I Never Promised You a Rose Garden

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Summary: A unique look into the life and recovery of a mental patient
Review: Greenburg's wonderfully raw and truthful look at a 16 year old mentally ill female is not a novel to be passed over. When I completed the book I felt like I had a much better understanding of how the human mind works. Seeing the patient become well again was a very emotional experience. Please read this book!

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Summary: A courageous and insightful exploration of psychosis
Review: Where few people dare to go, Joanne Greenberg (Hannah Green) clearly describes the delicate balance of reality and fantasy. Having worked at the hospital some years ago where this took place, this reading has brought me back to the people I cared for with a new perspective.

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Summary: A good book to demonstrate Schitzophrenia and it's effects
Review: I thought the book really made the reader see the depth of a mental illness and all the things that played into getting a mental illness.

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Summary: Absolutely FANTASTIC!
Review: Masterfully weaves a tale of a troubled young girl and her trials and discoveries in a mental institution. Powerfully portraysthe strength of the human mind. A definite buy!

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Summary: An extraordinary and riviting book!!
Review: The word spiderweb describes I never Promised You a Rose Garden, the life of 16 year old, schizophenic Deborah Blau, perfectly. From the moment you begin to read, you are drawn into the story. The author creats vivid scenes that allow you to understand how Deborah feels as she bounces between her two worlds. This book is a must read for anyone who is looking for a great book about the internal war of the minds of humans.

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Summary: Very good and imformitave bood
Review: This was a very good book and i reccommend it to almost anyone

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Summary: Brilliant
Review: Absolutely true and worth readin

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Summary: Full weight
Review: "i never promised you a rose garden" is an excellent book about a 16-year-old girl named Deborah Blau, who just so happens to be schizophrenic in a bad way. Deborah is admitted to an unnamed mental hospital in a small town, where her problems begin to surface as she stops hiding them. Deborah, it turns out, doesn't quite live on earth. She lives in a kingdom called Yr, speaking to her gods, flying around, and, if she slips up, being severely punished. She is assisted in her troubles by a famous psychologist who seems to understand her better than the rest of the hospital staff. Thus begins her three long years at the hospital and her journey towards reality.
"i never promised you a rose garden" is a book about the troubled mind of a schizophrenic, from her point of view. Actually, it's third person omniscient, so it's not from her point of view, but you know what she's thinking. It is an excellent dramatization of the mind of a seriously ill person. When i say dramatization, i mean that this is a drama, not an action or a western, but i also mean that it is not a cold and distanced psychology novel. It is emotional, raw, and doesn't step around subjects that some people may not want to deal with. It describes Deborah's world with vivid and believable prose. There is no mark of sentimentality, melodrama, or philosophy. It deals with the one thing not often discussed: the fear that one day, Deborah may have to face the world again; "the little maybe." As such, it carries a message for everyone who would rather hide that face their fears. I would recommend this book to anyone, whether they are interested in psychology or not. It is an excellent and believable insight into the world of the insane, and one hell of a story as well.

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Summary: Promises to be a good book
Review: I read this book before in high school, before having any real knowledge of mental illness and found it terribly confusing. Reading it now as a psychology major in college was a totally different experience. This fictional story tells of Deborah, a young woman committed to a mental hospital in the 1950's. This was written before doctors knew of chemical imbalances, so Deb's schizophrenia is attributed to a traumatic childhood surgery and an over-bearing grandfather. It's fascinating to explore her secret world of Yr and the gods that inhabit it. Also interesting to see how earlier psychologists might have treated patients. Even though this book is outdated it is still a very good book on mental illness.