Girl, Interrupted - Susanna Kaysen

Not at all what I was expecting from this little book! I took this to Uni with me the other day as I had a late afternoon tutorial and a few hours to kill after an earlier meeting. I managed to get about 3/4 of this finished in that few hours, and read the rest in about half an hour at home, so a short read, but quite a good one.


So Girl, Interrupted isn't a novel, but more of a memoir of author Susanna Kaysen's time in McLean Hospital in the late 60's. McLean is a psychiatric hospital which boasts a list of several well known previous residents such as Sylvia Plath, and Ray Charles. Kaysen began having recollections of her time at the hospital while writing another of her novels, and then began researching her time there. Her findings and memories are the basis for the book.

Something I really like is that there are copies of Kaysen's files from the hospital in the book, which is of course proof that she was there, but also really solidifies the horror of her situation.

Kaysen herself was admitted for a "Borderline Personality Disorder" which is as broad as it sounds, and basically something that allowed girls who really needed simpler help to be institutionalised. Other girls on her ward are there for reasons spanning from eating disorders, to promiscuity. One thing his book really does is make you appreciate the world we live in now. These days, you can sleep with more than three people without being locked away, you can openly discuss your problems with family, friends, charities or even doctors, without the fear of either being deemed a social pariah, or locked away. I think that's why I'd say this is a rather important book, for girls of a certain age especially, because Kaysen really goes into depth in terms of her thoughts and feelings, what she thought made her "crazy",  but are really just (mostly) normal thoughts we all go through at that point of growing up and choosing our own path, sadly for Kaysen, bringing these thoughts up landed her in McLean, but today, something as simple as knowing someone else has gone through what you have is help enough.

I know a lot of people have seen the film adaptation of the same name and though I think it's a really great film, the book is very different and a little deeper. The character of Lisa, played by Angelina Jolie in the film, is really different, as is Brittany Murphey's character Daisy. There is also a kind of switch up of the happy ending. In the book, Kaysen (played by Winona Ryder) is deemed "cured" and leaves the institution, but all of the other girls stay helplessly inside. In the book there's a little more resolution with the characters and of course with Kaysen herself, as she clearly has been successful and is now a writer.

Like I said, I feel it's quite an important read, so pick it up if you can. For girls, I think this is definitely a great coming of age that is almost on par with The Bell Jar. Happy Reading!

Ham On Rye - Charles Bukowski

It's been a few weeks since I've posted a review mostly because I have quite a bit of writing to do for Uni at the minute - namely my dissertation and a 90 page script, so taking time to read novels makes me feel pretty guilty when I have a stack of film essays to go though. Never the less...

I love Bukowski, I really do, I first started reading his work last Summer when I was flat out broke and had no money for books - I went to my local library (really local - about a 2 minutes walk), which doesn't hold the best collection but there are some gems, one of which was The Most Beautiful Woman In Town which I read in about a day and adored. I had heard of Bukowski before but had only read his poetry, and after reading one collection of short stories I was really interested in more of his novels. I think I lent a few more from libraries over that Summer but I'm not sure which they were - never the less they steered me onto buying my own copies - one of which was Ham On Rye.

“It was a joy! Words weren't dull, words were things that could make your mind hum. If you read them and let yourself feel the magic, you could live without pain, with hope, no matter what happened to you.”

Ham On Rye is the story of Bukowski's mostly autobiographical alter ego Henry Chinaski as he goes through childhood and his teenage years and If you don't like his other novels you're not going to like this one. I was really interested to read this book because I always wonder how Bukowski became the man he was, and how he formed himself into such a person and this book did answer those questions that I had but with the answer; He was just like that. As I said the book is mostly autobiographical  but with some people who write autobiographies they write with a certain message in mind, either sadness or a comedic factor etc. They highlight and emphasise the parts of their past which fit in with who they are now - because that's why we're reading the book - to find out more about them. We don't want to read things that are pointless or have nothing to do with anything that impacted the persons life, and although I think Bukowski does do this here - highlights and shows us parts of his past which have stuck with him - which he believes has shaped him, there are some parts which don't connect to the rest of the "story", but I enjoy them just the same.

