Journal Entry 1 by MarciNYC from Howell, New Jersey USA on Friday, February 13, 2004

Enjoyed this very much when I read it - way before the movie (which I also enjoyed).
Will most likely re-read before sending it out on as a ray. 

Journal Entry 2 by MarciNYC from Howell, New Jersey USA on Tuesday, February 24, 2004

Journal Entry 3 by MarciNYC at on Monday, March 01, 2004

Released on Saturday, February 28, 2004 at BOOKRAY in n/a, n/a Controlled Releases.

This one's on it's way to RubyJules. Travel safely, little book! 

Journal Entry 4 by rubyjules from Waterford, New York USA on Tuesday, March 02, 2004

Thank you so much, MarciNYC, I've been looking forward to reading this! 

Journal Entry 5 by rubyjules from Waterford, New York USA on Sunday, March 07, 2004

This was such a good book. I really enjoyed it. What a quick read. I will be sending this out to Brewster13 this week. 

Journal Entry 6 by rubyjules at Postal Release in Postal release, Postal Release -- Controlled Releases on Tuesday, March 23, 2004

Released on Monday, March 22, 2004 at Postal Release in Postal release, Postal Release Controlled Releases.

I apologize for the delay in getting this mailed out. Due to medical reasons, it took a bit longer to mail than expected. But it is on its way to Brewster13. 

Journal Entry 7 by brewster13 from Calgary, Alberta Canada on Sunday, April 04, 2004

This was waiting for me when I returned from a week's vacation today. Will get to it when completed my current book. 

Journal Entry 8 by brewster13 from Calgary, Alberta Canada on Tuesday, April 13, 2004

I finished this book while on our recent trip to NYC. I really enjoyed this memoir - it was insightful, entertaining, and I just enjoyed reading it from cover to cover. Thank you so much for starting this ring - I might never have read the book otherwise!!!

I have kab113's address and will put in the mail tomorrow. Enjoy!

Sent 04-14 

Journal Entry 9 by kab113 from Troy, Ohio USA on Monday, April 19, 2004

I received this book in the mail today and am looking forward to reading it soon! 

Journal Entry 10 by kab113 from Troy, Ohio USA on Saturday, June 05, 2004

I was surprised at what a fast read this was, but was pleased to see that the movie hadn't really been altered much. Having read the Bell Jar late last year I found Kaysen's experience very interesting and would now be interested in reading any other memoirs from this hospital.

I'm now waiting for mlbish's address and will send it out as soon as I get it. 

Journal Entry 11 by kab113 from Troy, Ohio USA on Sunday, June 20, 2004

This book has been traveling for almost a week now! Hopefully mlbish will receive it soon! 

Journal Entry 12 by mlbish from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA on Monday, June 28, 2004

Came while I was out of town. Retrieved from the post office this morning. Thanks very much! 

Journal Entry 13 by mlbish from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA on Monday, July 12, 2004

Finished this last night. I read it in one sitting (while I was waiting around at my husband's orchestra rehearsal, actually).

I didn't realize that these were actually Susanna Kaysen's memoirs. I thought it was a work of fiction and was surprised to find out that it was actually autobiographical.

I was not a huge fan of the book. It was okay, but just not my favorite thing. I greatly preferred the chapters in which something happening to the chapters in which Susanna just philosophizes or rambles about her thoughts and her life. About 70% of the way through the book, I got bored and started skipping some things.

One thing that struck me (in the movie as well) is that it was never really laid down in black and white why exactly she was in the hospital. I don't know that she was actually so 'crazy' that she should have been hospitalized. I think there are plenty of people out there that would have been better candidates for a hospital stay. I thought that was interesting.

Okay, I'll get this out to the next person as soon as I have an addy. Thanks for sharing, Marci!

 

Journal Entry 14 by mlbish from Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania USA on Wednesday, July 14, 2004

Posted to Finland today. Hope you enjoy it! 

Journal Entry 15 by RoryG from Orsay, Ile-de-France France on Saturday, August 28, 2004

Got it! Thanks MarciNYC for organizing the ray and mlbish for sending the book all the way to Finland. 

Journal Entry 16 by RoryG from Orsay, Ile-de-France France on Tuesday, August 31, 2004

When I joined this bookray I did it, because I remembered that I liked the movie. I didn't realize that it was the writer's memoir. But that just made the book better, when you knew it was real. So, I really loved this book. I was actually reading another book, which is interesting, but a bit heavy and so I started this. And I just couldn't put it down. And it really made me think. Most of it is very personal, so I'm not going into it in here. But I'm really impressed by the book.

