I recently stumbled upon The Book Club Bloggers hosted by The Daily Snapshot and eagerly joined up! We all read the same book and then post about it, then we all link up and read each others thought on the book! As I've always wanted to join a book club, but couldn't seem to get it together to find one, this blog version is the perfect solution!
The first read I participated in was Girl Interupted by Susanna Kaysen and to be honest I almost quit then and there! My only exposure to this book was through seeing the rather disturbing looking trailers for the movie. After much deliberating I decided to put on my big girl panties and read it, figured I could always stop reading if it got too weird.
I was pleasantly surprised and found the most disturbing thing to be the fact I recognized something of myself in her, what a scary thought! Especially in her thoughts on people being fascinated by madness because they were really afraid of being somewhat mad themselves and as long as there was someone crazier then them.....
I was also surprised to find out that this was a non-fiction book, and was very happy to find out that she'd gotten out and had what seems like a happy life. It reminded me a lot of One Flew Over the Cuckoos Nest in the messing with the orderlies and such. But, it was interesting to see it from a female rather then a male point of view.
I liked how they included the medical charts, it added to the story and gave us a chance to see what she was like not from her own perspective. It was surprisingly funny in places and all in all it was an enjoyable read and I'm glad I went ahead and read it!
And I'm glad you joined us as well! Thanks for taking a step out there and reading a book you weren't so sure about... that's part of the fun of the book club. :D I liked the inclusion of medical charts as well - it gave some extra gravity to her words.
ReplyDeletei like your comment about recognizing some of yourself in the narrator's description. i think that's part of what made this story so compelling -- it's a tragic (yet, ultimately hopeful!) tale on the extremes of mental life, but still lucid and 'normal' enough for us readers to identify, to see ourselves in the story, and to be touched or shaken by it. =) thanks for joining us!
ReplyDeleteWELCOME!!!!!! So happy to have you in the BCB.
ReplyDeleteAs you read in my review I saw similarities between myself and the author too. Eek. But, once I got over my bibliochondria I enjoyed the book immensely.
A Foreign Land
welcome to the book club bloggers! such a great review and i'm glad it opened you to a book you normal wouldn't have read! i love your comment on recognizing yourself in the character - i felt that way too and was almost afraid of admitting it. i'm glad i'm not the only one :)
ReplyDeleteThanks for joining! So glad you went for it! ;)
ReplyDeleteYay! Welcome new member! I'm glad you joined in. :)
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