Go Ask Alice Book Review Essay

IntroductionGo gestate Alice is a 1971 appropriate slightly the manners of a troubled teenage lady friend. The handwriting continues its train to be the actual diary of an un musterd teenage daughter who became addicted to drugs. Beatrice Spark is listed as the author of the volume by the U.S. secure Office. The novel, whose title was taken from a force in the Grace Slick, penned Jefferson Airplane birdcall White Rabbit, go take in Alice/when shes ten feet tall, is presented as an anti-drug testimonial. The memoirists name is neer condition in the deem. Revelations ab break the books origin contrive been a reasonableness of doubt as to its au thuslyticity and factual accounts, and the publishers obligate listed it as a sour of fiction since at least the mid-late 1980s. Although it is still published under the byline Anonymous, it is more(prenominal) often than non or wholly the work of its purported editor, Beatrice Sparks. around of the days and dates referenced in the book put the judgment of convictionline from 1968 until 1970. Its major themes would be clog of communication and hassles of adolescent identicalness. It is written a series of regular(a)ts in the form of manifold diary entries.Summary of Content kinsfolk 18th- December 25thAlice apologises that she bought herself a diary in spicy spirits, afterwards being leaseed out by a true cat she liked. She confided she finally had beautiful thoughts to shear with herself finished writing. Following the next day, he rejects her. Alice is miserably insecure and wonders why battalion ceaselessly seem to hurt her feelings.Days go by and her fifteenth passes, and her boredom with animateness is interrupted only by lading gain and her accompanying self-hatred. She subsequently learns that her novice has bringed a t from each oneing correct at a different college and the family has to persist at the start of the New Year. over the time Alices arrive has ta ken noniced of her irregular alimentation habits and forces her to eat. She and so starts to reject her mothers parcel out and wonders if she could make herself throw up after eating. As time passes Alice writes that she is virtuallyly herself with her dairy, and fears the exhalation of her identicalness trying to fit in with everyone else.Throughout this time she displays a perspicacious sense of intelligence and aw arness of her emotions and recalls many an(prenominal) observations as a well as her feelings. She refers to her diary as a person, let on in it and asking it to help her admonisher her burthen-loss plan as if it were a blind drunk friend. This indeed is one of the major themes in Go Ask Alice.January 1st- July 14thAlice writes comely about her excitement for the familys big move, scarcely confides to her diary her fears of non ad erecting to support in a new-sprung(prenominal)-made place. After cave in in, Alice changes her mind about the domici l which she commencement exercise thought was unappealing, barely tasteful off she sees it as beautiful. As time goes by the counterbalance of the family has adapted well to their new surroundings, but Alice feels like an outsider. She wonders how, in a family of upcoming people, she al demeanors manages to feel distant from others. With the pass of time, Alice hasnt made any friends and has gained weight over again.Throughout this time, her approached grows more and more unattractive and she feels like a social castaway and is frustrated with everyone and everything around her. She alike negotiation about her new friend she meets named Greata who she feels is just as unattractive and awkward as her. A huge with Greta, she pour forths about Beth a Jewish female child who she meets that lives down the block. She fixs that she iron aside talk to Beth about anything after expressing that she and her mother ordure no longer talk like they use to.She continues to write a s he summertime has started and plans to spend the summer with her grandparents. eyepatch there she is invited to a troupe where she is introduced to a game which includes randomly go down LSD in several carbonated water bottles which she frames the recipient of. After she became aware of the issue she happy for the experience but never wants to do drugs again. Throughout this time, she compares her voyage into the new world of drugs to Alice in Wonderland. Alice goes through a series of social changes in with in the rootage half of the year, and her instability helps explain her curiosity for drugs. She sought refuge in writing but drugs provide an easier entree into her fantastic world, where she feels a relationship with people and the things around her.July 20th- family 10thShe goes on a date with Bill and experiments with more drugs. She feels like a complete new person, better about herself and she loves going out. While at her grandparents her grandpa had a miniskir t heart attack. She strays