Rating: 
Summary: The book beats the movie
Review: "Girl, Interrupted": Susanna Kaysen's Book is Superior to James Mangold's Movie "Girl, Interrupted" is the true story of an 18-year-old woman who swallows 50 aspirin tablets and is hustled by her doctor to a loony bin after a superficial, 20-minute interview. She is told that she needs a rest and that she would be released in a couple of weeks. Instead, after voluntarily signing herself in, she winds up confined to the hospital against her will for eighteen months. The book and the movie focus almost exclusively on her period of internment. What's missing from this film is the author's dark humor and revelatory insights into her ordeal. The book is better than the movie. Look at how much insight and enjoyment you could get if you peruse the book! "You have a pimple," said the doctor. "You've been picking it," he went on. Fine. You could have this dialogue in the movie. There's nothing witty about it: just a statement of fact. Without narration, however, not much more could be done with this concept. But note how the author shows her sense of humor in the book: "The pimple had reached the stage of hard expectancy in which it begs to be picked. It was yearning for release. Freeing it from its little white dome, pressing until the blood ran, I felt a sense of accomplishment: I'd done all that could be done for this pimple." Immediately following, there occurs this exchange with the doctor. "You need a rest," he announced. "Don't you think?" "Yes," I said. Not much here either. Nor would you have anything else in the movie version, at least not unless the sound track embraced her immediate thoughts, which point to an irony. The book: "I did need a rest, particularly since I'd gotten up so early that morning in order to see this doctor, who lived out in the suburbs. I'd changed trains twice. And I would have to retrace my steps to get to my job. Just thinking about it made me tired." Doesn't this thought--left out in the movie--clarify her willingness to go to the hospital?
Rating: 
Summary: What a Gift
Review: While the book certainly shows the horrors of mental institutions, the thing that struck me was how as a society we Americans treat people who encounter the dark valleys of life. In England people like the author would have been considered eccentric. Here we medicate and lock up our eccentrics. I was also forced to look at how the young women today while they do not take a handfull of aspirin, now deny themselves food, which causes me to pause. Will these be the next Susanna Kaysens? This is a must read for all women ages teen to ninety.
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.
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