Well, I'll be sending this to Phoebus-Lazurd as soon as I get the address. 

Journal Entry 17 by Phoebus-Lazurd from Lisboa - City, Lisboa (cidade) Portugal on Friday, September 17, 2004

just received it today

i'll read it as soon as possible 

Journal Entry 18 by Phoebus-Lazurd from Lisboa - City, Lisboa (cidade) Portugal on Saturday, September 25, 2004

maybe i had some big idea about the book, but it was interesting
much better than Prozac Nation, but i wanted more, much more

i'll pass it to Terpsicore this week. Fio-dagua as cancelled all her inscriptions in rings and rays. 

Journal Entry 19 by terpsicore on Wednesday, September 29, 2004

Phoebus-lazurd passed it to me yesterday at Cultura do Chá.I still have The Beach to finish before I read this one but I will try not to be too long. 

Journal Entry 20 by terpsicore on Tuesday, October 19, 2004

I thouroughly enjoyed this book.Susanna Kaysen has got a dark sense of humour that appeals to me and she seemed to have read my mind at times.
I also liked the way she shows what a thin line there is between sanity and unsanity.
Some other people here were disappointed by the book.I do not know what their expectations were,but maybe one needs to have been through the looking glass to understand the book. 

Journal Entry 21 by terpsicore on Monday, November 08, 2004

mailed today to joui 

Journal Entry 22 by Joui from Braga, Braga Portugal on Wednesday, November 10, 2004

Oh! I've been wanting to read this book for so long!
I'm going to read it very soon.

Thank you, terpsicore, for sending it. 

Journal Entry 23 by Joui from Braga, Braga Portugal on Tuesday, December 07, 2004

I read this book little at a time. It's so realistic, made me think of things from another point of view. Everything we do and the lines we cross are always in danger of being registered in some weird way... 

Journal Entry 24 by Miss-R from Lingfield, Surrey United Kingdom on Thursday, December 30, 2004

Got this this morning-thank you! I've almost finished my current book so I should start this within the next day or two. 

Journal Entry 25 by Miss-R from Lingfield, Surrey United Kingdom on Saturday, January 01, 2005

Judging by this, by 1960's standards I should be in a looney bin! I wish there was more detail about the lead up to her being hospitalized, as I couldn't see what the problem was. Her diagnosis of 'borderline personality disorder', in my view, should have been cahnged to 'being a teenager'.
It's interesting to read how attitudes towards mental illness have changed so much in a relatively short time. Like I said, if I (or a lot of people I know) where around then we would be institutionalized, rather than helped to get on with life. 

Journal Entry 26 by Miss-R at n/a in n/a, A Bookray -- Controlled Releases on Wednesday, January 05, 2005

Released on Wednesday, January 05, 2005 at about 4:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at n/a in n/a, A Bookray Controlled Releases.

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Posted to GlasgowGal this morning 

Journal Entry 27 by BC-08041015142 on Friday, January 07, 2005

Received in Glasgow safe and sound. I've got no rays and rings on the go at the moment, so I should get this passed on fairly quickly. 

Journal Entry 28 by BC-08041015142 on Monday, January 10, 2005

This is a strange little book.

From a pure autobiographical and writing-critique point of view, it's pretty awful really. The writing is terrible, and there isn't sufficient detail to get "swept away" by the author's life. Most autobiographies I read, at the end I feel something about the author - whether that emotion is positive or negative it doesn't really matter because I've been swept into their world for a few hours. This just doesn't happen with "Girl, Interrupted".

However, from a clinical and psychological point of view, the book is more interesting. The writing seems to me to reflect Kaysen's turmoil in her life. There are sections that seem to ramble on with very little purpose (like mlbish, I too skipped large chunks towards the end, and was virtually "speed reading" some pages), while other sections seem to be on a thread about something, then suddenly change tack, or end. This is very representative of this kind of disorder, and I felt was very apt in trying to get the reader to understand what was happening in her life.

Towards the end I did start to feel frustrated at the lack of detail, and as the pages turned, even more so knowing there wouldn't be a satisfactory conclusion. I haven't seen the film, and maybe that makes a difference; however reading this book, I'm not inclined to go out and pick it up from Blockbusters either.

Thanks for sharing this book, MarciNYC. I'll be passing it along to Minx2012 this week.

:-) 

Journal Entry 29 by BC-08041015142 at on Wednesday, January 19, 2005

Released 8 yrs ago (1/19/2005 UTC) at

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Sent today to Minx2012. Posted 2nd class. 

Journal Entry 30 by minx2012 on Sunday, January 23, 2005

Arrived yesterday morning. Will get started on it next. 

