Girl, Interrupted by
Susanna Kaysen is a memoir of the almost two years
Kaysen spent at
McLean Hospital, a psychiatric facility in Belmont, Massachusetts. A short read, the book is set up more like a series of vignettes than as a straight read, as the chapters are not really set up in any particular chronological order. It feels a little disjointed at times, disorganized in an organized way, which I think is fitting for a memoir about mental illness. She also includes some scanned pages from her hospital files. As this is a memoir, the people and events in the book are of course true, but names and some identifying characteristics have been changed for the book.
Maybe this is telling of me, but I really love this book. I loved it the first time I read it, and I loved it again in re-reading. I've gone through multiple periods of depression myself, and I think a lot of people have moments in their lives where they wonder if they are going crazy. I know I have those moments. Sometimes when I'm feeling that way, I like to revisit books like this - in part to remind myself that other people have gone through similar rough times, so I'm not as alone as I might feel. Also partly to reassure myself that things could probably be worse, and at least I haven't gone so far off the edge that I've needed "a rest."
