valentona_'s review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0
Before expressing my opinion I truly want to congratulate myself with the author, Daniel Keyes, because I think he did an excellent job. The narrative techinique is simple and elementary but the structure is complex and the more accurate for the storytelling.
It must be very difficult to organize the events and reconstruct the facts, mostly because the main character, Billy S. Milligan, affected by DID, because of his deseas, has memory lapses.
Furthermore the story is truthful and absolutly not romanticized. The reading was smooth and detailed despite the complexity of the content.
It was such an interesting and touching story that I really enjoy.
A friend of mine suffer from DID and this book (recommanded by her) really has opened my mind and helped me getting in touch to new realities.
It was also very challenging, not just because it is not easy to understand the concept of different personalities leaving in the same body; but also because I really couldn’t take a side. As a woman, I can feel the pain of the victimis being raped, but on the other side I couldn’t be angry with Milligan, even if I’m that kind of person who does not agree to feel more empathy and understanding towards the aggressor.
I’m greatful that Keyes do not justify Milligan’s actions, besides someone complain about the fact it is not right feeling compassion over a criminal.
I just want to say that you are not feeling empathy for the criminal who committed rapes, but for a human being who, due to his traumatic past, has manifested psychological disorders that led him to perform such horrible actions.
One of the things that I appreciate is that the authour describe, without being openly argumentative, how the judicial system and the journalism are unfair. The public opinion is manipulated, functional to politic propaganda.
The author is analytic without being dramatic or heartbreaking. There’s not pathos, only facts.
I especially love the biography of Milligan. It’s clear how and why the different personalities are born. Each one is born with a purpose: protect billy, using their different capacity. They’ve made a documentary about Billy and I’m sorry they’ve decide to entitled: “the monsters living in Billy Milligan”. Hello? It’s excatly what his personalities were afraid of: being called monsters. Moreover they literally saved Billy’s life. Calling them monsters is misleading and the proof some people don’t understand an F, just want to make money over a scoop.
mimi_mouse's review against another edition
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
5.0
thyapollo's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
tense
medium-paced
2.5
sophiaxlm's review against another edition
3.0
觉得这本书名声在外的很大一部分原因在于其猎奇性。
全书大概是案发——回溯——治疗过程这样三部分，可以看到多重人格患者混乱又不可思议的日常，以及外因对病症造成的影响。相较之下，在医疗系统和媒体高度关注之下让比利融合了一部分的人格又趋分裂的那一段似乎更有现实意义？
那期间比利的一个无名人格如此表示：
“醒着或者没出现的时候，我好像是脸朝下趴在一块无边无际的玻璃上，透过玻璃可以看到遥远的彼岸，那儿宛如星光闪耀的外层空间。那里还有一个圆形的光圈，就在我的眼前。我们中的几个人就躺在光圈旁边的棺材里，但棺材没有盖上，因为他们还没有死。他们在沉睡，似乎是在等待着什么。光圈旁边还有几个空的棺材，因为有人尚未到来。戴维和几个年龄小的孩子对生命还抱有一线希望，但年纪大的已经绝望了。”“那是什么地方？”我追问。“戴维给它取了个名字，”他继续说，“因为那是他创造的，他将其称为‘死亡之地（ the Dying Place）’。”
chiara_dose's review against another edition
challenging
dark
informative
reflective
sad
slow-paced
4.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Child abuse, Confinement, Emotional abuse, Suicide attempt, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Adult/minor relationship, and Addiction
Moderate: Toxic relationship and Violence