What do you think?
Rate this book
I Never Promised You A Rose Garden
The classic novel about a young woman's struggle against madness, now a Holt Paperback, with a new afterword by the author
Hailed by The New York Times as "convincing and emotionally gripping" upon its publication in 1964, Joanne Greenberg's semiautobiographical novel stands as a timeless and unforgettable portrayal of mental illness. Enveloped in the dark inner kingdom of her schizophrenia, sixteen-year-old Deborah is haunted by private tormentors that isolate her from the outside world. With the reluctant and fearful consent of her parents, she enters a mental hospital where she will spend the next three years battling to regain her sanity with the help of a gifted psychiatrist. As Deborah struggles toward the possibility of the "normal" life she and her family hope for, the reader is inexorably drawn into her private suffering and deep determination to confront her demons.
A modern classic, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden remains every bit as poignant, gripping, and relevant today as when it was first published.
Hailed by The New York Times as "convincing and emotionally gripping" upon its publication in 1964, Joanne Greenberg's semiautobiographical novel stands as a timeless and unforgettable portrayal of mental illness. Enveloped in the dark inner kingdom of her schizophrenia, sixteen-year-old Deborah is haunted by private tormentors that isolate her from the outside world. With the reluctant and fearful consent of her parents, she enters a mental hospital where she will spend the next three years battling to regain her sanity with the help of a gifted psychiatrist. As Deborah struggles toward the possibility of the "normal" life she and her family hope for, the reader is inexorably drawn into her private suffering and deep determination to confront her demons.
A modern classic, I Never Promised You a Rose Garden remains every bit as poignant, gripping, and relevant today as when it was first published.
304 pages, Paperback
First published January 1, 1964
1563 people are currently reading
61568 people want to read
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,792 reviews
April 5, 2019
"'Oh, do come in, dear Doctor. You are just in time for the patient's soothing tea and the end of the world.'" p. 17.
"'The HIDDEN strength is too deep a secret. But in the end...it is our only ally.'" Dr. Fried, page 19.
"'I'm a hundred square yards sane.' If there were such things as man-hours and light-years, surely there was foot-sanity." p. 21.
"'Then you're not going to be indifferent...' ... 'You're damn right I'm not!'" Deborah and Dr. Fried, p. 45.
"'We will work hard, together, and we will understand.' ... 'As long as we can stand at all.'" Dr. Fried and Deborah, p. 99.
"'If I can learn these things...can read and learn, why is it still so dark?'" Deborah, p. 120.
"'Do you think you could compete with my smallest nightmare on its dullest day?'" Deborah, p. 122.
"'Your spatial laws are okay, but God--watch out for the choices you give us!'" Deborah, p. 126.
"'...they build their tortures so cunningly!' ... 'You mean the restraints?'... 'I mean the HOPE!'" Deborah and Sylvia, p. 135.
"'Let us bless the strength that let you see, and work toward the time when you will be able also to DO what you see to do.'" Dr. Fried, p. 174.
"'I'm tired and scared and I just don't care any more what happens. Work in the dark and work in the cold and what for! ... The more garbage I give away the more I have left. YOU can turn me off.... I can't turn me off, so I'm turning the fight off." Deborah, p. 185,
"'Typical regional cooking. They never say what region, but I have some ideas!'" "Fiorentini's Mary," p. 193.
Read. Feel. Learn. Experience.
Thanks for reading.
"'The HIDDEN strength is too deep a secret. But in the end...it is our only ally.'" Dr. Fried, page 19.
"'I'm a hundred square yards sane.' If there were such things as man-hours and light-years, surely there was foot-sanity." p. 21.
"'Then you're not going to be indifferent...' ... 'You're damn right I'm not!'" Deborah and Dr. Fried, p. 45.
"'We will work hard, together, and we will understand.' ... 'As long as we can stand at all.'" Dr. Fried and Deborah, p. 99.
"'If I can learn these things...can read and learn, why is it still so dark?'" Deborah, p. 120.
"'Do you think you could compete with my smallest nightmare on its dullest day?'" Deborah, p. 122.
"'Your spatial laws are okay, but God--watch out for the choices you give us!'" Deborah, p. 126.
"'...they build their tortures so cunningly!' ... 'You mean the restraints?'... 'I mean the HOPE!'" Deborah and Sylvia, p. 135.
"'Let us bless the strength that let you see, and work toward the time when you will be able also to DO what you see to do.'" Dr. Fried, p. 174.
"'I'm tired and scared and I just don't care any more what happens. Work in the dark and work in the cold and what for! ... The more garbage I give away the more I have left. YOU can turn me off.... I can't turn me off, so I'm turning the fight off." Deborah, p. 185,
"'Typical regional cooking. They never say what region, but I have some ideas!'" "Fiorentini's Mary," p. 193.
Read. Feel. Learn. Experience.
Thanks for reading.
July 18, 2007
I first read this in 1966 when I was 13 and in the 8th grade and it became my favorite book and remained my favorite book throughout high school. I reread it many times, although it's been years since my last reading.
This is a story of a young woman ages 16-19 who is suffering from severe mental illness (in the book she is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia) in a mental hospital.
My understanding is that this book is based on a true story and the hospital was Chestnut Lodge and the psychiatrist was Frieda Fromm-Reichmann. Reading it now, it seems as though the main character, Deborah, was probably actually suffering from major depression with psychosis and not schizophrenia at all – but that hardly matters.
It’s a good story about making an effort, one's ability to change, hope, and friendship, and it’s written with a lot of empathy for all of the characters.
And I admit that I so identified with Deborah that I didn't even absorb that fact of her psychosis; I took the descriptions as metaphor.
This is a story of a young woman ages 16-19 who is suffering from severe mental illness (in the book she is diagnosed with paranoid schizophrenia) in a mental hospital.
My understanding is that this book is based on a true story and the hospital was Chestnut Lodge and the psychiatrist was Frieda Fromm-Reichmann. Reading it now, it seems as though the main character, Deborah, was probably actually suffering from major depression with psychosis and not schizophrenia at all – but that hardly matters.
It’s a good story about making an effort, one's ability to change, hope, and friendship, and it’s written with a lot of empathy for all of the characters.
And I admit that I so identified with Deborah that I didn't even absorb that fact of her psychosis; I took the descriptions as metaphor.
July 3, 2023
I read this book many, many years ago, but I still remember it clearly. It was such a wonderful book, one of those rare ones where you truly glimpse what it’s like to be a prisoner of your own mind. Even if her experiences are very different from mine, I got her because it was written convincingly and it felt so real. Beautiful, unforgettable book.
February 13, 2016
To get below the surface of this book, one must invest himself/herself. This I was willing to do. As a fellow sufferer of mental illness, I long for memoirs of those who've gone through the same as me. It's easy to read a book without really getting it, and that's why the people in other reviews have given this book below five stars. They're quick to say it's boring, afraid of the cause the book gives for deep thinking, which they probably haven't been able to grasp. They're the ones who've never gone through such mental illness, and hopefully never will. This book wasn't written for them, so of course they'd feel that way. This book was meant for those of my ilk...
My mind never created its own world, gods, gestures, language like Deborah's (and the author's) did, but the mental illness aspect is enough commonality. The knowledge of being painfully different in a normal world, peopled with humans who're so luckily hinged (Titans, the author calls them, for being able to live the right way, though they don't realize their strength)...yes, I have this. The want for the Maybe, but also the fear of it...I have this, too. These depictions in the book reach out for those of us who've gone through the same.
The strange intelligence of the mentally ill rings beautifully in this book, though some of the things Deborah says are tough to get at times. She speaks in metaphors, and the meaning's not always clear. Happily for her, she has Dr. Fried, who knows just how to handle Deborah and is on level with her in a way most other doctors couldn't be. At some point in the book, Fried goes on a trip, leaving Deborah in the hands of Dr. Royson, a man with totally different methods than Fried. While Fried understood Deborah's need for Yr to be acknowledged as real (as it WAS to Deborah), Royson painfully tried to drive home the lie of its existence, and Deborah can't handle his ways of therapy. This instance shows that people can't just go out to a doctor and hope to find the right one. It takes sometimes several tries to find someone on the right level, which might seem obvious to some but others still don't realize this. Fried was perfect for Deborah, understanding the crucial need for Deborah not to be lied to. Several times she said that the world would not be perfect. Life would be unjust. "I never promised you a rose garden." Saying these things early on and often led to Deborah being able to handle life's ups and downs eventually, though she still had slip-ups.
