I Never Promised You A Rose Garden
by Hannah Green
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Book Summary Information
Author: Hannah GreenEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Published)
Published: 1964
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 256
Publisher: Pan Books
Book Reviews of I Never Promised You A Rose Garden
Book Review: An excellent read
Summary: 5 Stars
I loved this book. It's written in a way that although you'll never understand completely what it means to live each day as the main character, Deborah, does, you can still relate to the same feelings (of course people without mental illnesses would feel them in different situations). Although her mind and how she perceives things is so different, she's still human with human emotions. I didn't find it difficult to follow like some people did.
Not only is the book good for those who what to know how the mental health system was like in the late forties and early fifties but for anybody who wants to read an interesting, well-written and thought-provoking novel. I thought the descriptions of Deborah's "other world" called Yr were fascinating, as was its language. I thought it was interesting that Deb's vision, hearing, and sense of physical feeling were all affected by her illness.
Even though mental hospitals and treatments for mental illnesses were a lot different in the late 40's and early 50's, the illnesses themselves haven't drastically changed, which is important, and therefore many mentally ill people could relate to the character of Deborah: the frustrations of people not understanding you (an example is on p.95 - "A young nurse had said too loudly, [so that Deborah did hear] 'That kid looks through me as if I'm not here at all'. Trying to give comfort, Deborah had later whispered to the nurse, 'Wrong not.". She was saying that it was not the pretty nurse who was not there but the ugly patient, and still the wrong-coming words only made the frightened student more alarmed, and Deborah saw again the uncrossable expanse between herself and the species called 'human being'.") People with mental issues could also relate to other things such as Deb's loneliness and feeling so separated from the rest of the world, the constant struggle to fight against what she had been used to for the sake of her well-being, frustrations with herself for not being able to communicate as a "normal person". (Deborah would struggle to form English words because words from Yr's language would come out . On page 52, she says, "English is for the world - for getting disappointed by and getting hated in. Yri is for saying what is to be said.")
I'm glad the ending isn't "happy" - a happy ending just wouldn't make sense... People with schizophrenia and other mental illnesses struggle constantly.
Here are some parts or quotes of the book that I really liked:
-"Later, one of the little student nurses came to where Deborah was lying, looking at the ceiling....Deborah sighed and got up dutifully, thinking: She is astounded at the haze of craziness with which I fill a room." [p. 19]
-"Brief simple moments of companionship seemed like a rain in the desert that was numbered and counted and remembered long after it was gone. Deborah and Carla were enjoying such a rain as Carla nursed her cigarette." [p. 75]
-One of the staff [who Deborah likes] tells Deborah to not make fun of or verbally lash out at one of the new staff members, he says 'Lay off Ellis, Deb - you'll be glad for it later' She says, "I'll try" and he looks down hard at her. "Deborah fought the sedative for a while, thinking about what he had said and how. It was tough but true, and under the anger of it ran the tone - the tone rare anywhere, but in a mental ward like a priceless jewel - the tone of a simple respect between equals. The terror she felt at having the responsibility it bore was mingled with a new feeling. It was joy." [p. 90]
-When Deborah's doctor said, "We who have never experienced this sickness firsthand can only guess what horror and loneliness there must be." [p. 104]
-"They [Deborah's parents] trusted Doctor Fried. She had not been hypocritically calming, but she had given them hope, and it was hope for which they were most desperate." [p.105]
And I like the part where Deborah and Carla sneak out from the hospital at night while it's raining - when she finds happiness in doing something juvenile and "against the rules". (She had never been able to enjoy her childhood the same way other children had, of course) She had broken the rules but one of the doctors said he was kind of proud of her- she was doing something that made her feel joy, an emotion rarely experienced in the wards.
I would recommend the story to anyone
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