by Donovan Salter ’17, Contributor

The Perks of Being a Wallflower is one of the biggest films to hit the big screen this fall. It is an adaption of Stephen Chobosky’s book by the same title, which was published back in 1999. Not only did Chbosky write the book, he also wrote the screenplay and directed the movie. Chobosky’s amazing ability to create dynamic and relatable characters creates an emotional storyline, which only becomes stronger from book to movie.
The story takes place in during the years of 1991 and 1992. The book is narrated through letters written by the main character, Charlie, to an anonymous friend who never replies. Instead they just “listen and understand.” Charlie is a quiet high school freshman who is considered to be a “wallflower”. His best (and only) friend shot himself right before the start of school, leaving Charlie by himself. Charlie meets two seniors, Patrick and Sam, a brother and sister duo, who help him through freshman year. They teach him to have fun, and they help him realize that even though his high school years aren’t the best, they are only four years out of his entire life. Throughout the course of the story, which begins at the beginning of Charlie’s freshman year and ends a little past the end of his freshman year, Charlie’s life is a roller coaster that he just can’t seem to get off of no matter how hard he tries.
Chbosky did a phenomenal job making the movie so similar to the book. In most cases, the book is better than movie, but in this case I think the movie is better than the book. The movie is able to capture the intense emotions experienced throughout the story due to the remarkable acting by, Logan Lerman (Charlie), Emma Watson (Sam), and Ezra Miller (Patrick), while not all of these emotions are accessable in the book. All in all, this is a great movie and book that can relate to most

anyone.