Fried also was able to eventually track down each of Deborah's core problems to their source, a miracle which doesn't happen often in psychology. Fried saw that there was hope in Deborah, because Deborah subconsciously realized that the defense she created from the real world, Yr, had become not just an escape, but also a trap. She cuts herself in her plea for help, not in a suicide attempt, and this leads her to being put in the hospital, where she realizes she belongs almost instantly. She has something in her that's fighting to get out, and that's what leads to her being one of the few to overcome her illness.
Another part of the book I liked is Greenberg's showing not only Deborah's thoughts, but the parents as well. In their turmoil and love we see that it's not their fault that Deborah began to suffer. So often we're quick to think that all problems stem from the home life...maybe an alcoholic father, a mother who doesn't listen. That's not the case with Deborah's parents. They're truly loving, which is proof that mental illness can occur to those with even the best family life (this is the case of me, also). Mental illness can stem from anything, really, and I hate that people think of instances leading up to it as being measurable, using their personal opinions to judge whether the trauma is proportional to the mental suffering thereafter. If they hear about a girl who had a bad surgery experience that was one of the core reasons for a later mental illness, they're less likely to take the illness seriously. I think this is a major fault with people today. Mental illness can't be measured like this; instances that might not affect some to much extent, affect others greatly, and we have no right to say one instance is more "worthy" a reason for illness than any other. Those who've never had an illness like this are prone to this kind of thinking...they'd do well instead not to form an opinion at all.
My mind never created its own world, gods, gestures, language like Deborah's (and the author's) did, but the mental illness aspect is enough commonality. The knowledge of being painfully different in a normal world, peopled with humans who're so luckily hinged (Titans, the author calls them, for being able to live the right way, though they don't realize their strength)...yes, I have this. The want for the Maybe, but also the fear of it...I have this, too. These depictions in the book reach out for those of us who've gone through the same.
The strange intelligence of the mentally ill rings beautifully in this book, though some of the things Deborah says are tough to get at times. She speaks in metaphors, and the meaning's not always clear. Happily for her, she has Dr. Fried, who knows just how to handle Deborah and is on level with her in a way most other doctors couldn't be. At some point in the book, Fried goes on a trip, leaving Deborah in the hands of Dr. Royson, a man with totally different methods than Fried. While Fried understood Deborah's need for Yr to be acknowledged as real (as it WAS to Deborah), Royson painfully tried to drive home the lie of its existence, and Deborah can't handle his ways of therapy. This instance shows that people can't just go out to a doctor and hope to find the right one. It takes sometimes several tries to find someone on the right level, which might seem obvious to some but others still don't realize this. Fried was perfect for Deborah, understanding the crucial need for Deborah not to be lied to. Several times she said that the world would not be perfect. Life would be unjust. "I never promised you a rose garden." Saying these things early on and often led to Deborah being able to handle life's ups and downs eventually, though she still had slip-ups.
Fried also was able to eventually track down each of Deborah's core problems to their source, a miracle which doesn't happen often in psychology. Fried saw that there was hope in Deborah, because Deborah subconsciously realized that the defense she created from the real world, Yr, had become not just an escape, but also a trap. She cuts herself in her plea for help, not in a suicide attempt, and this leads her to being put in the hospital, where she realizes she belongs almost instantly. She has something in her that's fighting to get out, and that's what leads to her being one of the few to overcome her illness.
Another part of the book I liked is Greenberg's showing not only Deborah's thoughts, but the parents as well. In their turmoil and love we see that it's not their fault that Deborah began to suffer. So often we're quick to think that all problems stem from the home life...maybe an alcoholic father, a mother who doesn't listen. That's not the case with Deborah's parents. They're truly loving, which is proof that mental illness can occur to those with even the best family life (this is the case of me, also). Mental illness can stem from anything, really, and I hate that people think of instances leading up to it as being measurable, using their personal opinions to judge whether the trauma is proportional to the mental suffering thereafter. If they hear about a girl who had a bad surgery experience that was one of the core reasons for a later mental illness, they're less likely to take the illness seriously. I think this is a major fault with people today. Mental illness can't be measured like this; instances that might not affect some to much extent, affect others greatly, and we have no right to say one instance is more "worthy" a reason for illness than any other. Those who've never had an illness like this are prone to this kind of thinking...they'd do well instead not to form an opinion at all.
March 28, 2022
Joanne Greenberg (aka Hannah Green) published her semi-autobiographical novel in 1964 but it looks back to the 1940s and the period directly post WW2 that she spent incarcerated in a private mental health facility. Here Greenberg becomes 16-year-old Deborah Blau locked in her elaborate fantasy world the Kingdom of Yr, periodically resurfacing in the real world only to find it filled with terror, both outer and inner. At the hospital she becomes the patient of Dr Fried, someone who understands the realities Deborah’s grappling with, both are Jewish, both have encountered vicious, destabilising forms of anti-Semitism, in Fried’s case leading to a perilous escape from her home in Nazi Germany. Greenberg’s style can be a little ponderous, dense and mannered, sometimes slipping into melodrama, but it’s still a compelling, thought-provoking piece. And, in many ways, a surprising one because it’s not totally focused on one individual’s mental processes or their direct experience of institutionalisation. Although Deborah’s obviously central, Greenberg brings in other perspectives, unusual in a narrative of this kind from this era. So, alongside Deborah’s viewpoint are those of her parents, sister, doctors and nurses.
It's a meticulously detailed, convincing portrait of the treatment of patients deemed “mentally unfit”, in Deborah’s case her auditory and visual hallucinations earn her the label of schizophrenia, but it’s also a gripping portrayal of mainstream, American culture in the 1940s. In this scenario it’s clear that the so-called “normal” society is itself a strange and dangerous place, not least in the hypocrisy of a nation caught up in the myth of fighting for the good against Hitler’s regime while riddled with discrimination and segregation when it came to America’s own Jewish communities. Deborah’s family and her experiences are a potent reminder of the prejudice and hatred too often directed at Jewish immigrant families and their descendants. And Greenberg’s narrative is intent on blurring any conventional boundaries between the “sick” and the “well”.
But when it comes to attitudes and approaches taken to mental health, Greenberg’s story also contradicts casual assumptions about linear progress. Unlike Antonia White in Beyond the Glass or Elizabeth Taylor threatened with lobotomy in Suddenly Last Summer or Olivia de Haviland in The Snake Pit confronted with the “freakishness” of what she might become if she doesn’t succumb to brutal, shock therapy, there’s no danger of Greenberg’s novel being read as a kind of horror/cautionary tale about our murky past. Yes, there are practices here that now seem barbaric but there’s also an enviable focus on each patient’s needs as a whole person, as well as an awareness of the role that money, or lack of it, plays. It’s a stark contrast to the present-day emphasis on quick fix, better living through chemistry, and the tendency to place responsibility for coping with the world’s uncertainties on the individual, instead Dr Fried concentrates on talk therapy, time, and on bonding with Deborah. Fried’s stance highlights the complex interactions between an individual, their society and their cultural context, which for Deborah also includes rigid expectations linked to her gender and stifling notions of the appropriately feminine.
The character of Dr Fried’s a thinly-veiled version of Greenberg’s actual psychiatrist Dr Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, a refugee from pre-WW2 Germany. Fromm-Reichmann’s stature in her field made Greenberg’s book of particular interest to mental health professionals, not least because of its controversial claim of someone recovering from a supposedly-incurable condition without surgical, or other extensive medical interventions. It’s hard to work out how appropriate that kind of criticism is, especially since schizophrenia at the time was essentially a garbage term applied to a broad range of behaviours and symptoms. But Greenberg herself has lived for many years now without any recurrence of her hallucinations, so it’s clear that Fried’s approach worked for her. This Penguin edition comes with a foreword by Esmé Weijun Wang and an afterword by the author.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Penguin Modern Classics for an ARC
It's a meticulously detailed, convincing portrait of the treatment of patients deemed “mentally unfit”, in Deborah’s case her auditory and visual hallucinations earn her the label of schizophrenia, but it’s also a gripping portrayal of mainstream, American culture in the 1940s. In this scenario it’s clear that the so-called “normal” society is itself a strange and dangerous place, not least in the hypocrisy of a nation caught up in the myth of fighting for the good against Hitler’s regime while riddled with discrimination and segregation when it came to America’s own Jewish communities. Deborah’s family and her experiences are a potent reminder of the prejudice and hatred too often directed at Jewish immigrant families and their descendants. And Greenberg’s narrative is intent on blurring any conventional boundaries between the “sick” and the “well”.
