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3.8 AVERAGE
3.8 AVERAGE
Good lord!! Good lord!! Thank you Pinterest for recommending this book!!! Good lord!!!!
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
tense
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
N/A
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this book for the first time many years ago. I recently reread it because my memory of it was so positive. I was not disappointed.
"I wrote this novel, which is a fictionalized autobiography, to give a picture of what being schizophrenic feels like and what can be accomplished with a trusting relationship between a gifted therapist and a willing patient. It is not a case history or study. I like to think it is a hymn to reality." —Joanne Greenberg
This hymn to reality was brutal and lyrical. The memories of many of my friends and family fluttered by, and I so appreciate the author's courage to put it all down for us to read.
This hymn to reality was brutal and lyrical. The memories of many of my friends and family fluttered by, and I so appreciate the author's courage to put it all down for us to read.
dark
emotional
reflective
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
I actually borrowed this book from a friend, who brought it with him the last time we exchanged books. The edition I read had the cool rose and snake motif on the cover, and was so, so seventies. I admit, for me, the old printing was part of its charm; reminded me of when a neighbor had acquired all of the James Bond novels in their older printings before they were rereleased.
Anyway, on to the actual book. It is a very quick read, and rather intriguing. Unlike so many other books about mental illness, this one presents the illness (in this case, schizophrenia) as just part of the narrator's world. She identifies the voices she hears by name, and introduces the reader to the lush world of escape and torture that her illness has created for her; if you didn't know that she was mentally ill thanks to her interactions with other characters, you may just think that this woman isn't so much ill as she is creating her own fantasy story that gets violently away from her from time to time.
It's refreshing in that it does not ask for the reader's pity or sympathy for the protagonist's illness, nor is the illness itself presented as something bad to be defeated or a good defense. It simply is what it is, and the protagonist endures what a schizophrenic would have in a mental institution in the 1960s...and responds in a way that, once you get to know her, you would expect.
A really quick read, to be sure, but unexpectedly satisfying in its different approach to portraying mental illness.
Anyway, on to the actual book. It is a very quick read, and rather intriguing. Unlike so many other books about mental illness, this one presents the illness (in this case, schizophrenia) as just part of the narrator's world. She identifies the voices she hears by name, and introduces the reader to the lush world of escape and torture that her illness has created for her; if you didn't know that she was mentally ill thanks to her interactions with other characters, you may just think that this woman isn't so much ill as she is creating her own fantasy story that gets violently away from her from time to time.
It's refreshing in that it does not ask for the reader's pity or sympathy for the protagonist's illness, nor is the illness itself presented as something bad to be defeated or a good defense. It simply is what it is, and the protagonist endures what a schizophrenic would have in a mental institution in the 1960s...and responds in a way that, once you get to know her, you would expect.
A really quick read, to be sure, but unexpectedly satisfying in its different approach to portraying mental illness.