“Getting drunk was good. I decided that I would always like getting drunk. It took away the obvious and maybe if you could get away from the obvious often enough, you wouldn't become so obvious yourself.” 

I think I would probably just enjoy anything the man has written, he seems to be a very "Marmite" kind of writer (If you don't know what Marmite is it's a kind of yeast extract spread for toast and sandwiches and in the UK the tagline of the product is "You either love it or you hate it".) Some people don't have much time for his writing at all - which is understandable I suppose, it would be very easy to just label Bukowski a drunk and discount his work but He has grown to be one of my very favourite writers over the past year and I for one just can't get enough.

“I knew I was strong, and maybe like they said, "crazy." But I had this feeling inside of me that something real was there.” 

With Ham On Rye I found myself sympathising with young Hank Chinaski many times over. His story isn't the happiest but he doesn't dwell on the unhappy times or ask the audience to pity him. He's very much a normal man, and was a normal boy. Throughout the book Hank does nothing extra-ordinary, he goes through no great romance or any glittering opportunities - he just lives his life and lets us see into it a little bit. A great read packed with great writing, If you like Bukowski and haven't read this, then definitely do so. If you've not read his work before then maybe start with Ham On Rye - then you could read "Hank's" life chronologically, and what a treat that would be!

“Everything else just kept picking and picking, hacking away. And nothing was interesting, nothing. The people were restrictive and careful, all alike. And I've got to live with these fuckers for the rest of my life, I thought.” 

Happy Halloween everyone -  Is anyone dressing up? What as? I hope you are all wonderfully ill on your poison of choice - be it sweets or alcohol. I'll be indulging in a happy mix of the two!

The Virgin Suicides - Jeffrey Eugenides

The Virgin Suicides has been a long contemplated book for me. I saw the film years ago, when I was in my early teens and I never really got it. I mean, I understand the premise and all, I know it's a mystery and a detective novel and a coming of age all in one, but I never really joined in on the big cult "wow-ness" of this book. I think it's because at first it seemed (the story, as I hadn't read the book) like something second rate, made to shock people. 5 Sisters kill them selves for no reason better than "You've never been a teenage girl", well, how very "I don't like Mondays" of you...

However, for the past few years I have found myself adding the book to various online shopping baskets...and then not buying it, but there's no rule so important with adaptations than "It's probably not as good as the book!" So I took the plunge, and figured I was going to close the final page with a huge eye roll or a great sense of contemplation, but I'm still not so sure. I don't think I've ever had such a mixed reaction to a book before, usually because I tend to buy books I've read reviews of, or from authors I've read before, but with this one I feel so (excuse the lack of a better word here) ...meh. I don't feel particularly enlightened or thoughtful like I usually do upon finishing a novel, I do feel contemplative, thought over my thoughts rather than the story.

The book centres around the 5 Lisbon sisters, who we know from the start all end up killing themselves. We read from a group of unnamed men, who knew the girls when they were their age and have never been able to forget them, or figure out the mystery surrounding their deaths. The writing is like that of a court transcription, with the boys presenting exhibits, and interviews they have conducted over the years in trying to put together the mystery of the suicides.

“It didn't matter in the end how old they had been, or that they were girls, but only that we had loved them, and that they hadn't heard us calling, still do not hear us, up here in the tree house with our thinning hair and soft bellies, calling them out of those rooms where they went to be alone for all time, alone in suicide, which is deeper than death, and where we will never find the pieces to put them back together. ” 

I don't think it's the author I have an issues with here - he keeps the story very well placed in it's detective-coming of age genre, and I do completely adore the setting -  I love the seventies, and the writing makes the time feel really authentic; rather it's the story. I have this little tick that has always irritated me; people trying to make themselves "relevant" by writing/creating these little esoteric pieces of work that they think are incredibly arty but in reality are just cheap rip-off's of once great work, for example, how many books have you read that claim to be the "modern" Catcher In The Rye? And focus on a boy who is alone and thinks a lot and reads Albert Camus and is therefore different and intelligent and oh so worthwhile? They seem to believe that this character, the placement of a Joy Division record, or a reference to Clockwork Orange (because gosh, you must be a big misunderstood smartie-pants if you empathise with droog's) means that they have written something great, but it takes so much more than that!

“What lingered after them was not life, which always overcomes natural death, but the most trivial list of mundane facts: a clock ticking on a wall, a room dim at noon, and the outrageousness of a human being thinking only of herself.”

And we come to the crux of this review, here's my final thought; The Virgin Suicides is lacking, lacking in something that could have made it great? I'm not sure, but definitely in something that could have made it something thought provoking, rather than what I take it as; an easy read on a difficult subject with absolutely no depth. In this case the film was definitely better, and that's only because of Sofia Coppola's directing, and the wicked soundtrack. Sorry Lux lovers, I'm calling it.

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower - Stephen Chbosky

The Perks Of Being A Wallflower is one of those books that's really hyped up at the moment (see: any one of a thousand "I feel infinite" wrist tattoos) but let me tell you that this book is absolutely worth the hype.

Perks centres around Charlie, a high school freshman who has trouble fitting in. Charlie doesn't really have friends, until he meets brother and sister Patrick and Sam who introduce Charlie into their social group and try to bring him out of his shell. Charlie however, as the title suggests, is the eponymous wallflower and never quite fits it.

"Maybe it’s sad that these are now memories. And maybe it’s not sad."

The book is written as a series of letters from Charlie to a unknown recipient. This person is someone who Charlie has heard stories and rumours about and decided that they were someone he could trust. We never see a response from this person or any acknowledgement to the letters Charlie is writing. I feel Chbosky leaves this person anonymous and never has them respond in any way so that we get more attached to Charlie by assuming he is writing to us as the reader, and because we are so attached we become emotionally invested in Charlie as a character, leaving the ending to hit us all the harder.

"So, this is my life. And I want you to know that I am both happy and sad and I'm still trying to figure out how that could be."

A poignant point of the book is the suicide of one of Charlie's only friends, (pre Sam and Patrick) Michael. Michael shows Charlie a poem before his death which Charlie takes to heart and talks about throughout the book. Though the way "Charlie" writes his letters makes it seem he doesn't understand the poem I think the scene where he reads it aloud and feels a great deal of emotion shows that he did understand and had just buried his realization along with so many other things we are yet to find out. Michaels poem is actually taken from poet Osoanon Nimuss and is entitled Absolutely Nothing which you can read here.

"Then I turned around and walked to my room and closed my door and put my head under my pillow and let the quiet put things where they are supposed to be."

The Perks movie is to be

 released on the 3/10/12 (UK) .

The book deals with all of the issues you'd expect to find in a coming of age novel; drugs, sex, suicide, depression, homosexuality etc, and similarities can defiantly be seen between Perks and Catcher In The Rye. Both have a male protagonist, both have a sister whom they love greatly, both have friendly, influencing relationships with a teacher. I think the only real difference between the two is the that Holden Caulfield shields his vulnerability from the reader, while Charlie cannot hide his. Though I do definitely class Perks as a coming of age novel, It really can appeal to all ages. Last summer I did a "book swap"with my mum where we each agreed to pick out a favourite book and the other would have to read it. She absolutely loved Perks and felt really strongly towards Charlie and his experiences, so even if you're past the "coming of age" age, this book is still very much worth your time.

"Sam tapped her hand on the steering wheel. Patrick held his hand outside the car and made air waves. And I just sat between them. After the song finished, I said something.

“I feel infinite.”"

Instead of including my own playlist I thought I'd use songs referenced in Perks.

Asleep - The Smiths

Vapour Trail - Ride

Scarborough Fair - Simon and Garfunkel

A Whiter Shade of Pale - Procol Harum

Time of No Reply - Nick Drake

Dear Prudence - The Beatles

Gypsy - Suzanne Vega

Nights in White Satin - The Moody Blues

Daydream - The Smashing Pumpkins

Dusk - Genesis

MLK - U2

Blackbird - The Beatles

                                                                                  Landslide - Fleetwood Mac

                                                                               Smells Like Teen Spirit - Nirvana

                                                                              Another Brick in the Wall, Part II - Pink Floyd

                                                                                  Something - The Beatles

                                                                                  School's Out - Alice Cooper

                                                                                   Autumn Leaves - Nat King Cole

                                                                                   Broken Wings - Mr. Mister

                                                                                   Where Eagles Dare - The Misfits