But when it comes to attitudes and approaches taken to mental health, Greenberg’s story also contradicts casual assumptions about linear progress. Unlike Antonia White in Beyond the Glass or Elizabeth Taylor threatened with lobotomy in Suddenly Last Summer or Olivia de Haviland in The Snake Pit confronted with the “freakishness” of what she might become if she doesn’t succumb to brutal, shock therapy, there’s no danger of Greenberg’s novel being read as a kind of horror/cautionary tale about our murky past. Yes, there are practices here that now seem barbaric but there’s also an enviable focus on each patient’s needs as a whole person, as well as an awareness of the role that money, or lack of it, plays. It’s a stark contrast to the present-day emphasis on quick fix, better living through chemistry, and the tendency to place responsibility for coping with the world’s uncertainties on the individual, instead Dr Fried concentrates on talk therapy, time, and on bonding with Deborah. Fried’s stance highlights the complex interactions between an individual, their society and their cultural context, which for Deborah also includes rigid expectations linked to her gender and stifling notions of the appropriately feminine.
The character of Dr Fried’s a thinly-veiled version of Greenberg’s actual psychiatrist Dr Frieda Fromm-Reichmann, a refugee from pre-WW2 Germany. Fromm-Reichmann’s stature in her field made Greenberg’s book of particular interest to mental health professionals, not least because of its controversial claim of someone recovering from a supposedly-incurable condition without surgical, or other extensive medical interventions. It’s hard to work out how appropriate that kind of criticism is, especially since schizophrenia at the time was essentially a garbage term applied to a broad range of behaviours and symptoms. But Greenberg herself has lived for many years now without any recurrence of her hallucinations, so it’s clear that Fried’s approach worked for her. This Penguin edition comes with a foreword by Esmé Weijun Wang and an afterword by the author.
Thanks to Netgalley and publisher Penguin Modern Classics for an ARC
February 5, 2010
This was a powerful and painful reading experience and not something I would have naturally gravitated to on my own. I chose to read this upon the recommendation of a friend and I'm very glad I did. I have no idea what the author's history is but she did a marvelous job at getting inside the head of a very disturbed girl who has been committed to a mental hospital. Reading this story reinforced my committment to never lie to my child. It brought back memories of my own teenage years and the lies or illusions I told myself in order to survive loneliness, insecurity and rejection. It was incredible to read about the complex world this young girl created to escape the the escalating fear, lack of control and pain present in her life. As a parent reading this, my thoughts turned to the huge difference in perception of events between children and adults. It's very scary to imagine that a seemingly innocuous occurence can leave such long lasting scars on the psyche of a child. By the end of the book I was left with an appreciation of the strength and resilience of human beings who suffer greatly and fight to come out the other side.
November 19, 2013
Tüm insanların tamamen sağlıklı olduklarına inanmadığımdan ve de günlük belirli boyutlarda psikolojik tramvalar yaşadıklarından, bu tarz eserler bazen bizim bir miktar iç dünyalarımızın yansıtırlar.Böylelikle Dr.Fried'ın Deborah'a söylediği ''Sana Gül Bahçesi Vadetmedim.'' cümlesi yerinde olmuştur.Ki biz buna benzer serzenişleri günlük yaşamımızda çok fazla söyleyip ve yahut duymuşuzdur.Aslında Doğa'da yanlızlığımız bize hatırlatılmakta, savaşın kendimizin savaşı olduğunu bilmemiz gerektiğini ve bu mücadelenin ancak bizim gayretimiz ve oluşturacağımız taktikler ile zafere ulaşabiliceğimizi bize hatırlatır.
Hikayeye giriş beni derinden etkiledi, bir şizofrenin iç dünyası nasılmış onu bana anlatan bir eser olarak yerini almıştır.Dört yıldız vermeyi düşünüyordum, hikayenin sonuna doğru sanki bazı konular uzatılmış daha kısa olabilirdi.Fakat daha sonra düşündüğümde kesinlikle konusu ile,sürükleyiciliği ile,derinlemesine beni akışa çekmesi ile, beş yıldız vermemek haksızlık olurdu.
Hikayeye giriş beni derinden etkiledi, bir şizofrenin iç dünyası nasılmış onu bana anlatan bir eser olarak yerini almıştır.Dört yıldız vermeyi düşünüyordum, hikayenin sonuna doğru sanki bazı konular uzatılmış daha kısa olabilirdi.Fakat daha sonra düşündüğümde kesinlikle konusu ile,sürükleyiciliği ile,derinlemesine beni akışa çekmesi ile, beş yıldız vermemek haksızlık olurdu.
May 1, 2025
🌹🥀 A powerful story of a battle for mental health and wellness. Still a fight, if not more so, in this day and age of frequent disintegration. And the stigma remains for those who reach out for wholeness of mind and soul, as if depression and mental illness are taboo to discuss or admit to - why is this so, if we think we are so enlightened in the 21st century? This book and The Three Faces of Eve, Dibs, Sybil (and many more like them) are essential reading in order to face up to the mental health challenges and realities of the 2020s ❤️🩹 🕊️
October 30, 2017
As someone who feels like they deal with mental illness on a daily basis, it was hard for me to enter the mind of someone with schizophrenia. I just couldn’t deal with the concept. It was well written but just not for me at this time.
January 3, 2009
When we meet Deborah, she’s on her way to a mental hospital. She’s two years short of finishing high school, and she’s recently been hospitalized for slitting her wrists. Her mother, at least, is aware that there’s something not quite right about Deborah, but she can’t really put her finger on what it is. A famous therapist agrees to work with Deborah to help her sort out her problems. Only pages into this novel, readers glimpse Deborah’s uniquely frightening psychological landscape – the land of Yr. It used to be more of a fantasy retreat for her, and she’d spend hours, days, with the gods of Yr (Anterrabae, Lactamaeon) soaring as a bird or running across the plains. But things started to change. There were the voices from the Pit, telling her how broken and poisonous she was, and there was the Censor, who promised to keep her safe, keep her sane, keep the secrets of Yr from the outside world, but who also began to control everything Deborah did, everything she was. It is Deborah’s job, with the help of her therapist, Dr. Fried (Furii, as she becomes known in the language of Yr), to turn to the real world, to attempt to live in it, and eventually, to leave Yr behind. Deborah’s just starting to feel that she might have the strength to do that.
After reading this, it struck me how very fragile people are. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, is based on real events in Joanne Greenberg’s life (how could anything so rich, so strange, so fully formed, so psychological painful not be?) – her own mental illness, and her own struggle to return to the world. Things happen to us when we’re vulnerable and some people work through them, while others are broken in terrible ways – they fracture, they hide, they throw up shields and, for awhile, these coping mechanisms work for them. What strange creatures we are to do such things. In Deborah’s case, a number of things come into play, but there’s this seed incident when she’s a child – a tumor that’s removed, never adequately explained, and the lies that surround the surgery and recovery that really start her down the path into madness. I kept wondering, “How did it get so out of control? How did it get to this point?” I’m not sure I’d have the patience to be anyone’s guide out of madness.
It takes years for Deborah to start making the kind of progress that her parents can see – getting to the point where she can be on the “B” floor with privileges to go out on the grounds, into town, stay out after dark. Eventually, she’s allowed to make contact with the community – join two choirs, a sewing group, get her own place to live, study for the GRE. And she continues to have setbacks – periods when she can’t handle it. Even at the end, Deborah returns to the mental hospital to take a breather, and realizes what her presence feels like to the other women on the ward – like the work is impossible. She wishes she had the way, the words to tell them what it’s really like. Deborah’s character is very insightful – into her own problems, into the issues of the other women she comes to know – and she’s also incredibly intelligent – it just seems to come out wrong, awkwardly. Being “of the world” myself, it was sometimes hard to figure out what she was getting at when she tried to speak, but her inner thoughts were incredibly lucid.
There was a time where I was reading all kinds of things like this – The Bell Jar, Girl Interrupted – all kinds of things on depression and madness. I wonder if we all go through stages like this, where we’re dying to know what breaks someone, what insanity is like, how to crawl out of it if it turns out that we’re actually one of the mad. Deborah’s story was a fascinating trip down into insanity and back up again.
Note: I believe this may have been published under a pseudonym – Hannah Green – initially. Joanne Greenberg makes reference to a “Hannah Green” in her afterword.
