Salutations and welcome to my newest entry.
I have been busy as of late: rushing around work, home, gym, meetings and all the while attempting to continue reading my many books on the go and also very much missing my bed. However, during my busy shopping session recently, I stumbled across the DVD of The Perks of Being a Wallflower and it made me smile to think of my pristine condition version of the book at home.
Firstly, I love this book. Kiss kiss kiss, I found this to be one of those books I could not put down and have read it many many times over, and kept it as neat as possible to do so for many many more. And now, I want to share my love of this book.
Secondly I have never seen the film – and I don’t want to. I don’t think I could handle what it would destroy in my perceptions. And also Emma Watson is in it, and she has a slappable face…
Moving on!
Unfortunately, I have not had the time to take my own pictures of my tea and books this week (despite my awful phone camera and hideous ability to get the angles right), so I hope that these generic googled pictures measure up to my own amazing photographic skills!
I love this front cover. This is every diary I have ever owned in a nutshell. You know, before I forget to write in it because writing the every day life of someone like me does get boring when you are not a secret agent or have an awesome secret laboratory hidden deep in the wardrobe of your room.
The Perks of Being a Wallflower is a novel following the point of view of Charlie, a young teenager who feels different to other people, yet has an ingenious ability to spot things others do not. He is telling his story through the means of letters, which he sends to an anonymous stranger, with lots of personal details and stories about his life, his family and mainly his friends. The complicated coming of age story of a young boy in America, the book delves into drinking and drug use, relationships, prejudice, mental health and of course, the Rocky Horror Picture Show.
I have a huge interest in books that delve into mental health issues because I am personally a sufferer of them – I won’t bore you with the details – and this one in particular has always caught my eye. Charlie is, in my opinion, a very lovable character: he is warm, awkward, interesting, entertaining, loyal and an intelligent boy and if I was a 15 year old girl where he was, I would love to have met him myself. But it is evident from the start that nothing is quite as it seems. He doesn’t respond with the most amount of tact, has passive aggressive and fully aggressive moments, and the twist at the end of the book shattered me into many different pieces. I was heartbroken for the boy. And I am empathetic for him, I feel for him. And by the end, the absolute loyalty he has felt for his friends is a feeling that is instilled in me for him:
“I don’t know if you’ve ever felt like that. That you wanted to sleep for a thousand years. Or just not exist. Or just not be aware that you do exist. Or something like that. I think wanting that is very morbid, but I want it when I get like this. That’s why I’m trying not to think. I just want it all to stop spinning.”
I bought this book on the whim. And it was one of the best decisions in my book world I have ever made. Don’t get me wrong, this book is not all about depressing issues. There are highs and lows, lefts and rights, it goes everywhere. One moment I am laughing at the ingenious ability of teenagers to make the best of situations, and the next I am almost in tears with my feelings for the characters. For it is not only the problems of Charlie that keep you wrapped up, but the issues that his friends face: Sam and Patrick. You feel for Charlie’s family, his mum, dad, his siblings. It is even for those that represent so much for Charlie: his aunt Helen, who died before the beginning of the story, his teacher who presses him, and makes him think. Even his friend Michael – the reason he starts to send the letters. It is the importance of embracing everything – and Charlie is the perfect person to express this because he truly acts the part of being both there and away from it all: to be the wallflower. And I connect with that on many levels.
This book has made me think. And when I think, I need a relaxing tea to go with it. Because it is not any old thinking that is needed, it is a delving into the mind that goes beyond your average daily thoughts. To those thoughts that you do not wish to think about, to those that you hide away, to those that need so much time to digest and get through. And that is when camomile is my choice of beverage.
Although I have never drunk anything as fancy looking as that!
It is a soothing taste. Soothing as anything can be, and fragrant. A most relaxing drink, and known for its health benefits. But I don’t drink it for that – I drink it for the piece of mind. It is a contemplative beverage that compliments this contemplative book. No matter what age you are, if you are older than Charlie is, you think back to your youth and wonder whether you ever felt the same way he did. For better, or worse, you wonder how you coped with it all. And if you are not old enough, or roughly the same age, you want to understand if you will feel like this, or you do feel like this. The book invokes those kinds of emotions, whether you want them to come out or not, and this tea is the perfect accompaniment to remind you that it is over, or it won’t be so bad.
And that is just alright with me.
Goodnight all, I hope I haven’t depressed you too much! Kettle off.
Tea-To-Books 