Probably the best … of the books that depict the emotionally disturbed [is] Ordinary People…. Ordinary People, as so many have observed, is not an ordinary book. It is a very skillfully constructed, extremely sensitive book….

The characterizations in Ordinary People are excellent; it is a very thorough examination of the ways other people react to a person who has had a nervous breakdown. Conrad's mother is only concerned about the mess he made in the bathroom when he tried to commit suicide and considers his suicide attempt in some way a personal affront to her. Father is over-protective and excessive in his concern for Conrad; he constantly watches for signs of another breakdown. The parents' widely differing perceptions of Conrad and his illness constitute a source of strife for them and quite literally tear them apart.

Other people's reactions to him also vary: some are openly hostile, some...