アルジャーノンに花束を (ダニエル・キイス文庫) [新書]

Charlie Gordon, IQ 68, is a floor sweeper, and the gentle butt of everyone's jokes, until an experiment in the enhancement of human intelligence turns him into a genius. But then Algernon, the mouse whose triumphal experimental transformation preceeded his, fades and dies, and Charlie has to face the possibilty that his salvation was only temporary. --このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

32歳になっても幼児の知能しかないパン屋の店員チャーリイ・ゴードン。そんな彼に、夢のような話が舞いこんだ。大学の偉い先生が頭をよくしてくれるというのだ。この申し出にとびついた彼は、白ネズミのアルジャーノンを競争相手に、連日検査を受けることに。やがて手術により、チャーリイは天才に変貌したが…超知能を手に入れた青年の愛と憎しみ、喜びと孤独を通して人間の心の真実に迫り、全世界が涙した現代の聖書(バイブル)。

Daniel Keyes wrote little SF but is highly regarded for one classic, Flowers for Algernon. As a 1959 novella it won a Hugo Award; the 1966 novel-length expansion won a Nebula. The Oscar-winning movie adaptation Charly (1968) also spawned a 1980 Broadway musical.

Following his doctor's instructions, engaging simpleton Charlie Gordon tells his own story in semi-literate "progris riports." He dimly wants to better himself, but with an IQ of 68 can't even beat the laboratory mouse Algernon at maze-solving:

I dint feel bad because I watched Algernon and I lernd how to finish the amaze even if it takes me along time.

I dint know mice were so smart.

Algernon is extra-clever thanks to an experimental brain operation so far tried only on animals. Charlie eagerly volunteers as the first human subject. After frustrating delays and agonies of concentration, the effects begin to show and the reports steadily improve: "Punctuation, is? fun!" But getting smarter brings cruel shocks, as Charlie realizes that his merry "friends" at the bakery where he sweeps the floor have all along been laughing at him, never with him. The IQ rise continues, taking him steadily past the human average to genius level and beyond, until he's as intellectually alone as the old, foolish Charlie ever was--and now painfully aware of it. Then, ominously, the smart mouse Algernon begins to deteriorate...

Flowers for Algernon is a timeless tear-jerker with a terrific emotional impact. --David Langford
--このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

Flowers For Algernon made its first appearance as a short story which was rapidly and widely anthologized, and translated internationally. It received further acclaim as a moderated television drama, and as a motional picture production. Now, full bodied and richly-peopled, Flowers For Algernon is the daring novel of a starling human experiment!

"A tale that is convincing, suspectful and touching..." -- The New York Times.
"Fascinating, agonizing... Superb." --Birmingham News.
"This novel should be on your 'must read' list." -- Palm Beach Post-Times.
"Strikingly original..." -- Publishers' Weekly.
"Absorbing... Immensely original... Going to be read for a long time to come." -- Library Journal.
--このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

"A tale that is convincing, suspectful and touching..." -- The New York Times.

"Fascinating, agonizing... Superb." --Birmingham News.

"This novel should be on your 'must read' list." -- Palm Beach Post-Times.

"Strikingly original..." -- Publishers' Weekly.

"Absorbing... Immensely original... Going to be read for a long time to come." -- Library Journal.
--このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。

Daniel Keyes was born in Brooklyn in 1927 and has worked as a merchant seaman, editor and university lecturer. He has published two other novels, but Flowers for Algernon remains his best known work. --このテキストは、絶版本またはこのタイトルには設定されていない版型に関連付けられています。