Product Description

In 1967, after a session with a psychiatrist she'd never seen before, eighteen-year-old Susanna Kaysen was put in a taxi and sent to Mc Lean Hospital to be treated for depression. She spent most of the next two years on the ward for teenage girls in a psychiatric hospital renowned for its famous clientele - Sylvia Plath, Robert Lowell, James Taylor and Ray Charles. A clear-sighted, unflinching work that provokes questions about our definitions of sane and insane, Kaysen's extraordinary memoir encompasses horror and razor-edged perception while providing vivid portraits of her fellow patients and their keepers.

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Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #13071 in Books
• Published on: 2000-02-17
• Original language: English
• Binding: Paperback
• 192 pages

Amazon.co.uk Review
Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted is the autobiographical story of the author's time in a psychiatric award in 1967. Sylvia Plath was a patient at the same hospital in the early 1950s so inevitably comparisons have been made between Plath's The Bell Jar and Kaysen's novel--both recounting a young woman's descent into insanity. This, however, is where the similarities end--The Bell Jar is a haunting and lyrical book; Girl, Interrupted is a more hard-edged, documentary-style narrative. It has none of the beauty and poetry of Plath's prose and is more akin to Elizabeth Wurtzel's Prozac Nation , an up-to-date memoir of a young girl's struggle with depression and drugs. Both these books offer a brutal and stark image of a life of mental illness.

Kaysen's account goes further and questions the standard notions of sanity and insanity. Her plausible voice allows the reader to accept a world where time is distorted, chaos reigns and questions are left unanswered, capturing perfectly the sense of helplessness and frustration felt by these women. The book's gritty realism is also heightened by copies of the author's original medical reports lodged between the chapters.

However, it is her penetrating insights into those around her, from those cared for to the caretakers, that make "Girl, Interrupted" so potent. Lacing her narrative with a hard-edged, sardonic sting, she introduces us to a cast of characters from the outrageous Lisa to the chicken-hoarding Daisy to the Martian's girlfriend:

Daisy was a seasonal event. She came before Thanksgiving and stayed through Christmas every year ... "Would anyone like to share?" the head nurse asked ... "Me! Me! Somebody who was a Martian's girlfriend and also had a little penis of her own, which she was eager to show off, raised a hand; nobody wanted to share with her.

"Girl, Interrupted" is a credible and creditable chronicle of the lives of women in the 1960s who, through the ignorance and narrow-mindedness of society, were contained and monitored for not fitting into the "norm", the mainstream. Nicola Perry

Review
'Not since Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar has a personal account of life in a mental hospital achieved as much popularity and acclaim' TIME MAGAZINE 'Intelligent and painful' GUARDIAN 'Girl, Interrupted is superb, poignant and more powerful for its lack of romantic inflation, whining, or self-congratulation' SCOTLAND ON SUNDAY 'Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted is the autobiographical story of the author's time in a psychiatric award in 1967. Sylvia Plath was a patient at the same hospital in the early 1950s so inevitably comparisons have been made between Plath's The Bell Jar and Kaysen's novel--both recounting a young woman's descent into insanity. This, however, is where the similarities end--The Bell Jar is a haunting and lyrical book; Girl, Interrupted is a more hard-edged, documentary-style narrative. It has none of the beauty and poetry of Plath's prose and is more akin to Elizabeth Wurtzel's Prozac Nation , an up-to-date memoir of a young girl's struggle with depression and drugs. Both these books offer a brutal and stark image of a life of mental illness. Kaysen's account goes further and questions the standard notions of sanity and insanity. Her plausible voice allows the reader to accept a world where time is distorted, chaos reigns and questions are left unanswered, capturing perfectly the sense of helplessness and frustration felt by these women. The book's gritty realism is also heightened by copies of the author's original medical reports lodged between the chapters. However, it is her penetrating insights into those around her, from those cared for to the caretakers, that make "Girl, Interrupted" so potent. Lacing her narrative with a hard-edged, sardonic sting, she introduces us to a cast of characters from the outrageous Lisa to the chicken-hoarding Daisy to the Martian's girlfriend: Daisy was a seasonal event. She came before Thanksgiving and stayed through Christmas every year ... "Would anyone like to share?" the head nurse asked ... "Me! Me! Somebody who was a Martian's girlfriend and also had a little penis of her own, which she was eager to show off, raised a hand; nobody wanted to share with her. "Girl, Interrupted" is a credible and creditable chronicle of the lives of women in the 1960s who, through the ignorance and narrow-mindedness of society, were contained and monitored for not fitting into the "norm", the mainstream.' Nicola Perry, AMAZON.CO.UK REVIEW

Guardian
'Intelligent and painful'

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Customer Reviews

Read this book, uninterrupted
Quite simply, I found this book an intensely satisfying read. Often I am wary of reading anything even remotely autobiographical because past experience has told me that many "real life" recollections can be badly written. However Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted is an exception. The writing style is fluid, a pleasure to read. I found it difficult to put down. The subject matter (a young girl's experiences in a mental institution) could have made the book an over-sentimental, depressing and self-pitying read. But Kaysen avoided falling into any of these traps. This is a thought-provoking, often humourous book and, months after finishing reading it, I still find myself thinking about it. I would recommend this book.

Raised some interesting questions
I enjoyed 'Girl, Interrupted', it was an easy, quick read.
It was also interesting because I found myself asking a lot of questions:
It did strike me that the difference between Borderline Personality Disorder and modern day teenage angst was a pretty fine line.
If places like McClean Hospital were still around, would they be full of self-harmers, anorexics and ADHD sufferers?
Surely Susanna would not have been interred if she had suffered with the same problems today?
And was she really any better off after her treatment or just more mature and able to face the world. But how can you learn to face the world incarcerated like that?

The day to day running of the hospital was fascinating, with descriptions of many of the inmates and staff and the constant conflicts between the two. The different categories of privileges that could be earned and the various treatments meted out.

My one complaint was that the case histories dotted throughout the book were partly illegible, which was frustrating as I was genuinely interested in their content.
I have not read either of her other novels, but good for her - she wanted to be a writer and that is what she has achieved.

One great read!
I watched the film entitled Girl,Interrupted and was intrigued.The story was such an unnusual yet mystical one. The acting in it was absolutely superb, especially Anjelina Jolie's who, i must say, fully deserved her oscar for best supporting actress. Winona Ryder,also, did a delightful job at playing Susannah Kaysen herself.I went straight out and bought the film, and i watch it atleast once every three days, i find its a film you can watch over and over and still never get bored. I was surfing amazon one day and saw the book for sale, i was really exited as i love good books and knew straight away that this would be a good read. i couldnt have been more right. From the minute i picked it up my eyes were glued to the pages. The writer connects with the reader in a way which is so surreal, i felt as if i was being let in on a dark secret, a journey into the unknown took place before my very eyes. I was on that journey with her, Susannah, holding her hand along the way. Her eyes were my eyes, her thoughts and feelings she told me as i read. I was living her experiance ,meeting the people (charators) ,not only observing the situation but being involved in it.
Its not hard to read as its alll written in sections, like a diary which makes the reading even more ecxiting as you feel you shouldnt be reading it, but just cant stop yourself. The film gives a great portrayal of the book. I found the book to be deeper, more intense.How interesting it was to find out what really went on behind closed doors and peoples brains.Miss Kaysen gives an honest, truthful yet blunt review of what it was like living in a mental assylem in the 1960's.it was a pleasure to read and for a 15 yr old, was gripping reading! i was extremely upset when i finished the book. But as a said previously this book, and film is no one hit wonder.I can assure you, it will last forever. As all the great things do.