Rating: 
Summary: Excellent read
Review: I would have given this book five stars, if it just hadn't been so depressing. I opened this book and closed it within a day, finito. Not having seen the movie, the book was a great read. It was so sad to learn about these young girls, who are already struggling with adolecence, being in this home away from family and friends made to contend with their individual disorders. The scary thing is many things they were feeling, each of us has felt at some time, though many of us arent self destrcutive and I suppose that is the difference. The book was surprisingly humorous at times as well, and Susanna Kaysen took a big risk to expose herself and as you go on you learn she has come a long way. She is solid and very likable. Dont pass this by.
Rating: 
Summary: "Nothing but skin..."
Review: The writing style of the author is very special; it feels strange at first, but after a few pages you get used to it. I liked the style. It was surreal and portrayed the chaotic emotional world of young Susanna perfectly. My favorite charakter from the book was, of course, Lisa. She was so intensive and I simply loved her. My favorite part of the book was when Lisa wrapped toilet paper all around the furniture in the living room. That was so funny, but touching. You won't know what I mean if you haven't read it. Only the ending was disappointing, I think. It was too sudden and very hard to understand. But after all, read it! It's the money worth, and you will wonder if you're crazy yourself after reading it...
Rating:
Summary: True Story
Review: I got this book as a Christmas gift from my American friend in 2000. I wished for this book, because I couldn't get in anywhere from Finland. I saw the movie before I read this book, and I just loved the movie so much.
This book describes the life in the 60's so well, that if you took a little too much something and flushed it with some alcohol you were crazy. Susanna wasn't crazy, she just didn't know what she wanted. Partly for the reason why she ended up in the hospital, can be used her parents. She learned a lot about life in the hospital, she made everyone else little better there, she was kinda like a teacher to the rest of the people in the hospital and the others taught her. Like in the end of the book, most of them were out in the 70's, most of them were fine, most of them she met, some of them ever again.
Rating:
Summary: Life In Crisis
Review: If you have ever been depressed, institutionalized, had a bad day, or have lived on this planet, this book is a must-read for you! When Susanna Kaysen was eighteen years-old, a psychiatrist sent her to McLean Hospital after learning that she had once attempted suicide, and having an interview that lasted roughly fifteen minutes. From there, it was a two-and-a-half year odyssey out of depression and confusion, and back to mental health. Along the way, Kaysen met many colorful characters, some eccentric yet sane (the patients), some not-quite sane at all (the staff). In detail, Kaysen describes the antics of Lisa: a ribald and provocative sociopath, the illness of Polly: a depressive who lit herself on fire, and the plight of Daisy: a bulimic who is a victim of incest. Kaysen herself is diagnosed with borderline personality disorder. In this book, time has little meaning, and Kaysen often flashes back-and-forth between her being in the hospital, before she went in, and after, with little sequence at all. It reads sort of like an out-of-order diary. This book is so skillfully written. When you first open it up, there are summaries seemingly copied right out of Kaysen's hospital records. The story itself, is written poignantly with compassion for both captors and captives. Kaysen aptly captures both the Hell and the hilarity of being in a mental institution with realism, and how somehow, in spite of it all, she manages to get better and move back on-track. Another thing that is a relief about it, is that Kaysen does not blame her problems on her family or some great trauma or even being misunderstood. It was simply that she didn't understand. Yet did that really merit her being locked up? I read this book two years ago, and when I first did, I was wishing it would be more dramatic, I found parts of it dull. However, it is the type of book which you want to hang onto and keep coming back to, because it is so informative and really is ground-breaking. While Susanna Kaysen points out the flaws of her being diagnosed with borderline personality disorder, and the stigma towards psychiatric hospital patients, she does not write with hatred, rather with empathy. There really is no villain in this book, except for life itself. The movie, which I liked, is completely different from the book, more dramatic. I recommend it, but it cannot substitute for the book. Kaysen writes with great insight about the courage to survive one's difficulties and the courage to heal.