away from her friends in the efforts in assisting her grandmother with her grand find. Later she subsumes to the pressure of her friends and goes out to a party at Bills house where she takes sulphurous. She also loses her virginity to him while on blanket breaker which she expressed it as being other brilliant, freaky way out, part of her medicate adventures.Now, she looks for someone to talk to about drugs but she doesnt k straight who to ask. Trying to screen out out her many feelings she starts to take quiescence pills which she loves. Drugs makes Alice feel like the person she never was before. Under the influence of speed, she says, she feels like a member of a different, improved, perfected species. What Alice got from the drugs was a sense of being loved for who she rattling is, by others around her who is on drugs. September 12th-November 22ndAlice in now cover song dwelling where she meets a friend name Chris and is given a job working (a) with her are a local grocery store store. She continues to pop pills whenever she gets tired or hungry. She is then introduced to marijuana and is now using as well as marketing it.She then finds herself in what leave behind turn out to be a heart severance betrayal when she finds out the truth about Richies secret affair with Ted. As time pass, Chris and Alice decides to flee San Francisco and vows to turn Richie in and stays sober with Chris. She gets to San Francisco where she and Chris both find jobs to support themselves. She also matures within this time frame, learning about her sexuality. However, she has not engage sex sober barely. Beneath Alices psychedelic adventures is her continuing desire to find someone with home she usher out have the same open, loving relationship she at one time had with her family. Her shifting emotions concerning her family were the major cause for her departure, yet she longs for them in San Francisco.November 23rd- End of Diary wh olenessAlice has now passed through her by groom by fire, and she feels like an prominent from the way others shroud her as an individual. She declares I am somebody but her accredited growth is not from how others respond to her, but from voguish reflections on what it means to survivors the troubled clock of adolescence.She is not completely ready to accept her past, she wants to repent for her sins, but she also wishes she could push her nightmares in the derriere of her mind. Alice finally gains decorous absolute experience and converse more honestly with other plays in this separate to ascertain better what has caused her decline. Alice diagnoses her real problem when, happy about her fathers love for her, she wishes she could only love herself. If she could do this, she would reverence less about rebelling or satisfying her parents and instead focus on her own, separate desires. Throughout this section she develops a belief of Christian redemption on her own when it occurs to her that suffering whitethorn have been worthwhile, as she can now understand and be more understanding of people. Her decisions to h help others has deep religious reasons, and she ends the first diary.Diary 2 April 6th-May 21stAlice matures deep in this section, expanding her sensitivity. Her increasing desire to become a guidance counsel shows. She has now find an identity that will someday suite her, and while she is still in pain at times, she is already acquiring better at communicating with others and enjoying a life with soberness. She and her parents both now treat each other with respect and concern. Her grandfather dies and she is having a hard time dealings with the situation at this point. More fright to Alice is her true helplessness inn her audacious back episode and the resulting fear that she may lose her mind.May 22nd Updated JulyAlice writes in her undated diary from a hospital. She is incertain how she has ended up here and can only conceive o f the worms she thinks are eating her alive. She has apparently been biting her fingers down to the attire she relates this to the death of her grandfather. Alice reveals that an accidental dose of acid is the cause of her breakdown. Her mother and father weigh that someone else tripped Alice without her knowing it. she finds out she is being sent to an insane asylum. Her father tells her that when her deterrent example was brought before a juvenile court, Jan and another(prenominal) girl testified that Alice had still been on drugs and was selling them. She registers at the State Mental Hospital. She is panicked by the ugly building and by the inmates, whom she feels are different from her. Despite the noetic horrors Alice endures, her mind stays somewhat vital and her diary becomes her true sanctuary. She is sent away to the asylum to get help.July 27th epilogAlice tries to pray but feels the words are false and meaningless. She yearns for death. She starts going to school at the Youth Center, which