Girl Interrupted: Comparison of book and movie

Seminar paper from the year 2002 in the subject American Studies - Literature, grade: 1,3 (A), Technical University of Braunschweig (English Seminar), course: HS Film and Literature, language: English, abstract: 'You spent nearly two years in a loony bin! Why in the world were you there? I can't believe it!' Translation: If you're crazy, then I'm crazy, and I'm not, so the whole thing must have been a mistake (125).' How do we know whether someone is insane or sane? Susanna Kaysen's account Girl, Interrupted is told to us through the eyes of a girl who is diagnosed with a borderline personality disorder- can we believe the things she is telling us, or are her memories distorted by her mental illness? The unreliability of the first-person-narrator is not only a question when dealing with the book, but it is also an interesting aspect to consider when taking a closer look at the cinematic version of Girl, Interrupted. In order to analyze how Kaysen's literary work was adapted, I will first shortly introduce the book and the movie. Then I will compare the two works with regard to narrative perspective, plot and time frame, characters, and cultural background.