photographs- especially for women's ones. The most popular was "We accept the love we think we deserve".
Now, I should have been happy about its success and popularity. I mean, absolutely! Here I was, having spent nearly three years of my life trying to convince people about it and it finally paid off, didn't it?
Except, I felt a little annoyed at the whole thing.
See, when I would quote Perks before, it felt cool that I was one of a very few around the world who knew about this book- and later, film. But when every Tom, Dick, Harry and Sally started quoting the film and remained seemingly ignorant about the book- naturally, I got a little riled. I was aghast! I kept telling them "Read the book, for the love of God! If you loved the movie, you'll love the book!". So much so that a friend of mine took to tagging me on Facebook whenever someone quoted Perks, just so that he could get this reaction out of me.
I've calmed down a lot, though, since that time. Probably because more people have finally taken to reading the book (and they loved it) but most likely because it's such a petty thing to fight over. But as the guy who knew about Perks before everyone else did, I believe I do have the right of acting like that.
I do miss the non-mainstream feeling of it all, I won't deny it. But given that The Perks of Being A Wallflower has now reached more people, I am happy for it. It deserves it. It should accept the love it think it deserves. Because it does deserve it.
And in this moment, I swear The Perks of Being a Wallflower is infinite.
Love always,
Dinesh
