This was written with a lot more humor and at times even sarcasm than I expected.

Okay, so I just can't do it. I know part of the joy of bookcrossing is sharing books we love, but I physically cannot make myself wild release this book! However, I do still want to share it with some good friends - so, I'm opening up a bookring. This is going to be a good old-fashioned international b'ring and I'm not going to be limiting entries to a certain number of people, so everyone is welcome! The only stipulation I am putting on this is that you must have at least 50 books registered to your name to join this ring, as I really do want to read this book again when it returns to me and would be heartbroken if it was lost.

Please PM your location and shipping preferences to join!

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

* indicates a preference not to ship internationally
+ indicates a preference not to ship overseas

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."

RELEASE NOTES:

off to start its journey... good luck little book!

Arrived in the mail today - thanks so much for sharing! I will start it immediately and hope to move it along quickly.

I'm not really sure what to make of this book, to be honest.

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.

Mailing media mail today to sweetpea0678 in Florida - good luck little book!

arrived safely here in florida, will get to it soon.

This was a really quick read. I read it within two days, which is quick for me. I really liked it. I have never seen the movie but after reading the book I put the movie on hold at the library to compare the two. Hopefully I will enjoy the movie as much as I did the book.

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.

Released on Monday, December 06, 2004 at about 11:00:00 AM BX time (GMT-06:00) Central Time (US & Canada) at Book Ring in Bookring, Postal Release Controlled Releases.

RELEASE NOTES:

Sent on to next participant in bookring. Enjoy.

Thanks for the bookring. I've wanted to read this book for a while. I'll move it to the front of my reading.

This was a quick read. I'd actually not planned on reading and finishing it right away, but once I started, it was hard to put down.
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.

On its way to gaysocialworker.

Received! Thanks.

Thanks for sharing the book. Like several others, I also saw the movie based on this book. However, I found the book to be more descriptive, specifically Susanna's diagnosis of borderline personality disorder. So often in the profession, persons with borderline personality disorder are thought of as the most manipulative, most difficult to work with clients. Professionals within the field so often describe difficult to reach clients as "borderlines," and try to get these persons off their caseloads as soon as possible.

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.

Waiting on barker-tx's address. I will be out of town for the New Year's holiday, and will drop drop the book in the mail upon my return.

[01.11.05] Held for a bit longer to combine shipping to barker-tx. Will be shipping shortly.

reminds me that in the past people with personality disorders were not always 'treated' very well.....an interesting story. I'll have to look for her fiction books.

arrived safe at my house

update:
Quick read and very interesting story.
thanks for sharing with me this book, I would never bought this book for myself.

RELEASE NOTES:

EnJoy the Book !!!

Book arrived safely today. It's next on the list after the book I'm currently reading.

Oh, that poor girl. She may not have had full insight into her condition, but from her account it seems cruel and unnecessary to have institutionalised her for two years. Eighteen is a difficult age anyway, without being left languishing in a mental hospital for no reason apparent to the patient. Perhaps that's how things were done then. Thank goodness psychiatric services are better these days. (not perfect, but better than that)

arrived this morning. I will pass it on as soon as I can :)

This was a really quick and interesting read. It read more like a collection of vignettes than anything, and this made it feel disjointed. I am a huge fan of the film (with Winona Ryder as Susanna & Angelina Jolie as Lisa), and reading the book filled out some of the characters a little, but Honestly, I preferred the film as it felt much more linear and easy to follow.

Thanks for sharing, I will send on when I get the next person's address :)

RELEASE NOTES:

sent to redhouse :)

Arrived this morning, thanks Helly. I'm almost through with my current read so I'll be starting this one shortly.

Mmmm, not sure about this. It was certainly a quick and easy read but I can't say I really enjoyed it. There seemed to be at one and the same time too much information and too little, perhaps I was wanting to know more about the characters, I don't know.
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.

Mailed to Amily 05/05/05

Received this in the mail... looking forward to reading it over that long weekend! =p

Finally done! Like everyone else, I actually finished this in one sitting. I really enjoyed the book, esp since I think it gives a very personalised insight into what it is like to struggle with a mental illness.

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.