Rating:
Summary: Interesting
Review: I think I spent more time reading the documents of Susana's hospitalization than the rest of the book. What is most intriguing is that it's a true story based upon the fact that she didn't belong in a hospital. Read it yourself and decide if she was "sane" or "insane"...or if that is even something you can decifer.
Rating:
Summary: Great Book
Review: This is one of my favorite books. This book really gets you thinking. I recommend it to anyone who is interested in psychology, otherwise you may be bored with it.
Rating: 
Summary: Poignant or Pointless?
Review: Susanna Kaysen has done a very good job of criticizing and joking about the very serious problem of personality disorders in her memoir "Girl, Interrupted." Kaysen was only in her teens when she tried to commit suicide by taking 50 Aspirin. She states that she didn't really want to die, just to kill off the part of herself that wanted to. This rationalized thinking does improve the overall theme of the book. From her theories on the "brain interpretters" to her self-discriminatory evaluations of her teen troubles, Kaysen faces the problems uniquely with not only interest, but genuine light-heartedness. The problem comes in that the book is written so lightly, it's hard to tell if Kaysen was honestly a mental patient or is only writing a "purposeful fiction." Her poking and prodding at an individual's self-doubt of sanity does prove some points simply without the "psycho babble" in most mental hospital accounts. Susanna talks about her shortcomings and failings as a teen. From her too-flirtatious personality to the doomed-from-the-start marriage that saved her from further mental hospitalization. She recalls admissions in sexuality with other patients. Her recollections of those who were finally able to recover and those whose conditions declined after leaving McLean Hospital. Her impartial and emotionless recount is good from a non-judgemental standpoint, it even would help people dealing with "wrist banging" and "is that an armoire or tiger in the corner." However, the book is too short, too uninformative. She doesn't inform us how her failed marriage affects her. Why her borderline personality disorder was stopped short, her emotions on leaving the hospital, even her details of her perception of herself today is not as clear as it should be. I applaud Susanna Kaysen for her brave recovery and admission to such a difficult problem. Her ability to make light of a troubled past is very admirable. I just didn't think the book was as satisfying as it could have been.
Rating:
Summary: erin and matei's critique review
Review: The book was an emotional story that involved the reader to a point where they felt like they were Susanna. The story taught readers about the distress of mental hospitals and how lucky peoploe are and how they should appreciate life and what they have. Susanna Kaysen brought i humor to her story to try to lighten the mood but at the same time gave the readers her perspective on life and craziness. She often asked herself what defines craziness? Am I just as crasy as the next person? Her ideas about the first interpreter vs. the second really messes with the readers mind because we can all relate to what she was asking.Does it mean your crazy when the voice of the second interpreter doesn't interfere with the voice of the first?
Rating:
Summary: gripping memoir
Review: This is a true story of Kaysen's time in a mental institution in 1960s Massachusetts. She chased some pills with vodka when reality got "too dense" for her. She details her relationships and observations of the other girls in the institution and her own feelings on her path to 'wellness', whatever that may be. Written in the stream-of-conscious form of a diary, "Girl Interrupted" includes memos from the psychologists who observed her and stated her progress towards what is considered normal. A good read, made better by the fact that it is true. You will feel you know Susanna personally, and sympathize for her, even when she has no sympathy for herself and those around her.
Rating:
Summary: A Life, Interrupted
Review: Girl, Interrupted is the story of Susanna Kaysen, who voluntarily checked herself into MacLean Hospital for a two year stay in 1967.
Susanna describes hospital life, her fellow inmates, the nurses, the doctors, and the staff with unemotional clarity. The reader is given an inside look at life in a mental institution as Susanna is checked in, diagnosed, and undergoes treatment for her "borderline personality" diagnosis.
It was a very interesting read, but an unemotional one. Ms. Kaysen writes about herself, and everyone else, with startling objectivity. It almost reads as a case study, but a very interesting one. The people in this memoir are very real.
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