Novel about Mental Illness?

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Czarmaine AM
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Re: Novel about Mental Illness?

Post by Czarmaine AM »

If you're a fan of young adult fiction, you might wanna try this book called "It's kind of a funny story" by Nedz Vizzini. He suffered from depression himself and this book is somewhat based from hospitalization experience. Sadly though, it was reported that he committed suicide in 2013.
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Natalie Charlene
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Post by Natalie Charlene »

The Bell Jar was also my first though. However, Girl, Interrupted by Susanna Kaysen is very good. The Curious Incident of the Dog in the Night-Time by Mark Haddon is also great. It is about a boy who has Autism, which may or may not be what you are looking for. The Pleasure of my Company by Steve Martin is another one I would recommend. If you like classics, Wuthering Heights is a good one, too. While it never speaks directly of mental health battles, it is clear that Heathcliff is battling one, if not several, issues. Hope this helped!
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baley
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Post by baley »

Wow! It's a good article, it has best experiences ever

-- 09 Jun 2017, 01:58 --

It's a illness rampant in today it gives lots of expectations of the same.
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dhwanis
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Post by dhwanis »

One of the books that deal with mental illness beautifully is "Em and the Big Hoom" by Jerry Pinto. Although, in this book the protagonist's mother is battling mental illness. It is based in India at the time where people were mental issues were something one did not talk about else society brands them "mad". This is a heartwarming tale of a son who is trying to understand his mother's illness as well as his father's love for her. So, in the background we have a sweet romantic tale of how the protagonist's parents lived and loved in the pre-illness days.
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Post by AliceofX »

One that I recently read was Jane. by Riya Anne Polcastro. You can read my full review here: forums.onlinebookclub.org/viewtopic.php ... mp;t=46634
Basically, it's a story about a woman who moves to a new town to take care of her schizophrenic aunt but becomes mentally ill herself as the story progresses.

Besides the ones that have already been mentioned in this thread, We Need to Talk About Kevin by Lionel Shriver comes to mind. It's the story of a mother whose son commits mass murder in school at the age of 16. It tells how he was sociopathic and manipulative from his early days, and how she learned to live with him and the consequences of his actions.
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Post by Insightsintobooks729 »

Have you tried Flowers for Algernon? Its about a mentally handicapped person who becomes smart. It gives you an interesting perspective. It's really good.
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Post by chrstnafd »

I'm new to this, and I found this topic. Gotta try some of those stories since I'm kinda into those genres. Thanks everyone
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roysgame
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Post by roysgame »

Thank you for sharing. I am going to check this one out as well.
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Post by Kathryn Price »

Tales from the Couch by Dr. Bob Wendorf is a nonfiction book written by a psychologist about his different patients. It's a really interesting, humanizing look at people with many different mental illnesses.

As for fiction, I read the YA novel Freaks Like Us recently about a boy with schizophrenia whose best friend disappears and he gets blamed. Because of his disease, he literally can't remember what happened that day but he holds onto his belief that he would never have hurt her and resolves to help the police find her. The author writes it from the characters point of view, including everything going on in his head because of his disorder. It's stressful to read because of it, but it makes it an extremely good book.
“If you believe only in facts and forget stories, your brain will live, but your heart will die” ― Cassandra Clare, Lord of Shadows
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Post by BookClub2018 »

MedHead: My Knock-down, Drag-out, Drugged-up Battle with My Brain by James Patterson was impressive for me when my son was in his battles. Try reading this one, it's a page turner.
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Post by starshipsaga »

For anyone interested in Urban Fantasy/Paranormal, I'm currently catching up on a great new series called The Arcadia Project by Mishell Baker. The protagonist has borderline personality disorder, and she's a complex, fully-realized, and very well-written character. One of my favorite series right now.
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Post by kimgfien »

1. Brain on Fire
2. An Unquiet Mind
3. Girl, interrupted
4. An unquiet mind
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Post by uyky »

I would recommend Flowers for Algernon. It is a beautiful book I read some time ago, but it has left quite an impression.
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Post by SLD »

"Three Faces of Eve" and "Sybil" are both compelling books addressing multiple personalities. And, there is always "One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest" written about activity inside a mental institution.
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Post by Libs_Books »

Amagine wrote: 01 Apr 2017, 09:13 The only novels I read with the protagonist having a mental illness was The Yellow Wallpaper and The Nobel Prize.
Coming late to this discussion - I don't know the other one mentioned here, but I think The Yellow Wallpaper is terrific - I believe it's semi-autobiographic as the author, Charlotte Perkins Gilman, had a similar illness but rejected the doctor's advice, which was not to write.

Another great book is Regeneration by Pat Barker; this is set in a psychiatric hospital near Edinburgh during the First World War. Many characters in the book are real people, included Siegfried Sassoon, the war poet, and the psychiatrist who treated him, W.H.R. Rivers. Barker had access to Rivers' notes, I think. It's the first part of a trilogy - all very good.
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