Girl Interrupted

Rating:
Summary: Brilliant
Review: Susanna Kaysen's story is so fascinating that I had trouble beleiving it was fiction. Her animated, sometimes disturbing characters one could only be lucky enough to encounter at such a place as McLean Hospital. From Daisy's chicken-and-laxatives diet to Allice Callais' breakdown, each character has their own unbeleivable story. Kaysen's unique writing style and sarcastic humor bring much character to the book. She writes about her fellow patients with love and shows the reader that they are no different from those who aren't locked up with padded walls. A fantastic book with an intense movie to go with it. Kudos to Winona Ryder as well as the cast and crew of the new film "Girl Interrupted." The movie certainly lived up to the book.

Rating:
Summary: A Must Read
Review: An inside look of the horrors that face those who dare to vocally express what "sane people" only think about. This book was an easy must-read that kept the pages turning.

Rating:
Summary: Not bad for someone who wants to learn how to commit suicide
Review: It got kind of boring after a while. The beginning was interesting

Rating:
Summary: Girl, Interrupted was compelling and brutally honest
Review: I read this book in one sitting...that's how much I really enjoyed it. The honest and brutal portrayal of Kaysen's two year stay in McLean hospital actually made me question my own sanity. A great read for anyone who has ever pondered about what the meaning of life really is.

Rating:
Summary: A Touching Must Reader!
Review: This is a breath-taking true life account of the horrors involved with mental institutions. The author transferred the emotions felt by the character into the reader with poise and fluency. There is never a dull moment in the story line. The character is continuously faced with traumas that seem so unreal to most of us. It is a true reality check of the capability of our minds. Definitely recommended, for your enjoyment.

Rating:
Summary: Good book but I wanted more
Review: this book is a terrific explanation of what happens inside a mental institution in the late 60's and it is thoughtful of its treatment of what is the definition of insanity. However, I wish the author had revealed a little more about her personal life e.g. why did she try to kill herself and what was her homelife like? If you are going to tell your own story I think you owe the reader all the facts that are necessary to get your point across. Otherwise, it was an enjoyable book.

Rating:
Summary: Girl, interrupted
Review: A wonderful book. I would highly recommened this book to others. If you have ever wondered what goes on in a mental institute? This is the book for you.

Rating:
Summary: You Go Girl!
Review: Once in a while you read a book that leaves an aftertaste like good cognac would. Girl, Interrupted is such a book. The writing is simple and so good. I was laughing as I was reading it and reading passages again and again, because they were vital and written with just the right amount of cynicism. The story in itself is witty and ironical. This book is one of the best I have read in a very long time. This author knows how to say what she wants to say without using superfluous language.

Rating:
Summary: Girl, Interrupted
Review: To think that the way I felt and thought at 18 and 19 was considered "crazy" 20 years earlier! I certainly felt crazy and like the author wanted to be locked up somewhere safe. I think the point that the author makes in the end-that what she went through at 18 and 19 isn't a whole lot different than a lot of people feel at that age-is an important message for young people today. Perhaps if I had this book at 18 and 19 I wouldn't have felt like I was the only one thinking and feeling that way. I would have known that I wasn't insane, I was just going through a very tough phase in life. Defining ourselve can be very painful and some of us just have a rougher time than others. I can't say enough how important this memoir is.

Rating:
Summary: Compelling
Review: I found Girl, Interrupted a compelling book. Susanna Kaysen's memoir of her stay in a mental hospital was a page turner. I have to agree with another reviewer here however, though I found her philosophies on mental illness interesting, I would have liked her to have written just a little bit more about her stay and the people she encountered while at the hospital. I wanted to make sure I read the book first before venturing out to see the movie version.