Welcome to Litsy!

Memoir from the author about 2 years in a psychiatric hospital in the 1960s. It was a quick read so I finished it but was left feeling a bit nonplussed. I don't feel that I got any insight about the author at all, & I agree with another reviewer who says it all just feels rather empty. Most readers seemed to really like this one but whatever they saw, I just didn't connect with it. 2.5⭐

https://www.vanityfair.com/style/2023/05/susanna-kaysen-on-writing-girl-interrup...

https://www.thecut.com/2023/05/susanna-kaysen-girl-interrupted-30-years-annivers... Girl Interrupted turns 30

Thanks @BookLove4Ever for tagging me for #wondrouswednesday @Eggs

1. I think its the tagged book. Mental Health is rough for me, but I loved it and the movie.

2. Everyone that knows me should know this answer... Paranormal Romance. I just love the craziness and bizarre type of worlds with creatures that aren't human.

3. Honestly I don't know. I mostly like to go for the funny laugh out loud PR ones.

Play along if u like!!

Tried to watch Nightbooks and couldn't get into it, the book was wayyyy better! So I decided to watch Girl, interrupted as I've seen some YouTubers I'm subscribed to for bookish content mention it. And wow just wow was it amazing. I definitely have to read the book now!!!! 🥰

#BookCoverChallenge
Day 264.
Here I will note 365 books (or as many as I will have before I get tired) that have shaped my taste in literature. No explanations, no reviews. Just the cover of the book.
I do not challenge anyone. You are all welcome to take part.

So I picked this book up on a whim, but I‘m really glad I did. This was an excellent work of creative nonfiction detailing the author Susanna Kaysen‘s experiences whilst confined to a mental institution in the late 60‘s. It was written in a fairly conversational style, but it worked well for this story. It also raises interesting questions about sanity and perception, and I could recommend this. Full review here:

https://youtu.be/QXNM1i3K_74

Quick read and super intriguing. But not a lot of detail which was frustrating. She would mention something really interesting but not elaborate on it and it left you wanting more.
Also, nothing like the movie. The movie creates plot and drama, this book has neither of those things really. ⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2

Starting now ✨

I was a bit obsessed with this book and movie in high school. I really should try a reread and see how I feel about it now.

#SavvySettings #Hospital @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks @Eggs

wow really makes you think. i had no idea this book would be a memoir. mental health is subjective

I thought this autobiography was a bit all over the place. But it is about being sent to a mental hospital as a teen in the 60s, so I suppose that's to be expected. Wasn't really holding my attention, but it was a quick read.

Keen observations. Quick read.

#MayCharacters
@Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
@eggs

I don't think it really need explanations 😂
#maladjusted

Day 20

Squirrel, Interrupted

Reading this for both personal and professional interest. Enjoying it although enjoy is not the right word - appreciating the authenticity

“Sometimes its interpretations are not credible, as when you cut your finger and it starts yelling, “You‘re gonna die!” Sometimes its claims are unlikely, as when it says, “Twenty-five chocolate chip cookies would be the perfect dinner.””

A deeply moving story about the author's experience at a mental asylum where she overcomes depression, forms relationships and learns a thing or two about life.
TRIVIA - Susanna Kaysen (the author) and Sylvia Plath were at the same mental asylum.
There's a movie based on the book too starring Winona Ryder and Angelina Jolie.
Rating - 4.5

Reading this for the #MBC #2020ReadingChallenge. It's for the #Memoir prompt.

Less dramatic than the movie, but it feels more direct, honest and, as an autobiography, gives more clarity to Susanna's 'character.'

Girl, Interrupted was good, but not nearly as good as The Bell Jar 🤷‍♀️

So much time to read and cook, thanks to social distancing! 🙈

This fall I was nominated to speak at Norway's largest convention for technology and education, and I okayed the nomination because I never thought I would actually be accepted- but guess what? They did! I was told today and have spent the day being happy, proud, scared and realising that now I actually have to do something 🙈 But I started with celebrating the only way I know how; buying books. One for each year I have taught. #bookhaul ❤

This book really opened my eyes about mental illness and how they connected it to "women". I loved the movie, which made me want to read the book, but now I want to watch the movie because I think now I will have a better understanding of what actually happened.

