The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is a haunting and beautifully written novel that delves into the descent of Esther Greenwood into madness and depression. The story follows Esther, a young woman with a bright future, as she struggles with her mental health, ends up in a psychiatric ward after a suicide attempt, and navigates her way back to normalcy. Plath's writing style is described as poetic, vivid, and sparse, perfectly capturing the delicate yet powerful essence of the subject matter.
The book provides a raw and honest portrayal of depression, mental illness, and the societal pressures faced by women in the 1950s America. Plath's storytelling is poignant, dark, and at times morbidly funny, offering a deep insight into Esther's internal struggles and the challenges she encounters on her journey towards self-discovery and recovery.
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Sensitive Topics/Content Warnings
The Bell Jar contains high triggers/content warnings for depression, suicidal ideation, and discussions of mental health treatments.
From The Publisher:
Sylvia Plath's groundbreaking semi-autobiographical novel offers an intimate, honest and often wrenching glimpse into mental illness. The Bell Jar broke the boundaries between fiction and reality and helped cement Sylvia Plath's place as an enduring feminist icon. Celebrated for its darkly humorous, razor sharp portrait of 1950s society, it continues to resonate with readers today as testament to the universal human struggle to claim one's rightful place in the world.
ABOUT THE FABRIC
Originally inspired by an impression sheet from Liberty's print works at Merton Abbey. First produced in 1961, this low-colour geometric design features abstract broken lines which almost create a subtle and wavy camouflage effect.
Ratings (355)
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Loved It (128) | |
Liked It (104) | |
It Was OK (47) | |
Did Not Like (16) | |
Hated It (5) |
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Currently Reading (12) | |
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9 comment(s)
As someone with ADHD it's hard to find books that are interesting enough to grasp my attention. I was recommended this book by so many people and when I read it, in all honesty I was disappointed. Don't get me wrong there were certain aspects that I enjoyed, but I feel like it just wasn't dramatic enough or very emphasized to my liking
The first thing that surprised me about this book was that it was so funny, at least for a little while. It’s beautifully written, sharply observed, incredibly harrowing, and deeply tragic. It’s such a goddamn shame that Plath didn’t stick around to tell more stories. This one is a masterpiece, and I’m glad I finally read it. I listened to an audiobook narrated by Maggie Gyllenhaal, who was a perfect fit.
3.5 stars
"Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one's head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no to-morrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace."
Pity, is the feeling which I feel when I think about this novel. I just can't stop pitying Plath for her condition which she put into words through Esther Greenwood. The feeling of being left out, not loved and doubt are the worst and Esther's struggle to overcome these just breaks my heart.
Esther had a loving family, a man called Buddy who thought of marrying her , a wonderful career ahead, and still she felt a vacuum filling around her. I desperately wanted to pull her out of it and there she was, slipping away.
Some quotes that I liked:
"But when I took up my pen, my hand made big, jerky letters like those of a child, and the lines sloped down the page from left to right almost diagonally, as if they were loops of string lying on the paper, and someone had come along and blown them askew."
"The trouble was, I had been inadequate all along, I simply hadn't thought about it."
Plath's novel tells us much about her through Esther and her life when depression first hit her. Her journey with depression and while ending the book she knew she's cured but also knew that depression might hit her again, anytime!
A wonderful novel on madness, the thoughts that provoke a person to stop hoping and attempt life threatening deeds , is quite stunning. There are very few books written in this area.
I don't know any depressed person who doesn't like this one. We're hand in hand.
It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn't know what I was doing in New York.
And with that iconic first line, we are launched into the evocative, often disturbing psychological portrait that is
The Bell Jar.
At one point, Esther tells the reader (speaking of another character),
Her thoughts were not my thoughts, nor her feelings my feelings, but we were close enough so that her thoughts and feelings seemed a wry, black image of my own., and for me that echoes my feelings toward Esther herself. In fact, I think it must be almost impossible to read such a personal, intimate novel and not feel deep empathy with at least some of what Esther is going through as a young, lost, college-aged woman, while also recognizing that she is a highly flawed character.
To be clear, this is not a book I'll be re-reading. The subject matter is incredibly heavy, and some of the content was not to my taste. Once was enough. However, Plath's writing is beautiful and immersive, and she's managed to craft a character-driven novel that manages to be nearly impossible to put down (despite having very little in the way of actual plot). I completely understand why this is considered a modern classic.
Some favorite passages:
(I felt very still and very empty, the way the eye of a tornado must feel, moving dully along in the middle of the surrounding hullabaloo.)
Arrayed on the
Ladies' Day banquet table were yellow-green avocado pear halves stuffed with crabmeat and mayonnaise, and platters of rare roast beef and cold chicken, and every so often a cut-glass bowl heaped with black caviar.
I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story.
From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out.
I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.
I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart.
I am, I am, I am.
This book is rather on the edge of my comfort zone. I don’t do many modern classics and I generally avoid stories about mentally disturbed people or people struggling with their life since I find them too depressing.
That being said, I really enjoyed
The Bell Jar. Esther is a very complicated and fascinating heroine. Strangely easy to attach to, even though she lives in a different era and her problems are not really close to mine. Oddly, I found myself truly caring about her.
Also, despite some somber topics like suicides, metal hospital treatment and depression, I didn’t find the book depressing. There were times when I was turning the pages with anticipation eager to know what’s next and that surprised me.
The writing is, of course, excellent. The story has that profound wisdom without being cheaply pathetic. It’s easy to relate to some of the truths in the book. I’m so glad I read this story!
Reading this book while you yourself are in the depth of depression is not a good idea. The suffocating feeling along with Esther is why I needed to put it down for several months and then pick it up again.
Beautifully written
What can you read after
The Bell Jar?
About the Author:
Sylvia Plath (1932-63) was born in Boston, Massachusetts, and studied at Smith College. In 1955 she went to Cambridge University on a Fulbright scholarship, where she met and later married Ted Hughes. She published one collection of poems in her lifetime, The Colossus (1960), and a novel, The Bell Jar (1963). Her Collected Poems, which contains her poetry written from 1956 until her death, was published in 1981 and was awarded the Pulitzer Prize for poetry.
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