Girl, Interrupted: A Memoir

Girl, Interrupted written by Susanna Kaysen is about the authors life as a young, ambitious girl in the 1960's who gets admitted into the women's ward of a psychiatric hospital in Massachusetts. Observantly, Kaysen tells the story of her two-year-long stay at the hospital through multiple vague vignettes. She describes another patient named Lisa, who is a proud sociopath, and how her unpredictable personality was a prime source of entertainment for the other women in the ward. Another one of her 'friends' at the hospital is her room mate, who also suffers from depression, named Georgina. Georgina is an ultimately relaxed character and, on the surface, seems pretty normal, but her instability emerges later in the story. For most of the book, Kaysen refuses to accept the fact that she is in the ward because the psychiatrist that admitted her only saw her for 20 minutes and diagnosed her with Borderline Personality Disorder. In one vignette, she recollects her suicide attempt, in which she took 50 baby aspirin and passed out at a grocery store, saying, "… it was only part of myself I wanted to kill: the part that wanted to kill herself, that dragged me into the suicide debate …" (37). This showcases her unhappiness with only parts of herself and her underlying instability, which seems to be a very important theme throughout the novel. One important event is when Kaysen is released into the world and is forced to participate in life. She struggles with finding a job because of her past and reluctantly accepts an old friend's marriage proposal. Personally, I thoroughly enjoyed this book and found it very insightful. It showcased the struggles of womanhood in the late 1960's, her endless turmoil with her mental state, and her attempts to define the line between sanity and insanity. Throughout the book, her and the other women in the ward frequently watch television and are very engaged in the many civil rights movements going on in that time period. Even after Kaysen leaves the hospital, she struggles with finding a job because of her intolerance with the unfair roles of women in the workplace. Having left the hospital and created a life for herself, she decides to research the disease the doctors claimed she had. She understands some of the parts of the diagnosis; cutting herself and impulsive activities, but she comes to the realization that it is a generalization, which further brings up the problem with the blurry line between sanity and insanity. Her efforts to determine sanity are very relevant, even in modern society, because mental illness is a very real thing and the course of treatment is crucial to a person's development. I would definitely recommend this book to others because of its dark humor and reflective plot.

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Extremely captivating and interesting, i could not put this book down, i was so invested on what was going to happen next!

Una historia real narrada en primera persona por Susanna Kaysen. La autora recuerda su dura adolescencia con depresión, un intento de suicidio y su ingreso en un hospital psiquiátrico. Recomiendo este libro porque da una idea muy realista de cómo es vivir con depresión y de cómo eran los hospitales psiquiátricos en los años sesenta. Muy fácil de leer. El libro estaba en muy buenas condiciones y es ligero para llevarlo a cualquier sitio.

This is so easy to pick up. I read it a chapter at a time between meetings. Each chapter was like a self contained short story that all strung up together in a chain. It was honest, transparent and sensitive while allowing itself to be absurd and funny. Dark humor in the best way. If you've had mental health struggles I think you'll find a real sense of understanding here, it's written with such respect and comradery while still remembering to have fun.