I love: books, music, being honest when I write opinions!, David, and SHOES!! And also Leeds univers...
I love: books, music, being honest when I write opinions!, David, and SHOES!! And also Leeds university for giving me something fun to do for the next 3 years!
Member since:13.11.2000
Reviews:50
Members who trust:15
The obvious comparison to make is between Girl, Interrupted and Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar. Both Kaysen and Plath were patients at McLean hospital (ot "the loony bin" as Kaysen affectionately refers to it). However, Plath's is biographical fiction, whereas this is more personal biography. Kaysen writes in a slightly sarcastic, humourous way about her experiences and treatment at McLean, seeming detached from her experiences yet emotionally involved at the same time. She conveys her fear and depression at the time but with the emotional attachement attained by looking back. The way she describes her "troublesome boyfriend" made me laugh!
Kaysen not only tells of her own experiencs in a mental institution, but criticises society's perceptions of mental illness and its treatment of the mentally ill, describing herself as "a victim of society's low tolerance for deviant behaviour".
This was made into a film starring Winona Ryder....I have to admit I haven't seen it but I'm told it's good. But can it be as good as the book??
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Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted is the autobiographical story of the author's time in a ... more
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 J...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Susanna Kaysen'sGirl, Interruptedis the autobiographical story of the author's time in a ... more
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'sThe Bell Jara...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Susanna Kaysen's Girl, Interrupted is the autobiographical story of the author's time in a ... more
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 J...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...
Susanna Kaysen'sGirl, Interruptedis the autobiographical story of the author's time in a ... more
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'sThe Bell Jara...
Postage & Packaging: £2.75 Availability: Usually dispatched within 1-2 business days...