"Light like this does not exist, but we wish it did".

So excited!!!

This haunting memoir of mental illness and time spent in a psychiatric hospital kept me riveted and horrified. It hits a bit close to home, as I have a teenage niece struggling with mental illness and suicidal thoughts and actions. My heart just breaks for these young girls caught in the grip of their mental prisons. My only hope is that my niece's treatment is kinder than those of the late 60s shown in this book. #mentalillness #endthestigma 💔

#kindledeals #kindledeal #ebooksale

“Smile and the world smiles with you, cry and you cry alone.”

#AnglophileApril | 16: #Rehab

📷: Made with Typorama

Book mail came today
#ravenclaw_princess913 #ravenclawprincess913

I'm reading past his bedtime. 😉
#DogsofLitsy #Readingpastmybedtime
Book 31/100 for 2019

“Scar tissue has no character. It's not like skin. It doesn't show age or illness or pallor or tan. It has no pores, no hair, no wrinkles. It's like a slip cover. It shields and disguises what's beneath. That's why we grow it; we have something to hide.”

#TimbitTunes | 23: #TheNeedleAndTheDamageDone

📷: Made with Typorama

I‘m giving this a pick, but it was close to being a so-so. I really enjoyed Kaysen‘s thoughts on mental health and illness, diagnosis, and the treatment of persons with mental illness. However, I felt the “story” of Kaysen‘s time in Belmont was too sparse, and the jumps back and forth in time made it hard for me to get really into it.

Home alone tonight, and planning on spending it like this (and maybe mix it up with some RuPaul‘s Drag Race All Stars, if/when I‘m getting tired) 👌

#currentlyreading

For years, my go-to movie was Girl, Interrupted, and it took me awhile to come across the book to read this version. While respectively acknowledging it is a true story, I must say I liked the movie better (Angelina and Winona at their best.)

However this book was truly an eye-opener for many people about mental illness, and it‘s such a quick read. I would STILL recommend it. Susanna put herself out there, and that must have taken a lot.

1. I love horror movies. The original Halloween is one of my top favorites.
2. Girl, Interrupted probably. I love that book and movie!
3. Maybe My Sister's Keeper. I loved both but the movie made changes to the storyline that significantly changed the story for me.
4. Winona Ryder
5. Anything but Megan Abbott, although I do know some great stuff is happening!

@SailorMoon
#frideas

Devoured this book in 1 day!! Super good. Im sure it was a breakthrough in its time about mental illness. Found myself wanting more.

Book 3 of 2019

I first read this years ago after watching the film several times and I remember liking it but thinking the film was so much better. I loved it this time round. Great writing and insights. #mcwithinvisibleillness #booked2018

Was insanity just a matter of dropping the act?

#misterasylum #octoberxfiles
Most of this book is set in an asylum.

Book 41 of 2018: Girl, Interrupted
Book 3 of Secret Circle Book Club

I forgot to post this last week, so here is #letterG 1. Tagged, 2. Lev Grossman, 3. Gnomeo and Juliet, 4. Grapes (preferably frozen) #manicmonday

Did you ever find two copies of the same book on your TBR? I think it‘s time to read Girl, interrupted!!

#HeatOfJuly #promiscuous @Cinfhen @BarbaraBB

#Riotgrams #DisabilityReads

⭐️⭐️⭐️1/2: I have such a fascination with mental illness. Loved this movie and didn‘t even realize it was a book, and a nonfiction one at that.

“I wasn‘t convinced I was crazy, though I feared I was. Some people say having any conscious opinion on the matter is a mark of sanity, but I‘m not sure that‘s true.”

Kaysen offers a brief glimpse into her 1960s diagnosis and a 1960s psychiatric hospital. Her writing is impressive and honest. I wish it had been longer, but I also realize it was published 20+ years after the fact, so details might be sparse.

On being in a psychiatric hospital. #SusannaKaysen