Flowers for Algernon

This book didn't make me cry (although it came close), but it was very sad, emotional, and raw. It won major science fiction awards, but to me it's more literary - it's so human!

Charlie Gordon isn't very smart... he has a severely low IQ and as a product of his time, was often referred to as retarded. His story is told through a series of journal entries (or progress reports) about his life cleaning in a bakery, attending classes for the mentally challenged, and the prospect of an experimental surgery that will make him smart. He's 32 and all he want in life is to be well liked, he figures if he can get smart he will be able to achieve that and so much more. The scientists have already operated successfully on a mouse named Algernon, and they seem fairly confident that the same results will apply to Charlie. He happily allows them to operate on his brain and is initially frustrated because he doesn't perceive anything as happening, but slowly his mind starts expanding and his entries become more and more eloquent and hopeful, until one day ... they aren't hopeful and happy anymore. Groundbreaking and wonderfully believable. Charlie's journey from "dumb" to "smart" is a revelation and brilliantly told. I loved this book even though it made me an emotional wreck.