Bell Jar

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Summary: Into the bell jar
Review: Even if you do not know anything about the author, Sylvia Plath, and her troubled life, it is still very easy to get into the book, The Bell Jar. The reason is, we have all at one time in our life felt like we were trapped, and plath's sutle genius shines through this book. It has an almost naive quality about it. The main character of Esther is like the voice inside all of our heads. i doubt very much that books such as Prozac Nation would have ever been printed if Plath hadn't done it first.

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Summary: An Entrance to Sylvia Plath's Personal Realm of Depression
Review: "The Bell Jar" is a dramatic and touching book following the life of the young woman named Esther Greenwood. I personally enjoyed this book to a high degree. Sylvia Plath takes the reader on a trek, where we view the downfall and destruction of the book's heroin, Esther. