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  • Flowers for Algernon

  • By: Daniel Keyes
  • Narrated by: Adam Sims
  • Length: 8 hrs and 26 mins
  • 4.7 out of 5 stars (1,890 ratings)

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Flowers for Algernon

By: Daniel Keyes
Narrated by: Adam Sims
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Summary

Charlie Gordon, a floor sweeper born with an unusually low IQ, has been chosen as the perfect subject for an experimental surgery that doctors hope will increase his intelligence - a procedure that has been highly successful when tested on a lab mouse named Algernon.

All Charlie wants is to be smart and have friends, but the treatment turns him into a genius.

Then Algernon begins to fade.

What will become of Charlie?

Read by Adam Sims.

©1966 Daniel Keyes (P)2017 Orion Publishing Group
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Critic reviews

"A masterpiece of poignant brilliance...heartbreaking." ( The Guardian)

What listeners say about Flowers for Algernon

Average customer ratings
Overall
  • 4.5 out of 5 stars
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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

brilliantly read and written, kept me hooked

I loved it, the narrator was very good, would flex to characters, gave life to the book. the story was every interesting

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Great performance of a gripping piece of sci-fi

Story of a man with low IQ who becomes the first human candidate for a procedure to improve intelligence. Works well as an audiobook as the story unravels in the form of diary entries the protagonist is creating to contribute to towards the experiment. The performance transforms subtly as the intelligence of the main character evolves. Highly recommended both as a science fiction story and an audiobook.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Astonishing and timeless - this could have been written last year

Wow - this book is a rollercoaster! I can’t believe that I’ve only just come access this classic book. It feels completely timeless and could have been written last year.

Despite the main character becoming more and more sociopathic as he reaches peak intellect, I still rooted for him as he was a sweet, gullible young man when the reader first meets him.

I couldn’t stop listening. Brilliant and thought provoking.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Amazing book but better to read it.

I remember reading this book when I was a teenager and I really wanted to give it a listen so I started listening and realised it's much better to read it and be able to see how it's written, I say this only because you can see the development of Charlie's character a lot better through words rather than through sound. I don't want to say too much as to give much of the book away because it's also still a great listen because it's a great story, but I think a key aspect of this story is to actually see the writing, especially in the beginning.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Memorable

A very moving work, fluid and convincing, narrated with conviction. Imaginative and instightful, most revelatory.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Beautiful

Loved it so much, such a beautiful yet heartbreaking story. The narrator is wonderful too.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Exceptional

Absolutely fantastic audiobook, the narrator did an exceptional job reading one of my favourite stories.

Thank you for producing this

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  • Overall
    4 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    4 out of 5 stars

Pretty good and worth a credit

Starts great with a great voiceover performance throughout.

But 2/5 of the way onwards it all plays out as expected and you are pretty much just listening to get to the predictable end... but its a relatively quick listen.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

A wonder philosophical insight into relationships and the mind.

I loved the authors exploration of relationships and the mind, using disability and society perspectives to challenge the notion that a disability is not an advantage and provides a clear message that many of the issues lay with society.
Wonderfully written carefully narrated to show the delays and confused annotation in the text.

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  • Overall
    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars
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    5 out of 5 stars

Brilliant

Perfect and subtle pacing, very realistic take on the concept of rapid change in intelligence and expertly narrated.

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