The Perks of Being a Wallflower

"I love Twinkies, and the reason I am saying that is because we are supposed to think of reasons to live." -Stephen Chbosky

I love this sentence mostly because it's funny, which of course is because of the way it's written. A reason to live would normally suggest a more emotional way of speaking. But it's a simple thought, and it's a fact, a real childish reaction to an adult's deep question. The way Stephen Chbosky writes in "The Perks of Being a Wallflower" has the same basic simplicity to it which suggests that all the embellishments we like to put on things as adults are unnecessary. They distract from the real truth of who we are and what we're thinking, and that's exactly what they're supposed to do. An abundance of short simple sentences and dependent clauses might normally bother some of us as being childish, but that's what makes Chbosky a genius. Because his method is so simple, and the content is so true, we believe it. The text somehow becomes real. No one says stuff like this, but if we were honest with ourselves and said what we were thinking more often, we might, especially as teenagers. I like to be complex in my writing most of the time. I like the idea that a sentence can go on for half a page and still be grammatically correct. But I reference this book to remind myself that a little simplicity never hurt anyone.