is a relief compared to her room. tone in the asylum is draining her in all ways, as it has already make for Babbie. She listens to other kids in a aggroup therapy session, which she finds helpful. Alices mother and father visit. other visit from Alices parents brings a long letter from Joel. Her father reports that Jan has retracted her statement, and theyre trying to get the other girl to do the same, in which case Alice will be let out soon. Alice returns home and is happy to be with her family.At home, Alice is invited to go swimming by Fawn, a straight kid. Alice is insecure around Fawn and her friends, even though they seem to like her. She gives her father a sweater and a rime by her for his birthday. Joel surprises her by showing up and kisses her on the lips in front of her family. Alice is overturned about starting school again but feels stronger with the support of her new friends and Joel. She comments that she no longer charters a diary, for she now has people in her life with whom she can communicate.In the epilogue, we are told that Alice died three weeks later of an overdosewhether it was premeditated or accidental remains unclearand that she was one of thousands of drug deaths that year.Part II Memoir inspectionGo Ask Alice was originally promoted as nonfiction and was published under the byline Anonymous. However, not long after its publication, Beatrice Sparks, a psychologist, began do media appearances presenting herself as the books editor. The memoirists name is never revealed in the book. Alice is not the protagonists name. A girl named Alice is mentioned in brief in one compliance during the diarists stay in Coos Bay, Oregon she is an addict whom the diarist briefly meets on the street. Commentators often refer to the diarist as Alice in error, or for the interest group of convenience. In the ABC Movie of the workweek film version of Go Ask Alice, broadcast 24 January 1973, the protagonist is named Alice.Go Ask Alice is an honest portrayal of the life of a drug addict. Originally published in 1971, the book provides an empathetic exposition of one 15-year-old girls strain into a life of drugs that still resonates in todays teen culture. The books strength lies in the breadth of the first-person account, from her early days as an loose youth whose main worries were popularity and image to her life on the street, where the only thing she overturned about was where she would get her next fix. It also details her difficult, uphill battle back to sobriety. Another strength of this novel is that it verbalizes feelings that most teens experience.For example, Alice states, I dont need the sleep as oftentimes as I need the escape. The one flunk/caution for Go Ask Alice is that the book is graphic in detail. It includes descriptions of her sexual experiences and the sensations of each drug, and her off-balance ramblings while on different drugs. This is not appropriate for young readers. I would contract this book to teens and adults. I think it should be required reading in high schools. Since this is about a teen essay with addiction and the social pressures of the drug world, it is a real eye-opener to anyone who is already struggling and for those who may be confronted with the option to use.ConclusionThis book had many long reviews, and I would watch that this is an outstanding book. In fact, I believe it is one of the best young adult novels I have ever read. there is much speculation over whether the diaries are fictional or true however, I didnt feel that affected how I felt after reading it. The accounts in this diary seem so real and well written. Many would argue that a fifteen year old girl couldnt muster such able compositions. On the contrary, the late 60s early 70s were a very different time. Although parents appeared stricter in this time, it seemed laws and drugs were much freer. It is easy to imagine all of the runaway teens and pre teens prostituting themselves, using drugs, and sleeping in parks and on curbsand most of them didnt care where they wound upThis isnt as common today, but it still happens, we just dont hear as much about it. I think the author of the diary did a great job capturing the positive, beautiful feelings of her experiences with drugs. Similarly, the writer as described the melancholy and loss of identity associated with drug use. This novel could change lives, if not simply relate to them. Overall, a terrorisation and well-written account of a young girls demoralising story from a regular teenager, to a popular free teenager, to a teenager that must be put back together. Future drug users must ask themself, Should I try using? Well, go ask Alice, and shell tell you how to stop from losing your identity as well as sanity. whole shebang CitedGo Ask Alice A solid Diary PB N (Paperback) By (author) Anonymous. The Book Depository. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Jan. 2013