Girl Interrupted

Rating:
Summary: Wanted more story..not a psychology lesson
Review: I never saw the movie, but I can only hope it is better than the book. Maybe I just didn't know what I was getting into but I didn't not care for this book. Luckily it was short and quick.

I was hoping for more of a story. I wanted to learn more about the characters, how they got to the mental institute. I wanted to learn more about Susanna's marriage and why it didn't work. I felt this was more of a book on psychology. I would have rather had the lesson through a more visual story told through the characters, thus portraying the psychological aspects of the book.

Rating:
Summary: Not memorable
Review: I've read many books that have a similar style to this one and this was the worst. I don't even remember half the book, that's how uninteresting I felt it to be. If you're looking for memoirs of mental patients and things of that sort, read "The Bell Jar" (Sylvia Plath) or "Prozac Nation" (Elizabeth Wurtzel).

Rating:
Summary: Insightful, fascinating thoughts on near madness
Review: Susanna Kaysen in Girl, Interupted provides several fascinating and thought-provoking ideas and thoughts on the anatomy of near-madness, in a the form of this slightly jumpy book. The skips from time to time and subject to subject between chapters in a slightly unorthodox way of telling a chronological tale can be a teensy bit difficult, but are well worth it for the insight and general good read provided. At times funny, at others serious, Girl, Interupted shouldn't be missed, if only for the candid and refreshing takes on diagnosed insanity it provides.

Rating:
Summary: I liked the movie better
Review: I watched the movie before I read the book, so maybe after watching the movie and seeing everything close up in visual detail, I was disappointed by the book's lack of detail. Sure it had it's moments and cute tales especially about Daisy and her chickens, Lisa and her escapades, and the whole group going to the ice cream palor, but what it didn't have was the complete package that the movie presented to the viewer. Instead of reading the emotional turmoil of the girls in the minimum security ward, you actually witnessed it, and I found that much more compelling. However, I really enjoyed the chapter "Mind vs. Brain", in which the author describes in humorous detail the difference between a sane and an insane person. Watch the movie, and skip the book.

Rating:
Summary: A pleasure to read
Review: I love the movie and so I hunt for the book. It's really a great book, though I am a bit disappointed by the fact that it is separated into very short chapters. It gets a bit loose because of such an arrangement, though it is still a good book without a doubt. I like the part about not having bones. That sounds so real. But since I've watched the movie first, somehow scenes from the movie appear when I read the book and sometimes it's a little disappointing to find that the movie gets into more details than the book (no matter whether they're true or not) Anyway, I'm glad to know from the book that Lisa ended up having not too bad a life. Frankly, I'm attracted by her, just like the teenage girls in the institution did...

By the way, I like this book far more than the Bell Jar, despite that they are in some ways similar.

Rating:
Summary: Fantastic
Review: If you are a female, you have to read this book. It is as simple as that. It is absolutely fanstastic. Kaysen has a way of drawing us into her world and make it seem beautiful and calm even behind the brick and mortar that is McLean Hospital. Also, if you read the book, you much watch the movie. Both were the best of their respected media that I have read/seen in a long, long tinme.

Rating:
Summary: Very Boring
Review: I found this book to be a very boring read. I had watched the dramatized "Girl Interrupted" in the movies so I borrowed this book from the library. Susanna tells us NOTHING in this book.

Rating:
Summary: Susanna Kaysen
Review: After seeing the movie, I decided that such a story could never be justified without the proper first-person account. Now that I have fulfilled that curiousity, I am wondering how I could contact Susanna... Whether by email, regular mail, or any other form, I am very interested in asking her some questions. If anyone has an idea of how I could do so, please email me at [e-mail] and let me know.

Thank you,

David Lorch

Rating:
Summary: Disturbing in all the right ways
Review: When I picked up this book, I asked myself, "Do I really want to hear about a suicidal person?"

Well, I jumped in, and the answer is yes! This is a highly affecting and unique book, about people in a mental ward. It's structured a bit like a novel, rather than a slice of a real life, but the great writing style and unembellished characters make it all the better. The girl with an obsession about laxatives and chicken is my sister's favorite.

I'm not entirely certain what "Borderline Personality" means, but I don't really need to. It sort of is clear from the book itself.

This is funny, disturbingly precious, full of the kind of warped insanity that many, many people feel during their lives. Before any judgements are made about people with personality disorders, they should read this book to see inside their minds.

Rating:
Summary: Madness Takes Its Toll-Please Use Exact Change
Review: As with most movies, there is a good book lurking somewhere in its past. And "Girl, Interrupted", is no exception. Author and central character of this mesmerizing memoir, Susanna Kaysen, gives us a well defined exacting profile of near madness.

Tweny-five years after placing herself under the watchful eyes of her "keepers" at Mc Lean Hospital for psychiatric treatment, Kaysen reveals her two year stay in the teenage ward back in the late 60's. A time itself of diagnosed disturbance.

Richly portrayed characterzations of her fellow "inmates" and their doctors vividly depict everything from suicide, medications, the meaning of a crazed life, and harrowing journies to recovery.

I truly enjoyed this 168 page book. Possibly more so due to the fact that I, myself, can say--"been there, done that, bought the T-shirt." And agree, the interruption is not my life, it just may be those mannerless people around me.

Thank you for your interest & comments--CDS