Flowers for Algernon

I read both versions back to back and like them just about equally. While the short story does a splendid job of telling the core tale, I found the novel added detail and characterization without losing sight of what makes the short story so brilliant. Keyes does a simply marvelous job of portraying Charlie's transition from retarded to intelligent - from having a blurry to a focused intellect. The subtlety of the writing that accomplishes this feat is nothing short of amazing.

Either version, taken on its own, would make one of the better reads of the past couple of years. Reading them back to back elevated the experience for me.