After reading this, it struck me how very fragile people are. I Never Promised You a Rose Garden, is based on real events in Joanne Greenberg’s life (how could anything so rich, so strange, so fully formed, so psychological painful not be?) – her own mental illness, and her own struggle to return to the world. Things happen to us when we’re vulnerable and some people work through them, while others are broken in terrible ways – they fracture, they hide, they throw up shields and, for awhile, these coping mechanisms work for them. What strange creatures we are to do such things. In Deborah’s case, a number of things come into play, but there’s this seed incident when she’s a child – a tumor that’s removed, never adequately explained, and the lies that surround the surgery and recovery that really start her down the path into madness. I kept wondering, “How did it get so out of control? How did it get to this point?” I’m not sure I’d have the patience to be anyone’s guide out of madness.
It takes years for Deborah to start making the kind of progress that her parents can see – getting to the point where she can be on the “B” floor with privileges to go out on the grounds, into town, stay out after dark. Eventually, she’s allowed to make contact with the community – join two choirs, a sewing group, get her own place to live, study for the GRE. And she continues to have setbacks – periods when she can’t handle it. Even at the end, Deborah returns to the mental hospital to take a breather, and realizes what her presence feels like to the other women on the ward – like the work is impossible. She wishes she had the way, the words to tell them what it’s really like. Deborah’s character is very insightful – into her own problems, into the issues of the other women she comes to know – and she’s also incredibly intelligent – it just seems to come out wrong, awkwardly. Being “of the world” myself, it was sometimes hard to figure out what she was getting at when she tried to speak, but her inner thoughts were incredibly lucid.
There was a time where I was reading all kinds of things like this – The Bell Jar, Girl Interrupted – all kinds of things on depression and madness. I wonder if we all go through stages like this, where we’re dying to know what breaks someone, what insanity is like, how to crawl out of it if it turns out that we’re actually one of the mad. Deborah’s story was a fascinating trip down into insanity and back up again.
Note: I believe this may have been published under a pseudonym – Hannah Green – initially. Joanne Greenberg makes reference to a “Hannah Green” in her afterword.
November 22, 2014
What a beautifully written semi-autobiographical story of the struggle of a young girl attempting to refocus her energies on the real world, making the transition from being mentally ill and being mentally well, as well as the stigma placed on those who have psychiatric diagnoses. As someone with experience both as a mental health professional and a patient, I can see both perspectives. It is never easy to go from the safety of the hospital environment back into the world, where one must live a productive life and move on from that point; it seems easy, at times, to give up, but I saw the triumph of the writer as she became successful in life.
May 19, 2020
Anterrabae, saçlarında ve parmak uçlarında alevler bulunun Yr tanrılarından biri, göz yaşları alevden kopan parçalara benzer ve sonsuza dek karanlığa doğru düşer. Düştükçe alevler bulunan saçlarında bukleler oluşur. Alaycı bir sese sahip Lactamaeon ise Yr Krallığının diğer tanrısıdır. Kapkaranlıktır ve kara bir ata biner. Atı ile birlikte bütün haldedir. Ağladığında gözlerinden kan süzülür. Sansür, Yr'yi dünyaya açıklamaktan korumayı sağlar. Koro ise yıllar boyunca gerçeklikten biriktirilen sesler ve görüntüler bütünüdür. Eleştirel yönü vardır ve kişiyi alay konusu yapar. Yr Krallığı ise dili Yrece olan ve Deborah tarafından dünyanın kaosundan korunmak için yaratılan alternatif bir gerçekliktir.
Deborah, doğduğu dünyanın -dünyamızın- kurallarına uyum sağlamayı öğrenemeyen üstün zekalı bir kız çocuğu. Resim sanatına yatkın ve ilgi alanlarından biri de bu. Üretrasında meydana gelen tümörün alınması sonrası vücudunda oluşan ağır ağrılar onun için belki de yalanların gün yüzüne çıkma şeklinin en acımasızı. Doktorların ona karşı gösterdiği bu iyimserliği o, ona karşı atılmış birkaç yalandan ibaret görüyor ve aslında hiçbir zaman bu yalanları söyleyen doktorları affedemiyor. Henüz küçük bir yaşta ona özel bir bölgenin defalarca kontrol edilip işlem uygulanması ve sonrasında derin acılara sebep olmasıyla Deborah, dış dünyadan uzaklaşmak için sığınacağı başka bir dünya yaratıyor. Kendi dili, kuralları, yöneticileri olan bu dünya, öncelerde korkularıyla baş edemediğinde kaçabileceği adeta güzellikler üzerine kurulu bir yerken bir süre sonra gerçek olanın hangisi olduğunu karıştıracak düzeye gelmesiyle dış dünyadan daha fazla vakit tükettiği bir krallık haline geliyor. Kendi yarattığı karakterlerin hükmü altına girerek aslında ait olduğu yeri karıştırmaya başlayarak bir süre sonra saldırganlaşmaya başlıyor. 16 yaşında intihara teşebbüs eden Deborah'ın şizofreni teşhisi sonrası bir akıl hastanesine yatırılıp psikoterapi görmesi kararlaştırılıyor. Dr. Fried ile tanışan Deborah, uygulanan terapiler sonrası Yr Krallığını doktoruna açıklamaya başlıyor.
Joanne Greenberg, Sana Gül Bahçesi Vadetmedim'de yarı otobiyografik bir anlatımla karşımıza çıkıyor. Gençken başından geçen akıl hastanesi tecrübelerinin yansıtıldığı bu roman bizi delilik kavramı ile normallik arasındaki bağıntıyı sorgulamamıza itiyor.
Bu kitabı edinip okuduğum için çok mutluyum. Farklı bir deneyim arayanlar için tavsiyemdir. Kitap için şunu söylemek istiyorum, dili garip ve zor. Bu sebeple okumak isteyenler mümkünse kafanızın boş ve zamanınızın bol olduğu bir vakitte başlayın. Zor bir dönemden geçiyorsanız da uzak durmanız çok daha iyi olur.
İyi okumalar.
Deborah, doğduğu dünyanın -dünyamızın- kurallarına uyum sağlamayı öğrenemeyen üstün zekalı bir kız çocuğu. Resim sanatına yatkın ve ilgi alanlarından biri de bu. Üretrasında meydana gelen tümörün alınması sonrası vücudunda oluşan ağır ağrılar onun için belki de yalanların gün yüzüne çıkma şeklinin en acımasızı. Doktorların ona karşı gösterdiği bu iyimserliği o, ona karşı atılmış birkaç yalandan ibaret görüyor ve aslında hiçbir zaman bu yalanları söyleyen doktorları affedemiyor. Henüz küçük bir yaşta ona özel bir bölgenin defalarca kontrol edilip işlem uygulanması ve sonrasında derin acılara sebep olmasıyla Deborah, dış dünyadan uzaklaşmak için sığınacağı başka bir dünya yaratıyor. Kendi dili, kuralları, yöneticileri olan bu dünya, öncelerde korkularıyla baş edemediğinde kaçabileceği adeta güzellikler üzerine kurulu bir yerken bir süre sonra gerçek olanın hangisi olduğunu karıştıracak düzeye gelmesiyle dış dünyadan daha fazla vakit tükettiği bir krallık haline geliyor. Kendi yarattığı karakterlerin hükmü altına girerek aslında ait olduğu yeri karıştırmaya başlayarak bir süre sonra saldırganlaşmaya başlıyor. 16 yaşında intihara teşebbüs eden Deborah'ın şizofreni teşhisi sonrası bir akıl hastanesine yatırılıp psikoterapi görmesi kararlaştırılıyor. Dr. Fried ile tanışan Deborah, uygulanan terapiler sonrası Yr Krallığını doktoruna açıklamaya başlıyor.
Joanne Greenberg, Sana Gül Bahçesi Vadetmedim'de yarı otobiyografik bir anlatımla karşımıza çıkıyor. Gençken başından geçen akıl hastanesi tecrübelerinin yansıtıldığı bu roman bizi delilik kavramı ile normallik arasındaki bağıntıyı sorgulamamıza itiyor.
Bu kitabı edinip okuduğum için çok mutluyum. Farklı bir deneyim arayanlar için tavsiyemdir. Kitap için şunu söylemek istiyorum, dili garip ve zor. Bu sebeple okumak isteyenler mümkünse kafanızın boş ve zamanınızın bol olduğu bir vakitte başlayın. Zor bir dönemden geçiyorsanız da uzak durmanız çok daha iyi olur.
İyi okumalar.
August 21, 2021
I picked up this book in a nifty secondhand bookshop as I was leaving Malvern, and as it is centred around a woman with a mental illness, and in this case, schizophrenia, I just couldn't resist buying it. I've always had an interest in mental illness, which over the years, has lead to a fascination, and I love gathering different experiences and perspectives on it.
The story is about Deborah, a young girl who is finishing high school in a couple of years, but after slitting her wrists, she is taken to a mental institution. These institutions are not like we know them to be today, in fact, they are quite different.
Treatments then such as putting an individual in seclusion, or wrapping them in cold ice sheets were considered excellent forms of treatment for patients suffering with a mental illness. Green describes these situations with care, but it is outdated. Obviously today, cold sheet wrapping is not an effective treatment, and many other medicines and various treatments are available now.
I also noticed that Deborah's parents fail to have a role in this story, and when they do, I get the impression that the author has stuck to stereotypes, and the parents are somehow to blame for their daughters health decline. I found this irritating, as from my perspective, you can have the most wonderful, clean-cut parents in the world, but unfortunately, this doesn't mean you won't develop schizophrenia at some point in your life.
I'm no stranger to mental health battles, and I know that a loving, caring family would suffer immensely watching their child live with schizophrenia, but Green portrays the parents as just people standing on the sideline, strangers almost, with no feelings about it all.
I found this book interesting, and I'm happy to have read it, but the characters, apart from Deborah herself, of course, let the book down, and had an impact on my overall enjoyment.
The story is about Deborah, a young girl who is finishing high school in a couple of years, but after slitting her wrists, she is taken to a mental institution. These institutions are not like we know them to be today, in fact, they are quite different.
Treatments then such as putting an individual in seclusion, or wrapping them in cold ice sheets were considered excellent forms of treatment for patients suffering with a mental illness. Green describes these situations with care, but it is outdated. Obviously today, cold sheet wrapping is not an effective treatment, and many other medicines and various treatments are available now.
I also noticed that Deborah's parents fail to have a role in this story, and when they do, I get the impression that the author has stuck to stereotypes, and the parents are somehow to blame for their daughters health decline. I found this irritating, as from my perspective, you can have the most wonderful, clean-cut parents in the world, but unfortunately, this doesn't mean you won't develop schizophrenia at some point in your life.
I'm no stranger to mental health battles, and I know that a loving, caring family would suffer immensely watching their child live with schizophrenia, but Green portrays the parents as just people standing on the sideline, strangers almost, with no feelings about it all.
I found this book interesting, and I'm happy to have read it, but the characters, apart from Deborah herself, of course, let the book down, and had an impact on my overall enjoyment.
Read
March 13, 2021Kendi dünyasında yaşayan bir genç kız: deborah. sonsuz hayal gücüyle yarattığı bu dünya onu gerçek dünyadan o kadar koparmış ki artık ailesi çözümü onu kliniğe yatırmakta buluyor.
her zaman şizofreni gibi hastalıkları belli bir acıma ile karşılamaya eğilimliyiz. bu kitapta acımanın çok daha ötesine gidecek adeta karakterle özdeşleşecek ve onunla beraber bu kuyudan çıkmaya çalışacağız.
greenberg aslında kendi hikayesini anlatıyor. okuyucuya da bunu hissettirme konusunda başarılı. anthony page’nin yönettiği bir filmi çekilmiş 1977′de. şarkısı bile var.
Deborah’ın dünyası oldukça fantastik. dünyalar arasında adeta “portallanıyor” ve kendini öteki dünyanın yönetmesine izin veriyor. psikolojik mülazahasını yapmak istemem, zira bana göre bu tip hastalıkların kökeninde kişinin kendi davranışlarının sorumluluğundan kurtulma çabası ve güvenlik kaygıları vardır. deborah için de aynı şeyleri söyleyebilirim, çocukluğunda yaşadığı tramvaların sonucudur bu. lakin, yarattığı dünya delilik saçması olamayacak kadar güzel.
deborah’ın kişiliğini teşkil eden şeyin belki de bu hastalık olduğunu, yani daha doğrusu sırtını hastalığa yasladığını şuradan çıkarıyorum:
“pekala -siz soru sorun, ben yanıt vereyim- bütün ‘semptomlarımı’ yok edip beni eve gönderin… ne kalacak bana peki o zaman?” (sf. 27)
aslında deborah’ın olduğu kadar ailesinin de bir dramın içine sürüklendiğini söyleyebiliriz. özellikle kız kardeşinin durumu gerçekten acıklı.
şu açık, okuyucu için deborah’ın buhranları gerçekten sinir bozucu. yani yarattığı dünyada onun o hapisliğini önce “çok saçma, bırak bunları numara yapmayı” demek geliyor insanın içinden. onun o “ortaçağ kapanları”, “duvarları”… hepsi uydurma gibi görünüyor. sonunda giderek deborah’ın bunları ne kadar sağlam bir inançla adeta gerçekmiş gibi yaşadığını görünce bu düşünceler yerini şaşkınlığa, acımaya hatta giderek umutsuzluğa bırakıyor.
deborah’ın kişiliğinde bir çatışmayı okuyoruz adeta. gerçeklik ile yaratım arasındaki çatışmayı. bizim için “yaratılmış gerçeklik” yani aslında gerçekliğin yeniden ve yeniden yaratılması ilen deborah’ta yaratım ile gerçeklik arasında bir fark yok. yani biz nasıl gerçekliği kendi “bilinç süzgecimizden” görüyorsak o da “yaratımı” kendi bilinç süzgecinden görüyor. biz gerçekliğe “yabancılık” hissederken yaratımı kendi kontrol alanımızda görüyoruz. oysa onun için kendi kontrol alanı diye bir şey yok. kusursuz bir şekilde kuşatılmış, savunmasız…
okuyucuyu da kabuslarına, kafa karışıklığına, adeta deliliğe sürüklediği için başarılı bir yapıt.
Şu adreste yayınlandı:
https://agacingovdesi.com/2021/03/13/...
her zaman şizofreni gibi hastalıkları belli bir acıma ile karşılamaya eğilimliyiz. bu kitapta acımanın çok daha ötesine gidecek adeta karakterle özdeşleşecek ve onunla beraber bu kuyudan çıkmaya çalışacağız.
greenberg aslında kendi hikayesini anlatıyor. okuyucuya da bunu hissettirme konusunda başarılı. anthony page’nin yönettiği bir filmi çekilmiş 1977′de. şarkısı bile var.
Deborah’ın dünyası oldukça fantastik. dünyalar arasında adeta “portallanıyor” ve kendini öteki dünyanın yönetmesine izin veriyor. psikolojik mülazahasını yapmak istemem, zira bana göre bu tip hastalıkların kökeninde kişinin kendi davranışlarının sorumluluğundan kurtulma çabası ve güvenlik kaygıları vardır. deborah için de aynı şeyleri söyleyebilirim, çocukluğunda yaşadığı tramvaların sonucudur bu. lakin, yarattığı dünya delilik saçması olamayacak kadar güzel.
deborah’ın kişiliğini teşkil eden şeyin belki de bu hastalık olduğunu, yani daha doğrusu sırtını hastalığa yasladığını şuradan çıkarıyorum:
“pekala -siz soru sorun, ben yanıt vereyim- bütün ‘semptomlarımı’ yok edip beni eve gönderin… ne kalacak bana peki o zaman?” (sf. 27)
aslında deborah’ın olduğu kadar ailesinin de bir dramın içine sürüklendiğini söyleyebiliriz. özellikle kız kardeşinin durumu gerçekten acıklı.
şu açık, okuyucu için deborah’ın buhranları gerçekten sinir bozucu. yani yarattığı dünyada onun o hapisliğini önce “çok saçma, bırak bunları numara yapmayı” demek geliyor insanın içinden. onun o “ortaçağ kapanları”, “duvarları”… hepsi uydurma gibi görünüyor. sonunda giderek deborah’ın bunları ne kadar sağlam bir inançla adeta gerçekmiş gibi yaşadığını görünce bu düşünceler yerini şaşkınlığa, acımaya hatta giderek umutsuzluğa bırakıyor.
deborah’ın kişiliğinde bir çatışmayı okuyoruz adeta. gerçeklik ile yaratım arasındaki çatışmayı. bizim için “yaratılmış gerçeklik” yani aslında gerçekliğin yeniden ve yeniden yaratılması ilen deborah’ta yaratım ile gerçeklik arasında bir fark yok. yani biz nasıl gerçekliği kendi “bilinç süzgecimizden” görüyorsak o da “yaratımı” kendi bilinç süzgecinden görüyor. biz gerçekliğe “yabancılık” hissederken yaratımı kendi kontrol alanımızda görüyoruz. oysa onun için kendi kontrol alanı diye bir şey yok. kusursuz bir şekilde kuşatılmış, savunmasız…
okuyucuyu da kabuslarına, kafa karışıklığına, adeta deliliğe sürüklediği için başarılı bir yapıt.
Şu adreste yayınlandı:
https://agacingovdesi.com/2021/03/13/...
June 3, 2009
This is a brilliant book and perhaps deserves more than three stars, but there are certainly problems, most having to do with our better understanding of schizophrenia in more recent times. As a historical document, the book powerfully represents a world in which large industrial-size mental hospitals were considered advanced, state-of-the-art facilities. Seclusion rooms and cold packs (trapping a patient in ice-cold sheets) were also considered constructive treatments, as was intensive psychoanalysis for psychosis. Greenberg's descriptions are poignant in this respect, especially because she was herself a patient in real life. She seems to have found the cold packs, seclusion, confinement in a prison-like ward to be stabilizing and helpful, which reminds one of how few options were available for sick people at the time. The other weakness is the depiction of other characters besides the mental patient Deborah Blau. There is much subtlety and complexity in these portrayals, but there is also a frustrating resort to stereotypes and superficiality. The parents, Esther and Jacob, are represented sympathetically but flatly and are also blamed (in part) for the psychosis, an outdated attitude. The younger sister Suzy is even more sketchily represented. The family, I'm sure, would have suffered much more intensely than Greenberg represents, especially since they are given only vague reports on their daughter's well-being. Also, Dr. Fried, although represented as a heroic figure, is never fully fleshed out, and neither are the other mental health workers. I admired the book tremendously, but it was also quite frustrating.
May 4, 2010
This is such a stupid book. I read it in high school and it was one of those books that was so bad I couldn't pry myself from it.
It's partly because I'd seen so much mental illness in my own family that gave me such a significant desire to see something somehow more substantial but this effort just feels entirely shallow to me. The therapist was just bad. I mean Bad. BAD. Horrible. What an unhelpful, cold BITCH. I mean, she is portrayed rather heroically but it's rare that I want to reach through a book and punch someone in the nose. Screw you, fictional characters that are bad at their job!
Um..as for the MAIN character she never really connects with the audience in any meaningful way, it's just a mess of her emotions and fears and it doesn't really come into anything I can sink my teeth into. I guess I don't like this book so much because I feel that it's filled with self pity and doesn't include much self reflection. Just reaction and melodrama. Boo hiss, bad fiction altogether but sensational bad fiction that goth teenagers can pore over about how meaningful and how much they can relate yada yada, wake me up when Anne Heche remakes this movie and stars in it. Until then...one star!
It's partly because I'd seen so much mental illness in my own family that gave me such a significant desire to see something somehow more substantial but this effort just feels entirely shallow to me. The therapist was just bad. I mean Bad. BAD. Horrible. What an unhelpful, cold BITCH. I mean, she is portrayed rather heroically but it's rare that I want to reach through a book and punch someone in the nose. Screw you, fictional characters that are bad at their job!
Um..as for the MAIN character she never really connects with the audience in any meaningful way, it's just a mess of her emotions and fears and it doesn't really come into anything I can sink my teeth into. I guess I don't like this book so much because I feel that it's filled with self pity and doesn't include much self reflection. Just reaction and melodrama. Boo hiss, bad fiction altogether but sensational bad fiction that goth teenagers can pore over about how meaningful and how much they can relate yada yada, wake me up when Anne Heche remakes this movie and stars in it. Until then...one star!
March 8, 2025
At first I was happy I found it as an audiobook instead if having to buy the physical copy. However now I really want to own a copy sometime. I felt so many emotions for this book I'm not going to write in a review and it's a book I want to reread more then once.
March 23, 2018
Okuduğum en başarılı psikoloji temelli kitaptı diyebilirim. Konu yeterince dikkat çekici ve anlatımıyla, vurgularıyla sizi hikayeye daha çok bağlıyor. Deborah ve arkadaşlarının gayet normal gelecek tavırlarına karşılık zihinlerinde olan olgular insanı hayrete düşürmeye yetiyor. Birçok mesajı içinde barındırıyor kitap. Hastalık ve hastanede geçen dönem bana biraz uzun gibi geliyordu okurken fakat sonuna yaklaştıkça tam ayarında olduğunu anladım. Umut veren bir kitap, aynı zamanda ürküten bir tarafı da var.
August 20, 2022
I wouldn’t say it’s good.
August 31, 2012
A moving, thought-provoking and inspiring account of a young girl's struggle with schizophrenia.
Following a suicide attempt, Debra, aged just 16, is committed to a mental hospital. Over the next three years she works with her psychiatrist to understand her illness and explores the possibility of mental health. Her precarious progress is punctuated by periods where she falls back into the terror of her illness.
I first read this book as a healthy twenty year old with high hopes for my future, and found it compelling, but strange. Ten years later I found a copy in a second hand bookshop, and re-read it, this time from the viewpoint of a former psychiatric patient with four hospital stays in my not-too-distant past and an uncertainty over my future. Now, I read this book for comfort, hope and above all to remind myself that while psychiatry and the treatment of mental illness may have moved on, the road to recovery from mental illness still follows the same pattern of two steps forward, one step back. Like Debra, my defence mechanism is to retreat into the familiar symptoms of my depression. Reading this book has helped me to recognise this pattern, and gave me renewed hope that there is a world outside my illness - even if it is not a rose garden!
Following a suicide attempt, Debra, aged just 16, is committed to a mental hospital. Over the next three years she works with her psychiatrist to understand her illness and explores the possibility of mental health. Her precarious progress is punctuated by periods where she falls back into the terror of her illness.
I first read this book as a healthy twenty year old with high hopes for my future, and found it compelling, but strange. Ten years later I found a copy in a second hand bookshop, and re-read it, this time from the viewpoint of a former psychiatric patient with four hospital stays in my not-too-distant past and an uncertainty over my future. Now, I read this book for comfort, hope and above all to remind myself that while psychiatry and the treatment of mental illness may have moved on, the road to recovery from mental illness still follows the same pattern of two steps forward, one step back. Like Debra, my defence mechanism is to retreat into the familiar symptoms of my depression. Reading this book has helped me to recognise this pattern, and gave me renewed hope that there is a world outside my illness - even if it is not a rose garden!
March 28, 2022
I read this nearly fifty years ago - but it now strikes me that the girl was depressed and made the grave mistake of telling her doctors about the existence of her elaborate paracosm, of which they then tried to cruelly cure her. Reminiscent of Mrs. Coulter and cutting away the daemons in Pullman.
December 8, 2012
First off, I'll ask you now, judging by the title what did YOU expect?
I wasn't expecting any action. No, not in the slightest. but that title...I don't know why but first time I read it ('twas during my mental illness literature phase)I was like, Wow, I'm definitely giving that a go.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden...it's not a special title but there's a little something magnetic about it.
Here's the possible tale that ran through my mind. The protagonist (let's call her Anna), who is schizophrenic, is forced to cooperate with a therapist who's become sort of over the years a jaded woman, tired of this world as much as she is except that she doesn't have what Anna calls her fantasy escape (not an accurate portrayal of schizophrenia, but this novel ain't no expert either). What would happen is that as Anna tries to cement her reality, which isn't exactly perfect, her fantasy becomes almost as dark, closing in on reality and robbing her of her escape. The Rose Garden is what she's looking for, a land of peace, real or not. The climax EMOTIONALLY is when the therapist reaches her peak of frustration (problems at home and with herself) and bursts out, "Look, I never promised you a rose garden--" all she's ever been trying to do is getting Anna "fixed", regardless of Anna's happiness or her fear of getting "fixed". But then this piece of reality only breaks Anna more, and she falls deeper into her dark fantasy, slowly becoming completely incapable of dissecting the real from unreal. Three possible endings: Happy ending: therapist regains her trust in the world and helps Anna, this time with all her heart, to get better and see all the possible good things in the world she would want to be a part of; Bittersweet ending: Therapist quits her job, Anna doesn't get well but now she's finally gone through with her "escape",succeeds, now part of a world she's truly happy in; Plain Sad ending: Anna gets better, because she's not in control of how her mind works, returned into a world she despises, unable to enter her fantasy try as she might because that's just not up to her. (Yes, yes, its basically a mockery of the illness but gimme a break, imagination running high here)
Okaaaay I'm a writer and I kind of just had to get that out of the way.
I just sort of wanted something like that with this novel.
Instead, what the hell?
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is...boring. No, its not even plain boring. Its nothing. Its emotionless, its blank, it leaves absolutely no impression on you at all, its flat, its neither sad nor happy nor tragic or fulfilling. Its...meh. I think that's the worst thing you can say about a novel.
There is no...story. There's the idea, little semblance of a plot, but no story. Stuff happens. People cry. Characters talk. More stuff happens. That's it. Two days after finishing it and I don't even remember the protag's name (hence...Anna).
Its especially saddening when you think about other great MI novels, The Bell Jar and Girl, Interrupted (which was just...amazing. Movie was horrible though). What do these books have that INPYaRD lacks? For once, actually living, breathing characters. You actually know them. You LOVE them and feel sorry for them and hate them and love 'em. From the side characters to the main. Rose Garden doesn't even let you know who its main are. Sure, you get their names. Sure, you get their backstories. Fine, I get how they're supposed to look like, how wealthy they are, so what? That's not knowing them.
I pictured these characters moving to the tune of the novel as actors dutifully playing their parts. Only thing is, novels are different from films in that the don't have the advantage of simply looking sideways or making a face to convey their emotions, or squinting their eyes and crazy mannerisms to establish what they are. You can do that in print but it's not enough. The characters of Rose Garden move, they talk, they do things but despite all tries to bring you closer to them you can't help feeling that there's a glass wall between you and them, and what you're seeing is really a poor-quality reflection of who they really are.
But if we're getting technical...it's basically the story of a a sixteen year old girl put into a mental institution by her parents because of a failed suicidal attempt. She has fantasy world called Yrr. A great chunk of the novel is dedicated to the impossibly dull drama of protag's family at home, struggling to keep things normal without her. Its so **** dull I can't help but GAAAAAAAH. She makes friends but like what I said earlier, they're just names. Names and names and names and more names. Names dropped in the middle of the book, names dropped in at the end.
The therapist is one of the worst, though. She just randomly spits out German whenever and whatever. Backstory: World War 2 medical drama. One moment she's there, possibly a main, an important character, disappears a good deal, returns, disappears, replaced by some other doctor I don't even remember, returns, disappears. Gosh.
She's also the one who title-drops the, well, title.
Within the first 100 pages. For something completely out of the blue. Seriously, she just says as protag takes a break from what she was saying, "--Look, I never promised you a rose garden--" But for NO REASON! I kid you not. Since that sentence is, as we all know, the TITLE, I expected it to have the SLIGHTEST meaning to the overall story. But it's really nothing. Bleh. It would've been okay, but after she says it there is absolutely no sort of callback to it. She just...spurts it out and their back to square one (FOR THE REST OF THE BOOK).
It's just very sad, cause, written well, this could've joined the ranks of The Bell jar and Girl, Interrupted. But it's not. Writing isn't mindblowingly awful but the style is not just confusing or irritating, its useless. We didn't need the family drama nor the German therapist drama, because by the end they might as well no have been there. The constant switcheroo between POVs EVERY PARAGRAPH just made it all felt so very cold.
I'm nit-picking I know I am, but this book has just been such an epic fail. I had hopes and I kid you not I was genuinely excited (excitement generated 70% by the title yeah, but whatever).
But here's the overall thing you coulda gathered from this review:
Whatever you expected from this novel, it ain't it.
I wasn't expecting any action. No, not in the slightest. but that title...I don't know why but first time I read it ('twas during my mental illness literature phase)I was like, Wow, I'm definitely giving that a go.
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden...it's not a special title but there's a little something magnetic about it.
Here's the possible tale that ran through my mind. The protagonist (let's call her Anna), who is schizophrenic, is forced to cooperate with a therapist who's become sort of over the years a jaded woman, tired of this world as much as she is except that she doesn't have what Anna calls her fantasy escape (not an accurate portrayal of schizophrenia, but this novel ain't no expert either). What would happen is that as Anna tries to cement her reality, which isn't exactly perfect, her fantasy becomes almost as dark, closing in on reality and robbing her of her escape. The Rose Garden is what she's looking for, a land of peace, real or not. The climax EMOTIONALLY is when the therapist reaches her peak of frustration (problems at home and with herself) and bursts out, "Look, I never promised you a rose garden--" all she's ever been trying to do is getting Anna "fixed", regardless of Anna's happiness or her fear of getting "fixed". But then this piece of reality only breaks Anna more, and she falls deeper into her dark fantasy, slowly becoming completely incapable of dissecting the real from unreal. Three possible endings: Happy ending: therapist regains her trust in the world and helps Anna, this time with all her heart, to get better and see all the possible good things in the world she would want to be a part of; Bittersweet ending: Therapist quits her job, Anna doesn't get well but now she's finally gone through with her "escape",succeeds, now part of a world she's truly happy in; Plain Sad ending: Anna gets better, because she's not in control of how her mind works, returned into a world she despises, unable to enter her fantasy try as she might because that's just not up to her. (Yes, yes, its basically a mockery of the illness but gimme a break, imagination running high here)
Okaaaay I'm a writer and I kind of just had to get that out of the way.
I just sort of wanted something like that with this novel.
Instead, what the hell?
I Never Promised You a Rose Garden is...boring. No, its not even plain boring. Its nothing. Its emotionless, its blank, it leaves absolutely no impression on you at all, its flat, its neither sad nor happy nor tragic or fulfilling. Its...meh. I think that's the worst thing you can say about a novel.
There is no...story. There's the idea, little semblance of a plot, but no story. Stuff happens. People cry. Characters talk. More stuff happens. That's it. Two days after finishing it and I don't even remember the protag's name (hence...Anna).
Its especially saddening when you think about other great MI novels, The Bell Jar and Girl, Interrupted (which was just...amazing. Movie was horrible though). What do these books have that INPYaRD lacks? For once, actually living, breathing characters. You actually know them. You LOVE them and feel sorry for them and hate them and love 'em. From the side characters to the main. Rose Garden doesn't even let you know who its main are. Sure, you get their names. Sure, you get their backstories. Fine, I get how they're supposed to look like, how wealthy they are, so what? That's not knowing them.
I pictured these characters moving to the tune of the novel as actors dutifully playing their parts. Only thing is, novels are different from films in that the don't have the advantage of simply looking sideways or making a face to convey their emotions, or squinting their eyes and crazy mannerisms to establish what they are. You can do that in print but it's not enough. The characters of Rose Garden move, they talk, they do things but despite all tries to bring you closer to them you can't help feeling that there's a glass wall between you and them, and what you're seeing is really a poor-quality reflection of who they really are.
But if we're getting technical...it's basically the story of a a sixteen year old girl put into a mental institution by her parents because of a failed suicidal attempt. She has fantasy world called Yrr. A great chunk of the novel is dedicated to the impossibly dull drama of protag's family at home, struggling to keep things normal without her. Its so **** dull I can't help but GAAAAAAAH. She makes friends but like what I said earlier, they're just names. Names and names and names and more names. Names dropped in the middle of the book, names dropped in at the end.
The therapist is one of the worst, though. She just randomly spits out German whenever and whatever. Backstory: World War 2 medical drama. One moment she's there, possibly a main, an important character, disappears a good deal, returns, disappears, replaced by some other doctor I don't even remember, returns, disappears. Gosh.
She's also the one who title-drops the, well, title.
Within the first 100 pages. For something completely out of the blue. Seriously, she just says as protag takes a break from what she was saying, "--Look, I never promised you a rose garden--" But for NO REASON! I kid you not. Since that sentence is, as we all know, the TITLE, I expected it to have the SLIGHTEST meaning to the overall story. But it's really nothing. Bleh. It would've been okay, but after she says it there is absolutely no sort of callback to it. She just...spurts it out and their back to square one (FOR THE REST OF THE BOOK).
It's just very sad, cause, written well, this could've joined the ranks of The Bell jar and Girl, Interrupted. But it's not. Writing isn't mindblowingly awful but the style is not just confusing or irritating, its useless. We didn't need the family drama nor the German therapist drama, because by the end they might as well no have been there. The constant switcheroo between POVs EVERY PARAGRAPH just made it all felt so very cold.
I'm nit-picking I know I am, but this book has just been such an epic fail. I had hopes and I kid you not I was genuinely excited (excitement generated 70% by the title yeah, but whatever).
But here's the overall thing you coulda gathered from this review:
Whatever you expected from this novel, it ain't it.
March 3, 2011
"[I like the] fine old word asylum that suggests a haven, a refuge, a place where hospitality and restfulness prevail." -George A Zeller MD, of Peoria State Hospital
Joanne Greenberg was hospitalized for schizophrenia from 1948 to 1951. She was lucky. This was before the introduction of the pharmaceuticals that are the sum total of psychiatry today. It was after the craze for lobotomies and shock treatments (can you believe they gave the Nobel Prize to the guy who invented lobotomies?) She was lucky to be treated by a psychiatrist who was compassionate and perceptive, and firmly believed that schizophrenia is curable, despite conventional wisdom.
An asylum was a place where you could safely go mad, without harming yourself or anyone else. Greenberg's character is delighted by the discovery, after she is transferred to the "disturbed" ward, that she no longer has to keep up a semblance of sanity. The maintenance of that pseudo-sanity was only making her crazier.
If she lost control, she could count on being put into the embrace of a wet sheet pack, which provided both deep pressure and warmth. The sheets trapped your body heat, and you could struggle all you wanted, letting your rage out, without getting free. Greenberg hated the movie they made of her book. Not surprising. They didn't even get the wet-pack right.
Joanne Greenberg was hospitalized for schizophrenia from 1948 to 1951. She was lucky. This was before the introduction of the pharmaceuticals that are the sum total of psychiatry today. It was after the craze for lobotomies and shock treatments (can you believe they gave the Nobel Prize to the guy who invented lobotomies?) She was lucky to be treated by a psychiatrist who was compassionate and perceptive, and firmly believed that schizophrenia is curable, despite conventional wisdom.
An asylum was a place where you could safely go mad, without harming yourself or anyone else. Greenberg's character is delighted by the discovery, after she is transferred to the "disturbed" ward, that she no longer has to keep up a semblance of sanity. The maintenance of that pseudo-sanity was only making her crazier.
If she lost control, she could count on being put into the embrace of a wet sheet pack, which provided both deep pressure and warmth. The sheets trapped your body heat, and you could struggle all you wanted, letting your rage out, without getting free. Greenberg hated the movie they made of her book. Not surprising. They didn't even get the wet-pack right.
March 6, 2018
Bir akıl hastasının gözünden hayata bakabilmek...
Yazarının kendi yaşamından izler taşıyan bu kitabı okurken "deli" deyip geçtiklerimizin beynine, dünyasına misafir olma şansınız var!
Deborah... Umarım başarmışsındır.
Yazarının kendi yaşamından izler taşıyan bu kitabı okurken "deli" deyip geçtiklerimizin beynine, dünyasına misafir olma şansınız var!
Deborah... Umarım başarmışsındır.
October 23, 2025
nigdy nie obiecywałam ci ogrodu pełnego róż to książka gorzka i ciężka, którą warto czytać raczej niespiesznie, zatrzymując się w momentach wymagających przemyślenia i poczucia.
historie domknęły poruszające słowa, bardzo zapadły mi w pamięci, ale nie będę tutaj o nich pisać, żeby każdy kto ma na to ochotę sam do nich dotarł czytając książkę:’-)
historie domknęły poruszające słowa, bardzo zapadły mi w pamięci, ale nie będę tutaj o nich pisać, żeby każdy kto ma na to ochotę sam do nich dotarł czytając książkę:’-)
February 14, 2017
Deli nedir, neye denir?
Biz deli miyiz?
Delirmek üzere olduğumuzu hissettiğimiz anlarda adlında gerçek deliliğe ne kadar yakınız?
İşte bütün bu soruların cevabı bu kitapta.
Bir deli kızımız var; Deborah. Zihninde apayrı, fantastik bir dünya var; Yr. Bu dünya ile bağlantı kurabilen tek ve yegane kişi de yine kendisi.
Yr isimli bu dünyanın kendine ait bir dili var. Ve bu dilide yine sular seller gibi konuşabiliyor Deborah. Hastalık öyle boyutlara varmış ki, kız yeni bir dil icat etmiş, Tolkien kılıklı.
İşe bu kızın Yr ve dünya arasında ki gidiş gelişleri ve bu sırada yaşadıkları en sonunda da iyileşme süreci ve bu yıllar boyunca da bir yandan ailesinin yaşadıkları...
Çok güzel ama çok ağırdı. Emek ve zaman harcamak lazım. Kitap buna değer.
Biz deli miyiz?
Delirmek üzere olduğumuzu hissettiğimiz anlarda adlında gerçek deliliğe ne kadar yakınız?
İşte bütün bu soruların cevabı bu kitapta.
Bir deli kızımız var; Deborah. Zihninde apayrı, fantastik bir dünya var; Yr. Bu dünya ile bağlantı kurabilen tek ve yegane kişi de yine kendisi.
Yr isimli bu dünyanın kendine ait bir dili var. Ve bu dilide yine sular seller gibi konuşabiliyor Deborah. Hastalık öyle boyutlara varmış ki, kız yeni bir dil icat etmiş, Tolkien kılıklı.
İşe bu kızın Yr ve dünya arasında ki gidiş gelişleri ve bu sırada yaşadıkları en sonunda da iyileşme süreci ve bu yıllar boyunca da bir yandan ailesinin yaşadıkları...
Çok güzel ama çok ağırdı. Emek ve zaman harcamak lazım. Kitap buna değer.
April 2, 2023
Bu romanla, ilginç ve belki de ulaşılmaz bir dünyanın içine girmiş gibi hissettim kendimi. Yıllarca panik atak ve majör depresyonla mücadele etmiş biri olarak bazı duygular o kadar tanıdık ki… Deborah’ın küçük yaşta hastalıkla ve yaşamla verdiği mücadele olağanüstü. Kimi zaman normalliğin ve deliliğin sınırlarını düşünürüm. Aşırı normallikler midir insanı çileden çıkartıp delirten… Sadece akıl hastanelerinde tedavi görenler midir akıl hastaları… İnsanlık tarihine bakınca derin bir sorgulamaya dönüşüyor bu… Ve insan insanı anlamakta ne kadar aciz, ne kadar tutumlu ve önyargılara tabi. Akıl hastanesinde tedavi görüp iyileşme umudunu bir hastanın elinden almak kimin hakkıdır, kimin haddidir? Her şey insanlar içindir.
February 9, 2017
I read this book in my early twenties and don't remember much about it than its haunting descriptions of the fantasy world of the schizophrenic protagonist. It also resulted in my writing a novelette in Malayalam about a young, gifted woman in an unsatisfying marriage to a dull man, slowly going mad and into her fantasy world. (I lost the manuscript, which was just as well, because the story was totally derivative and cringe-worthy.)
Maybe if I read it again, my star rating would go up. In those days, I could appreciate only the god Yr in Deborah's mindscape.
Maybe if I read it again, my star rating would go up. In those days, I could appreciate only the god Yr in Deborah's mindscape.
December 2, 2018
I picked up this book (as well as Ayn Rand's book Anthem) when I was 14 years old and my brother was dying. I will never forget what a profound effect this book had on me. I needed to escape from reality and there was truly no better escape than to the world of a schizophrenic teenager who was struggling to get well. Rereading it as an adult, I was struck by several things. First, I had to laugh at myself because when I found out the main character (the teen/young adult with schizophrenia) went by the name of Deborah, I was shocked. I was very certain her name had been something deep and mysterious, like Tapu, Desdemona, or Ophelia. Second, I cannot believe I comprehended this book back then. I had never known anyone with schizophrenia but was so easily able to live, really live, in the world created by the author. I remember spending hours, and I literally mean hours, a day imagining Deborah's existence and existences similar to what I had read. More than being captivated by a story, this book grew an empathy inside me for anyone who had to deal with a mental illness. I know Greenberg has video interviews about her own experience. At some point I would like to watch them to see just how close her main character's experiences were to her own. When I think about this book compared to things that were written much later, when some of the stigma had at least blunted a bit, I see just how brave it was for Greenberg, even under a pen name, to write this account of her mental illness. What a gift this account has been to the world and to the many people who have had to deal with this issue.
I read that Greenberg has been off meds for 50 years and has not had any schizophrenic episodes. Having studied neuroscience since I first read this book, I am extremely interested in how, given all the difficulties with the meds for this disorder, Greenberg was able to get well and get off the drugs that most people cannot free themselves from (lest they have a terrible relapse).
This book really held up and was a real pleasure to revisit.
I read that Greenberg has been off meds for 50 years and has not had any schizophrenic episodes. Having studied neuroscience since I first read this book, I am extremely interested in how, given all the difficulties with the meds for this disorder, Greenberg was able to get well and get off the drugs that most people cannot free themselves from (lest they have a terrible relapse).
This book really held up and was a real pleasure to revisit.
Displaying 1 - 30 of 1,792 reviews