The Snake Pit [Library Binding]

Mary J. Ward (Author), Lewis Christopher Warden (Author)

Product Details

• Library Binding
• Publisher: Buccaneer Books Inc (February 1996)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0899662609
• ISBN-13: 978-0899662602
• Product Dimensions: 8.6 x 5.6 x 0.7 inches
• Shipping Weight: 12.8 ounces
• Average Customer Review: 4.5 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (4 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #755,193 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Discover books, learn about writers, read author blogs, and more.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

21 of 21 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars If This Be Shelter, Give Me Storm Away from the Hills, April 27, 2009

By 

Graceann Macleod "Books Fuel My Life" (London, UK) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: The Snake Pit (Hardcover)

This groundbreaking novel is based on Mary Jane Ward's personal experiences in the Rockland State Hospital (here renamed Juniper Hill) after suffering a nervous breakdown. The story told is heartbreaking in its blunt simplicity - the lead character, Virginia, is not sure where she is at first, or why she is there, and the reasons for her confusion become painfully clear as one turns the pages.

The point of view changes abruptly from first to third-person, and this was disconcerting for me as a reader. This is the only reason that I've given the book four stars rather than five. As I consider it further, it may be that Ward chose this disjointed narrative deliberately, in order to establish Virginia's feeling of constantly having the world tilt around her.

I suspect that even this grim narrative of institutional life is rosier than the reality, but this is terrifying enough. Dangerous patients, nurses who have grown immune to the suffering around them, and draconian "therapies" all play a part in Virginia's experience. Just the luxury of having a dry bed to sleep in, or an uninterrupted period of private time in a powder room, is enough to give her joy and the illusion that she is getting close to freedom.

As the clouds start to clear for Virginia, the narrative becomes more crisp and I realized that she was inching back to the "real world." I was rooting for her to make a complete recovery and to resume her life.

Sadly, Mary Jane Ward was hospitalized three more times after the institutionalization that inspired this novel. I understand that she still managed to write several books, including two others that reference mental illness, and I am now keenly interested in those stories.

1 of 1 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Great Book!, January 9, 2011

By 

JP - See all my reviews

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: The Snake Pit (Hardcover)

This would be the second copy of The Snake Pit that I've purchased as a gift for friends. It's a fantastic read. Great period piece if you're a fan of the 1930's/40's, but the writing and characters stand the test of time and the plot lends itself to a contemporary feel. I'm surprised that no one has modernized the 1948 movie (also a classic and worth checking out).

Read it!

3 of 4 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars Absorbing Account of Life in a Mental Institution, December 6, 2005

By 

A reader (Austin, Texas) - See all my reviews

This review is from: The Snake Pit (Library Binding)

I agree that this is an interesting, personal perspective on life in a public mental hospital in the era before before deinstitutionalization. The book is easy to read and hard to put down. It avoids the trite idealization of the all-knowing therapist and complete, explainable recovery that you see in the movie- a more realistic portrayal of mental illness and its treatment is provided instead. Still, keep in mind that even this more realistic version of "Juniper Hill" has much better conditions than most public institutions of the day. The author makes this point herself in her follow-up book, Counterclockwise.