Girl, Interrupted

by Susanna Kaysen | Biographies & Memoirs | This book has not been rated.
ISBN: 0679746048 Global Overview for this book
Registered by wingkirjakkowing of Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on 3/4/2020
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4 journalers for this copy...
Journal Entry 1 by wingkirjakkowing from Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Wednesday, March 4, 2020
Picked this up from the exchange shelf of the Library of Söderkulla. First I thought it was fiction, but no, it is a memoir of a woman who ended up in a mental hospital for two years at the age 18, after a session with a shrink she had never met before. Wow, they really work fast in the US.

Journal Entry 2 by wingkirjakkowing at Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Monday, March 9, 2020
I've tagged Kemppu with this book, so began reading it already.
Makes you wonder what kind of a spy tells his kid at home what hideous things are part of his job. The risk of word spreading is high, if people believed the child, but in this case he was put in an institution where his report reads: "Patient continues fantasy that father is a CIA operative with dangerous friends." Well, that part was true, but as he did also have issues with his mental health nothing he said was believed.
That reminds me of the time when through dogs I knew a couple from the Soviet embassy. Usually the embassy folk kept to themselves, but these two (spies?) had a Labrador retriever and they mingled with us other dog owners. One late December evening in 1990 I was out in the park after work and they were there as well. We walked the route we often took and I asked how their day had been. We didn't normally discuss politics and this was not meant to be a political question, either.
"Just oo-ful", said the Mrs. "All women are kry-ink."
"Why are they crying?"
"Mr Shevardnadze has given his notice."
"Oh", was all I said, as I knew I had heard the name but could not place it. On my way home I dropped into see my parents who were watching the news.
"Do you know who Shevardnadze is?"
"Of course. He is the foreign minister of the Soviet Union. Howcome? "
"He has just given his notice."
My parents said there was nothing in the news, so what made me think that? I told them and they said I must have misunderstood. Two-three days later there was a different tone.
"Who are these Russians and how do you know them?"
"Just dog owners, howcome? "
"The news told that Shevardnadze has given his notice."
Hmm, had I been a bit more politically aware I could have tipped our news hounds and made some extra money. Or I could have ended in a loonie bin. "Fantasies of Soviet Embassy folk telling her state secrets."
When it was time for the couple to go back to the USSR I asked if they were pleased to return home. The state of the Soviet economy and political chaos was not common knowledge at that time, shortly before the end of the Soviet era.
"Well, our friends are there, but who would want to go back to a country where the economy is screwed, the politics is screwed and where there is no food?"

Journal Entry 3 by wingkirjakkowing at Helsinki, Uusimaa / Nyland Finland on Tuesday, March 10, 2020
It's not much good that nurses and doctors can't break the confidentiality code, when fellow patiens can name who has been doctored in their institution; Ray Charles, Sylvia Plath and The Taylor Family - I wonder if they got family discount?
I am a bit envious about the staff-patient ratio in that institution and that patients who are not reliable do not get out. In Finland our mentally disturbed have the right to excercise and we don't have enough staff to look after them, so even those who do not come back voluntarily and who do drugs and crimes while "excercising" are still let loose. I think it was three years ago my ex-workmate got brutally murdered by a patient on the run from Kellokoski mental hospital. Nurses had said the man is a ticking bomb and yet the evaluator said it is ok to let him take his excercise walks alone. Petty thefts, drugs and mild violence when he went for walkies. How much has the society put up with for some mentally disturbed junkie's legal rights? He was gone for four days when he got back "home" meaning to kill his mother. Unfortunately for my friend, Mommie Dearest had sold the house to her and he killed my friend instead. Was the staff at Kellokoski in any way held responsible? No. I wish the evaluator will lose his or one of his family member's life one day due to a fawlty evaluation. I still get MAD just thinking about it. Went to the funeral and the remembrance gathering was held in a most beautiful old vicarage. "How did you find this place?" I asked the father. "Today is my 70th birthday and our 50th anniversary, so we had booked this place well in advance. Turned out to be a bit different gathering." They got her depts and her house nobody wanted to buy for two years, as the murderer is just in an institution. The only compensation was that the state paid for the funeral. If the murderer ever gets well and starts to work, a small sum will be withheld from his wages and given to the family. Ha ha. The victim's mother had had Parkinson's disease in a stable phase for years, but she deteriorated fast and ended up in a wheelchair. Two of the victim's sisters got depressed after the shock and could not work for a long time. The retired parents got into series financial crises having to take over the depts, not to say anything about the sorrow they were left with. All this, because a sick bastard has a right to excercise.

Journal Entry 4 by wingkirjakkowing at Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Wednesday, March 25, 2020

Released 3 yrs ago (3/25/2020 UTC) at Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland

CONTROLLED RELEASE NOTES:

Due to Corona pandemia and the new restrictions, couriers will be out of work for a while and we will have to rely on postal service. I've tagged Kemppu with this book in the European wishlist tag (or one of the international tags, can't remember).
Enjoy and stay safe!

Journal Entry 5 by Kemppu at Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Monday, March 30, 2020
The book is here, thank you so much! I didn't know this was a memoir, either. I'm looking forward to see what it's like, since I like the movie based on this book.

Journal Entry 6 by Kemppu at Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Wednesday, April 15, 2020
Interesting glimpses into the life in one mental hospital in the USA in the late 1960's. Susanna Kaysen got "locked in" pretty quickly and easily, that's surprising. Nowadays it's often very difficult to get help even if one has serious mental health problems.
Now I also understand the name of the book (and the movie), I don't remember if the Vermeer painting was mentioned in the movie.

Journal Entry 7 by kajsa88 at Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Monday, July 6, 2020
I was going to buy this a few years ago and release it but it's here now!

Journal Entry 8 by Kipsu at Tampere, Pirkanmaa / Birkaland Finland on Monday, July 12, 2021
Puoliso nappasi miittipöydältä, mutta ei ole saanut journaloitua. Tämä on siis meillä.

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