Review, buy Social & Health Issues: Girl, Interrupted, The Heart of the Dales, The Faith of Barack Obama, The Further Adventures of a London Call Girl, Ghost Girl: The True Story of a Child in Desperate Peril - And a Teacher Who Saved Her, Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance, The Faith of Barack Obama, The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (Women In History), The Further Adventures of a London Call Girl (TV Tie-In) (TV Tie in), Twilight Children: Three Voices No One Heard - Until Someone Listened, Beautiful Child: The Story of a Child Trapped in Silence and the Teacher Who Refused to Give Up on Her, Somebody Else's Kids: They Were Problem Children No One Wanted! Until One Teacher Took Them to Her Heart, Born on a Blue Day, Ma, He Sold Me for a Few Cigarettes, The Death of Marco Pantani: A Biography, Please, Daddy, No: A Boy Betrayed, Confessions of a Working Girl, When Daddy Comes Home, Forget You Had a Daughter: Doing Time in the Bangkok Hilton - Sandra Gregory's Story, Never to Return: The Harrowing True Story of a Stolen Childhood

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Review Virago Press Ltd / Girl, Interrupted

Girl, Interrupted (Virago Press Ltd)

Authors

Susanna Kaysen

Edition: New edition
Publication date: 2000-02-17
Dewey code: 920
RRP: ~~£6.99~~
Price: £2.40

Review Girl, Interrupted / Virago Press Ltd:

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 Girl, Interrupted / Virago Press Ltd:

Review The Heart of the Dales / Penguin:

Review The Faith of Barack Obama / Nelson Current:

Review The Further Adventures of a London Call Girl / Phoenix:

Review Ghost Girl: The True Story of a Child in Desperate Peril - And a Teacher Who Saved Her / Harper Element:

Review Dreams from My Father: A Story of Race and Inheritance / Crown Publishers:

Review The Faith of Barack Obama / Nelson Current:

Review The Six Wives Of Henry VIII (Women In History) / Phoenix:

Review The Further Adventures of a London Call Girl (TV Tie-In) (TV Tie in) / Phoenix:

Review Twilight Children: Three Voices No One Heard - Until Someone Listened / Harper Element:

Review Beautiful Child: The Story of a Child Trapped in Silence and the Teacher Who Refused to Give Up on Her / Harper Element:

Review Somebody Else's Kids: They Were Problem Children No One Wanted! Until One Teacher Took Them to Her Heart / Harper Element:

Review Born on a Blue Day / Hodder Paperbacks:

Review Ma, He Sold Me for a Few Cigarettes / Mainstream Publishing:

Review The Death of Marco Pantani: A Biography / Phoenix:

Review Please, Daddy, No: A Boy Betrayed / Harper Element:

Review Confessions of a Working Girl / Penguin:

Review When Daddy Comes Home / Harper Element:

Review Forget You Had a Daughter: Doing Time in the Bangkok Hilton - Sandra Gregory's Story / VISION Paperbacks:

Review Never to Return: The Harrowing True Story of a Stolen Childhood / Black and White Publishing: