Customer Reviews

Operators and things: The inner life of a schizophrenic

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This easily gets into my top 5 books list - maybe number 1 because it's so under-rated (or maybe un-rated because so few people have heard of it). Barbara O' Brien doesn't seem to have written another book, which is a shame - maybe she's dead, maybe she's mentally incapable, maybe she has nothing else to say.

The book chronicles her descent into madness (and atypically her rapid ascent out of it). It starts with some background to her breakdown - the oppressive office environment she worked in. This section in itself is fascinating. Here she highlights all the underhand manoeuvrings her managers and colleagues operate to advance their careers - more than a touch of Machiavelli.

The rest of the book chronicles her travels around America whilst under the control of the voices in her head. I'm guessing sufferers of Schizophrenia don't usually have such an entertaining (for the reader) journey they could form into such a clear narrative - i'd assume memories would be more disjointed (if remembered at all). I like to think she hasn't embellished the story much - at times, the sheer terror she describes mark it as both unique and authentic.

This book works both as a work of fiction (with the imaginary characters in her head coming to life on the page) and an educational introduction to mental illness. However, instead of the dry facts and neurological features you would find in a text book you get to feel empathy: a true sense of the confusion and un/ultra-reality many of us are lucky enough to never experience.

This book has been out of print for a while. Searching the internet indicates it's fans are legion (and passionate) and it commands absurd prices second hand. About time for a reprint I would say. Barbara O Brien herself is an enigma/unknown. Anyone with any opinions or info please add a review.

This book reads like a piece of exciting fiction but it is supposedly based upon the real-life experiences of a young professional woman in the uptight, male-dominated business world of the late 1950's who wakes one day to find herself the pawn of invisible entities, the "Operators," who control and influence humans, or "things," like puppets. Before long she has developed into a full-blown scizophrenic, though one who retains a certain amount of self-control. At the urging of a group of "operators" who claim to be looking out for her best interests, she takes off across the country on a journey of self-discovery, all the while hounded by various entities and psychic forces. I wasn't exaggerating when I said it reads like a piece of fiction, this book beats most of the fiction of its day, not to mention our day, in the imagination department. Not only that, it features a strong-willed female heroine who reclaims her self-determination without the aid of men, unless you count the male entites she encounters. Eventually, she finds herself on the west coast and reaches a state of personal revelation & healing, curing herself of her scizophrenia. A real-life Cuckooo's Nest, this book still reads well today and would make a great movie due to its strong central character and several evokative, chilling scenes that seem torn straight out of a David Lynch film. READ THIS BOOK!

I found this book to be incredible. To see what a schizophrenic sees is very astounding. And to follow this woman on her long journey, being led around by these beings that only she could see, was a ride in itself. That she came out of it safe, and sound, is amazing.

The thing is that those that she saw, the operators and hook operators described people that we see every day. And the descriptions of them and what they do were also relevant to how the predatory types in our world operate. It's almost as if she could see 'behind the scenes' at what is really going on in our world.

This is a great book and the fact that it is true makes it even more spectacular.

I can't say enough good things about this book. Its one of the best most entertaining and thought provoking books I've ever read. It's simply amazing reading on how the shadowy figures in her head took the helm of her life, while she does little more than go along for the ride, and not only do they manage to keep her from harm but the experience leaves her clearly in a better place than where she was, and as a stronger person, albeit down some amount of thousands of dollars.

Just to read it as a pure novel it would be brilliant, perhaps even more brilliant if it were just a novel, but to imagine that this really happened to someone, it's really fascinating.

I know a lot of people would balk at paying 20+ dollars for a thin paperback, but do yourself a favor, and pick this one up. I can almost guarantee you will not regret it.

Its a book begging to be made into a film if I ever read one.

Like the others who have written reviews here, I read this
book over half a lifetime ago, and because it so haunted me
with its insights into the many pieces of the mind, every few
years I try to find another copy.

Remember the metaphore of consciousness as an island in the ocean
of the subconscious, and ideas as the little bits of driftwood
that get washed up by the waves, for us to do with as we can?

I read this book when I was a child still devouring any and all books with a voracious appetite that can only be had before one reaches puberty and that sudden everlasting shift in focus begins to take place.

I don't know why it stuck in my mind but it did. Not all of it mind you; just the labels ever apropoe of the creatures we encounter on this journey each and every day. I especially remember the Hook operator... who is surely the lowest form of pond scum and yet undoubtedly one of the most common miscreants with which we must contend. Its good to see them coming and clearly know them for what they are.

If (when) I encounter this title again, I will surely snag it up. I need to read it again to know whats in it for sure but theres no doubt in my mind the wisdom contained in those pages is timeless.

This book had a profound impact on me when I read it at age 15. After completing it, I looked at the cover again and realized it wasn't fiction. I was shocked...Last year I got the hankering to reread it but I can't find it anywhere. I recall it being chilling and absolutely compelling.

I found this book to be incredible. To see what a schizophrenic sees is very astounding. And to follow this woman on her long journey, being led around by these beings that only she could see, was a ride in itself. That she came out of it safe, and sound, is amazing.

The thing is that those that she saw, the operators and hook operators described people that we see every day. And the descriptions of them and what they do were also relevant to how the predatory types in our world operate. It's almost as if she could see 'behind the scenes' at what is really going on in our world.

This is a great book and the fact that it is true makes it even more spectacular.

Like some of the others here I read this book in my late teens thirty odd years ago and and it is a remarkable insite into the daily battle of a schizophrenic. Now working as a psychotherapist I appreciate the battle more but will never forget the inspiration this book gave me.

I read this book at least 30 years ago, when I was a teenager. I got it from the scholastic book club. It left a deep impression in my mind, not only from the entertaining story of her madness and the experiences she had during this adventure, but why she became mad and the lesson she learned about keeping sane. She attributed her madness to the stressful work atmosphere she was experiencing, and how she was hijacked by her mad self into leaving this oppressive atmosphere, which eventually led to her healing. I would recommend that anyone reading this book pay attention to that part of it. I think her message is very, very sane.