Rating: 
Summary: Girl, Interrupted
Review: One of the best books I have read about mental illness and mental hospitals. Very funny in parts, I would love to see the movie and compare the two. Maybe a bit too brief(I wish it would at least have been about 200 pages longer)but still a great book and one of my favorites.
Rating: 
Summary: A Story Written Before, (and better!)
Review: This is quite possibly one of the worst books I have read in a long time. Unfortunately, this story has been brilliantly written before by so many more authors; ( The Bell Jar, by Sylvia palth, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, etc.) I am not unsympathetic to her story, I am just very disappointed with her interpretation and her sperficial accounting. The "highlights" of her experiences are events that have been portrayed by many other authors and novels leaving the storyline falling flat and repetitive. The movie surely must have had to be re-invented for there is truly nothing there in the book. I have never before taken a book back, and this is the first one I ever considered doing so. If this subject interests you, as it did I, consider reading the other books mentioned for a vastly more rewarding experience. I am, however, giving Ms. Kaysen another chance with Far Afield. Hopefully it will prove to be more satisfying.
Rating: 
Summary: Great Book
Review: This book gives a brief overview of what most teenage girls go through in their lives. Of course not all of our parents would put us into a mental hospital, but every girl can relate to this book.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and Brutal
Review: Kaysen's memoir is thought-provoking. I wonder: could it happen to me? Am I really sane? The answer to that question is a mystery now that I've read the book.Despite the harsh realities that the author experienced in the loony bin (Kaysen's words), she had some amusing moments as well. The character named Lisa made me laugh out loud. Some of the things that the patients said or did were very funny. Let me guess: Angelina Jolie plays Lisa in the movie version of the book, am I right? I haven't seen the movie yet. Loved the book, very insightful and entertaining. If you've seen the movie, I advise you to read the book as well.
Rating:
Summary: An exciting reality of day-to-day life in a mental hospital
Review: I don't think any book can seem as realistic as "Girl Interrupted." When I first bought the book I thought I was in for a very interesting story. I was wrong. Rather than being a true life story about Susanna Kaysen in a hospital, it showed more of what it was like to be in a mental institute and what fears, friends, and encounters you may come upon. Before reading this book be prepared for a very honest and intriguing lifestyle of a patient who is diagnosed with "borderline personality." I do have to admit, I did learn many things just by reading this book.
Rating:
Summary: Entertaining and yet so real
Review: I am only thirteen years old, and I read this book and related to it completely! I know what it's like to feel like you're all alone in this world much like Susanna Kaysen did. I have an anxiety disorder, but it is not nearly as serious as any of the mental illnesses in this book! However, the basic idea that people who are viewed as "crazy" may just be as normal as the next person you see going to work or running to catch the bus. It's great that somebody has pointed that out. When I was first diagnosed with an anxiety disorder, I too felt that I was crazy and that no one would understand what I was going through. Although, I never got to the point where I wanted to commit suicide. The book was not only dramatic, it was kind of funny in a dark way. One page I was laughing at for about a half hour. SPOILER: The part where Lisa came into Daisy's room with chicken and laxatives, that cracked me up! I recommend this book to anybody who's every felt they were "crazy".
Rating:
Summary: reality is hard to accept
Review: Kayson's novel was a harsh breath of reality to what it is like inside a mental institution. It was a short account of her self-admitted stay in a mental hopsital in 1967. The book was just what the cover said, a personal account, and not a short and sweet story like so many people expected. Her anecdotes were precise and to the point, often darkly funny. I haven't seen the movie, and don't plan to because this is not the type of work that can be portrayed on screen. The movie simply can't give it the justice that it so much deserves.
Rating:
Summary: Been there, done that.
Review: I bought "Girl, Interrupted" when it was first published because of my own experiences with mental illness and psychiatric hospitals. Although there is little story line, Kaysen gives readers a very real picture, in short, descriptive vingettes, of what it is like to be in a psych hospital. If you're looking for a story, this is not the book for you. If you want to know what day-to- day life is inside a mental hospital, give this a good read. Most of the story line of the recent movie based on this book was added, although it does reflect the feeling and tone of the book. I left with a feeling that it was very real.
Rating: 
Summary: Went from good to bad...
Review: This book started out as an entertaining and enjoyable read. It was easy to build a relationship with the characters. BUT when you get to around the middle of the book, Kaysen veers off track and loses the 'story line' altogether. Could have been a great book, ended up being a bore...
I wish I had only paid 1/2 the price for a book that was only 1/2 enjoyable.
Rating: 
Summary: Choppy/Not Much Story Here
Review: The book started out telling a sad & funny story but somewhere in the middle lost it & went down hill from there. It seemed like the author forgot she was writting a novel & got lost in her own thoughts. The 2nd half of the book is non-sense and her evaluating her diagnosis years later. More of a reporting than a novel. For once, the movie will be better - it has to be! : )
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