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Review: Girl, Interrupted

Editorial Review - Kirkus Reviews

When Kaysen was 18, in 1967, she was admitted to McLean Psychiatric Hospital outside Boston, where she would spend the next 18 months. Now, 25 years and two novels (Far Afield, 1990; Asa, As I Knew Him, 1987) later, she has come to terms with the experience- -as detailed in this searing account. First there was the suicide attempt, a halfhearted one because Kaysen made a phone call before popping the 50 aspirin, leaving enough time to pump out her stomach. The next year it was McLean, which she entered after one session with a bullying doctor, a total stranger. Still, she signed herself in: ``Reality was getting too dense...all my integrity seemed to lie in saying No.'' In the series of snapshots that follows, Kaysen writes as lucidly about the dark jumble inside her head as she does about the hospital routines, the staff, the patients. Her stay didn't coincide with those of various celebrities (Ray Charles, Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell), but we are not likely to forget Susan, ``thin and yellow,'' who wrapped everything in sight in toilet paper, or Daisy, whose passions were laxatives and chicken. The staff is equally memorable: ``Our keepers. As for finders--well, we had to be our own finders.'' There was no way the therapists--those dispensers of dope (Thorazine, Stelazine, Mellaril, Librium, Valium)--might improve the patients' conditions: Recovery was in the lap of the gods (``I got better and Daisy didn't and I can't explain why''). When, all these years later, Kaysen reads her diagnosis (``Borderline Personality''), it means nothing when set alongside her descriptions of the ``parallel universe'' of the insane. It's an easy universe to enter, she assures us. We believe her. Every word counts in this brave, funny, moving reconstruction. For Kaysen, writing well has been the best revenge.

User reviews

Review: Girl, Interrupted

User Review - Aria - Goodreads

Girl, Interrupted is a memoir written by Susanna Kaysen. Kaysen writes about her time spent in McLean Hospital, a psychiatric hospital, in the 1960s. I seem to be drawn to books that center around a ... Read full review

Review: Girl, Interrupted

User Review - Naomi Hyde - Goodreads

This book was a memoir of Susanna Kaysen's time in a mental institution and it was written in homodiegetic narration. When I first started this book I thought it would be an excellent insight into the ... Read full review

Review: Girl, Interrupted

User Review - Erin - Goodreads

Such an unusual book, but I suppose it was meant to be. Really quick read due to the swift writing style, choppy chapters, and large fonts. It skips around all over the place so nothings a surprise as ... Read full review

Review: Girl, Interrupted (Faber and Faber Screenplays) Screenplay based on the book

User Review - Emma - Goodreads

I think this screenplay was absolutely amazing, based on the true events is Susanna Kaysen's life, it dealt with her being institutionalised, which is a very difficult issue to talk about, more so to ... Read full review

Review: Girl, Interrupted

User Review - Jose Moran - Goodreads

I would like to begin by saying that I know there is a movie based off of this book. It's been on my to-watch list for years but I haven't gotten around to watching the movie just yet. I watched a few ... Read full review

Review: Girl, Interrupted

User Review - Eva - Goodreads

Quotes: Actually, it was only part of myself that I wanted to kill: the part that wanted to kill herself, that dragged me into the suicide debate and made ever window, kitchen implement, and subway ... Read full review

Review: Girl, Interrupted

User Review - Molly - Goodreads

I bought this book two years ago and attempted to read it about 3 times until I actually did finish the whole book. I got caught up with something or another whilst reading it and never finished it. I ... Read full review

Review: Girl, Interrupted (Faber and Faber Screenplays) Screenplay based on the book

User Review - Aposia - Goodreads

I story was not bad, but the movie was ten times better Read full review

Review: Girl, Interrupted

User Review - Nataliya - Goodreads

“Was insanity just a matter of dropping the act?” Good question, isn't it? You may start asking yourself this after reading this book. I only spent a few months taking care of patients in psychiatric ... Read full review

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