The Bell Jar

I am truly amazed at how many people seem to like this novel. I forced myself to keep reading, thinking there must be something wonderful coming to justify all of the accolades! But nothing ever came. The story is all over the place, there is no continuity or reasoning behind any of it. Its just a bunch of unrelated anecdotes that are left unfinished. There is no character development, and as someone who struggles with mental illness I can not understand why this is supposed to be a powerful novel relating to mental illness. If anything, it barely brushed the subject. Yes, Esther ends up in a mental hospital – but there is NO development or indication how she got there, or her journey with the illness. All in all, Im severely disappointed, and irritated that I spent money and time on this book.

I absolutely love this book, but if youre going to buy it, i dont recommend this seller. i saw one spelling error (pictured first,), and then began to notice many more. 1st pic is supposed to have a space, 2nd pic is supposed to be noise. there are more errors, but i didnt feel sharing them was necessary.

Yes, indeed, this is an intensely harrowing but still subtle odyssey through the battle with mental illness. Sylvia Plaths timeless epic still rings true todayEsther Greenwood, our fictional protagonist, is unfortunately only a veiled cover for Plaths real world disease which reached its nadir in 1963 when she took her own life at the young age of thirty. And its this volume, her only full length novel, that explicitly but also with a seamless literary touch, conjures the deep emotional and physical conflicts borne from this terrible affliction. Within, we follow Esther on a slow slide into insanity with such nuance and foreboding that the reader is almost compelled to believe that it is all true. And given Plaths heartbreaking outcome, the literary debate lingers on as to if this is, in fact, that shrouded memoir. The story opens with Esther in New York, during the summer of her collegiate years, working and modeling for a prestigious NY magazine. Through many obscure and complex observations, we slowly get a picture of her; Boston suburbanite, Smith college-type on scholarship, the world literally at her feet. But it is, still at these beginning stages, the random comment or action that begins to creep in to her personality that makes the reader aware that something is not quite right. Sure enough, as we move on, Esther becomes more and more un-hinged, doing things far outside of her personality. Soon we reach a point where she attempts suicide and discusses suicide as the answer to get her out from under the Bell Jar. The literary ease with which we go from NY magazine model to suicide victim is starkI found myself having to put the book down occasionally to internalize what Id just read. This is really an amazing ability that Plath hadflowing from one emotion to the other without noticing until the full force of Esthers actions take hold. Where the first third of the novel is fairly light, the last two thirds are riveting, very difficult to put down. Its very hard to understand how Plath had difficulty getting this work publishedonly under a pseudonym in 1963 London and not until 1971 in the U.S. after it had been turned down, harshly, by publisher Harper & Row. Today it is printed and re-printed in many languages and enjoys its well-deserved place among the literary classics. To summarize, if one decides to delve into the classics, you cant go wrong with this work. Dark, even frightful at times but always flowing and well written, The Bell Jar is both a stark referendum on mental illness and an amazing reading experience.

Every now and again a book comes along that truly impacts on one and once read will never be forgotten. The autobiographical novel by Sylvia Plath, describing her painful ordeal when she becomes mentally ill is such a book. This could have been a thoroughly depressing and self centred story in the hands of another and many may assume this when reading the blurb. However do not be put off, because The Bell Jar is anything BUT depressing. Plath writes with great humour and I laughed out loud more than once. She also writes with the intelligence and skill of someone twice her age. Her battle with mental illness (Bipolar Disorder) and her eventual recovery is written so honestly, so brilliantly I was more than impressed. Of course there is sadness in the aftermath of the book because we know she actually took her own life at aged thirty, the same year The Bell Jar was published. The world is a little worse off with the loss of this wonderful talent. Anyone who has any inkling of how The Black Dog can grab you by the scruff of the neck from out of the blue will appreciate this book and anyone who simply enjoys outstanding literature will be equally impressed. A great talent.

\”Wherever I saton the deck of a ship or at a street caf in Paris or BangkokI would be sitting under the same glass bell jar, stewing in my own sour air.\” The Bell Jar has been on my tbr since before the term tbr even existed. That being said, I\’m so thankful that I didn\’t read it sooner, that I read it now, at this exact particular time in my life. My younger self would not have had the life experience to understand this story on such a profound level. Plath\’s writing is beyond reproach. I found myself reading many passages over and over again so that I could completely absorb and digest the feelings they invoked in me. \”I wondered why I couldnt go the whole way doing what I should any more. This made me sad and tired. Then I wondered why I couldnt go the whole way doing what I shouldnt…\” This story is without any doubt the single greatest fictional achievement in capturing the mind of a person drowning in depression. It\’s not endless crying or any of the other dramatics displayed in the movies. It\’s quiet. It\’s subtle. It\’s stealthy. Until it\’s not. \”But when it came right down to it, the skin of my wrist looked so white and defenseless that I couldnt do it. It was as if what I wanted to kill wasnt in that skin or the thin blue pulse that jumped under my thumb, but somewhere else, deeper, more secret, and a whole lot harder to get at.\” This was a Traveling Friends group read and I couldn\’t be more thankful for the ladies that shared this read with me. Not one of us was left unscathed by this story.

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