Girl, Interrupted

August 2, 2010 Alice .

Girl Interrupted is a memoir that is all of these: Poignant. Funny. Optimistic. Fascinating. Stirring. It is heartbreaking and it is memorable. It drew me in immediately and got me hooked like drug.

In 1967, eighteen-year-old Susanna Kaysen (played by Winona Ryder in the 1999 movie) was put into a taxi and sent to McLean Hospital to be treated for depression. There she meets the other girls in the psychiatric ward: Lisa the sociopath (played by Angelina Jolie), Polly who sets herself on fire, Daisy who later commits suicide, another Lisa—Lisa Cody—a newcomer was is also diagnosed as a sociopath (much to Lisa’s disdain because she is the only sociopath before this Lisa Cody comes along), and Georgina is Susanna’s roommate. This SparkNotes provides a great plot summary.

Included in the book are patient’s notes with the some details blotted out to maintain privacy, so that we could catch a glimpse of the author’s condition. Profanity (mostly coming from Lisa) is also aplenty but that is expected in a book of this nature.

The following passages made me think. These are Susanna Kaysen’s thoughts (p.124 and 125):

The question was, What could we do? Could we get up every morning and take showers and put on clothes and go to work? Could we think straight? Could we not say crazy things when they occurred to us? Some of us could, some of us couldn't. In the world's terms, though, all of us were tainted. [...] "You spent two years in a loony bin! Why in the world were you in there? I can't believe it!" Translation: If you're crazy, then I'm crazy, and I'm not, so the whole thing must have been a mistake. "You spent nearly two years in a loony bin? What was wrong with you?" Translation: I need to know the particulars of craziness so I can assure myself that I'm not crazy. "You spent nearly two years in a loony bin? Hmmm. When was that, exactly?" Translation: Are you still contagious? I stopped telling people. There was no advantage in telling people. [...]

Finally, I really like this: Sometimes the only way to stay sane is to go a little crazy. I love this book. I am glad I picked this up over the weekend when I was home on Saturday.