I AM SORRY POP-CULTURE

So recently I read 'The Perks of Being a Wallflower' by Stephen Chbosky and I have to say I really don't see the world's obsession with it.

Ever since the movie came out in 2013, the whole teenage population appears to be obsessed with this book- they watch the movie, they walk around holding the book (yes I have witnessed this many times), they quote from it, and mostly they all say that they want the lives of the characters and they want to be them.
Now I'm sure that these people mean well, but they can't possibly have read the book if they are making statements like that, the main plot of the book is a teenage boy with no friends, deep psychological issues and who was a victim of child abuse.

This book had the potential to be really good, yet I just found it very, very pointless. There are all these events that happen to the character that have absolutely nothing to do with the outcome of the story (plus most of these events are very repetitive and all the characters seem to do is drink, take drugs and act in the Rocky Horror Picture Show 24/7) and it all appears to be leading up to this big event that is mention briefly all throughout the book... And then when you get there the whole psychological-and-mental-health-issues point of the book is briefly mentioned in the epilogue and that's it. There seems to be this big build up to some major event all the way through the book which there just isn't there when you reach the end.

The one thing I kind of like with this book is the enigma that comes from who the character of 'Charlie' is addressing all his letters to, but when you really think about it it's like they are actually addressed to the reader.

I am just very disappointed after reading this book, I think that all the events that happen in the story are irrelevant to the underlying theme and they have nothing to do with the character's journey to realising his childhood problems, they are just there to fill space.

All in all it is a very pointless book and I do not get the pop-culture hype over it- if you want to read a book about mental health issues that is not pointless and has an actual overall aim, then I would recommend 'It's Kind of a Funny Story' by Ned Vizzini (which is also a major movie starring Emma Roberts and Zach Galifianakis).

If you are suffering from a mental health issue or believe that you may have one, then please don't suffer in silence, you can all Childline on 0800 1111 or talk to someone close to you about it.