Charlie Gordon, a man with an intellectual disability, undergoes an experimental operation to increase his intelligence, previously successfully performed on a mouse named Algernon. Written in the form of his personal reports, the story follows Charlie’s transformation into a genius, as he realises how people have mistreated him before and that intelligence doesn’t bring happiness. As Algernon regresses and dies, Charlie understands that he will share the same fate. We saw a play based on the book that was really wonderful, so the written story felt a bit long, a bit beating around the bush. But it is a rich story that raises questions about intelligence, identity, human dignity and the ethical implications of scientific experimentation. Difficult to put the book down without feeling destabilised.
“I’m not sure what IQ is anyway. Prof Nemur said it was something that measured how intelligent you were – like a scale in the drugstore weighs pounds. But Dr Strauss had a big argument with him and said an IQ didn’t weigh intelligence at all. He said an IQ showed how much intelligence you could get, like the numbers of the outside of a measuring cup. You still had to fill the cup up with stuff.”