Girl, Interrupted - Susanna Kaysen

I wasn't quite sure what to expect with this book. It's short (160 or so pages) with relatively large text.

It is about a girl who is essentially sent to an institution for two years after being diagnosed with Borderline Personality disorder. Rather than being a road through the therapy and life in an institution, the book seems to float around various parts of the life, without settling down on any specific part to settle on and explore.

I guess I was hoping for more detailed information of how mental illness was handled in the 60's - and with more of a focus on how she managed to get essentially hold on to a relationship whilst inside.

I suffer from Borderline myself so was expecting the mental illness part to be more apparent, and there seemed to be a "I should never have been brought here" theme throughout? and maybe a tinge of 'One flew over the cuckoo's nest' everyone here is crazy but me as well.

The characters felt relatively thin, with no real explanation or development of who they are and why they are there. I guess this was more the style rather than needlessly left out.

It's written in a relatively lyrical style which I enjoyed, but to be honest I was expecting much more. I would be interested in seeing the movie which may explore the subject matter further.

I still enjoyed it, and it did feel like relatively light reading...