Girl, Interrupted - JOIN THIS BOOKRING!
11 journalers for this copy...
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Current members:
MazieNH (New Hampshire, USA)
sweetpea0678 (Florida, USA)+
mbmeadow (Michigan, USA)
gaysocialworker (Texas, USA)*
barker-tx (Texas, USA)
nikel27 (Hessen, Germany)+
Scarlett17 (Wales, UK)
Helly77 (England, UK)
redhouse (Suffolk, UK)
Amily (Victoria, Australia)+ [can ship intl if needed] <--- it's here
Jelicle (Victoria, Australia)
GateGypsy (moving to Japan)
Flaming-Ice (Kuwait)
PinkManager
Nik-The-Stik (Ontario, Canada)+
BigBird2002 (Arizona, USA)*
then back to me, appaloosatb
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Here's what an Amazon.com reviewer had to say: "This book gives a truthful look into the mind of a disturbed young woman who finds herself in a mental hospital due to a struggle with her inner emotions. Ms. Kaysen makes no effort to sugarcoat the conditions or situations involving her and the other patients at the hospital. Everything she writes is honest and extremely vivid. One account in which we see a frightening and true depiction of a patient?s situation is in the chapter entitled, ?Calais Is Engraved In My Heart.? After a girl named Alice Calais has a severe mental breakdown she is sent to maximum security. The other girls go to visit her, and what they find leaves the reader with an unsettling vision of the lives of these young women. Kaysen makes no excuses for herself, or anyone else, she simply tells her story the way it happened. Another aspect of Ms. Kaysen?s writing, that separates her from the rest, is her ability to covey abstract thoughts and theories in a very personal way. Using unique metaphors, symbols, and her own experiences, she is able to address such topics as the inner Id, the cause and effect of her condition, and the thin line that divides normality from insanity. In a place that seems so dark and unhappy Kaysen manages to insert light and humor. One of Kaysen?s fellow patients, Lisa, while extremely disturbed, is also very witty and sharp. Kaysen herself also has a very humorous side. A weaker point of the novel is that in some cases Kaysen?s writing becomes so internal that it seems scattered and is difficult to follow. Another point that may turn readers away is the extremely graphic and unapologetic accounts of the effects of illness in the hospital. However, this book was an informative, creative, and groundbreaking piece of literature that is certainly worth reading."
Released 19 yrs ago (9/27/2004 UTC) at through the mail in -- Mailed, -- By post or by hand/ in person -- USA
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
off to start its journey... good luck little book!
I enjoyed it and read it in almost one sitting. I think it is just different from what I expected it would be. The author describes details of her confinement to a mental facility in her teen years. What I expected more of was depth of insight about her friends inside, and more analysis of what they were all doing there.
I enjoyed the end of the book a lot, where Kaysen looked back at herself and tried to decide if she was indeed crazy, or just 18. I had hoped for more of that line of thinking throughout the book.
That said, the writing style was unique and well done, and the story was good. I just expected something a little different, I guess.
Thanks for sharing your book! I already have the address of the next in line for the ring and will mail it ASAP.
I do wish she would have went into more details about the people at the mental hospital. But I enjoyed the book a lot more then I thought I was going to.
RELEASE NOTES:
Sent on to next participant in bookring. Enjoy.
This was an account of Susanna Kaysen's two years in a mental hospital, often interspersed with papers from her time there. It seems to be more self-examination than an account of the hospital or the other patients there. They, like the hospital, serve as security blankets. She realizes she wasn't supposed to leave yet.
Looking back on her time there, she said she looked at a book years later, looking for her diagnosis. She did find it, but also observed that some of her fellow patients would no longer have been considered crazy. Maybe none of them were, but just fighting to stay inside, to be safe, because the outside world is crazier.
I find myself reminding colleagues that borderlines are people, too. Borderlines have families who love them. I, too, have a loved one with borderline personality disorder, and resent some of the pervasive negativity within the mental health profession regarding these persons.
Girl, Interrupted is wonderfully human and a worthwhile find.
[01.11.05] Held for a bit longer to combine shipping to barker-tx. Will be shipping shortly.
update:
Quick read and very interesting story.
thanks for sharing with me this book, I would never bought this book for myself.
Released 19 yrs ago (3/22/2005 UTC) at Post Office in Book Ring, Ginsheim -- Controlled Releases
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
EnJoy the Book !!!
Thanks for sharing, I will send on when I get the next person's address :)
Released 19 yrs ago (4/9/2005 UTC) at Bookring in a RABCK, By Mail/Post/Courier -- Controlled Releases
WILD RELEASE NOTES:
sent to redhouse :)
I was 18 in 1967 and suffered from depression in my teens so perhaps I feel I should have engaged with the characters more than I did.
Thanks anyway for sharing this, I would never have picked it up myself.
Waiting to hear from Amily to send this on.
P.S :Sorry all for hanging on to this for such a long time...things have been a little crazy at work the last 2 months. I've PMed Jelicle but she's decided to give the book a miss for now, so I've PMed Gategypsy and will mail it off as soon as I get an addy.