Journal Entry 31 by minx2012 on Tuesday, January 25, 2005

I had one of those afternoons yesterday where I wasn't really planning to do anything but go for a walk, post a couple of books and go see my doctor for my medication review.

Because of the way my doctor's surgery now works, you have to make an appointment on a first-come-first-served basis the morning or afternoon you want to be seen. With this in mind, I'd pegged it down there to be in reception as soon as the afternoon surgery opened - and yet somehow the earliest they could fit me in just before the surgery closed for the day. So I went and posted my books, had a look around the local shops, browsed in the library, and then settled down to read in a nearby coffee shop with a latte.

Considering that I was seeing my doctor about the anti-depressants I've been taking, quite happily, for the past seven years, perhaps this wasn't the book to be carrying, having nearly finished it, when I wandered back into the surgery a couple of hours later!

I agree with others before me that a "borderline personality" sounds pretty much like being a teenager, although as Susanna described the mess she would get into on seeing chequerboard flooring and slightly patterned curtains, I think I get off comparatively lightly simply being a "moody cow"! To me, the disjointed nature of the book reflects quite well the way people feel when they know they're not being themselves, but can't quite explain why or how - regardless of whether they're mentally ill or not.

However, it was the chapters towards the end about 'mind' and 'brain' that really struck a chord with me.
After all, give me half an hour to talk about why I take the pills I do and I'll spend 29 minutes offering you cups of coffee and asking if you watch The West Wing, having explained in the first sixty seconds that I have a slight chemical imbalance which makes me prone to mood swings at best and downright nasty moderate to severe clinical depression at worst. It's like diabetes, except the chemical in question does most of its work inside my skull. For me, it's a 'brain' issue. It's genetic, it's controllable, and it's never going to be fixed by therapy (but keeping myself healthy and fit helps).
But every now and then I'll get a new doctor, or a locum, who asks if I've ever considered coming off the tablets and "talking to someone". To them, it's a 'mind' issue. "But my mind's fine!" I cry, and get so annoyed that I'm having to explain everything all over again that they're even more convinced I need a different kind of help. They should see me when I get started on Virgin Trains, or George Dubya.

Anyway! I really enjoyed reading this, for all its flakiness and weird style. It'll be off to arturo-grande some time in this next week. 

Journal Entry 32 by arturogrande from Coalville, Leicestershire United Kingdom on Monday, February 28, 2005

I see this has already sparked off something of a debate, and I'm really looking forward to having my two ha'porth.

Thanks very much - I'll try not to hold onto it for too long. 

Journal Entry 33 by arturogrande from Coalville, Leicestershire United Kingdom on Sunday, March 13, 2005

I quite enjoyed this, and read it all in one sitting. I agree the writing in some parts was quite disjointed, but maybe that was a representation of Kaysen disjointed state of mind. I think it raised some interesting questions about the definition of sanity and insanity.
It's now on its way to gypsyrose02. 

Journal Entry 34 by gypsyrose02 from Byford, Western Australia Australia on Tuesday, April 05, 2005

arrived today. thanks for including me. 

Journal Entry 35 by gypsyrose02 from Byford, Western Australia Australia on Wednesday, April 20, 2005

finally finished this. took longer than expected, cos i couldnt get into it. like many others on this ray, i didnt realise it was a true story. thanks for including me. have pmed the next in line twice, so will wait and see what happens next. 

Journal Entry 36 by gypsyrose02 from Byford, Western Australia Australia on Friday, April 29, 2005

schmoowithazing has not answered any pm's or posts from the forums, so this is now available, until i decide what to do with it. 

Journal Entry 37 by gypsyrose02 from Byford, Western Australia Australia on Friday, April 29, 2005

reserved for relay 

Journal Entry 38 by gypsyrose02 from Byford, Western Australia Australia on Thursday, July 21, 2005

going out to caligula 

Journal Entry 39 by caligula03 from Hayward, California USA on Wednesday, September 28, 2005

Book has arrived. Thank you. 

Journal Entry 40 by caligula03 from Hayward, California USA on Sunday, June 18, 2006

I enjoyed this book. Each chapter is set around a different theme or a different person at the hospital. The book slowly progresses over her two year stay and ends with an analysis of her diagnosis and cure. The book is written with humor and serves well to give some humanity to an otherwise often dry subject. 

Journal Entry 41 by caligula03 at Meet-up Meeting, Starbucks in Dublin, California USA on Sunday, June 18, 2006

Released 6 yrs ago (7/11/2006 UTC) at Meet-up Meeting, Starbucks in Dublin, California USA

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Next meeting.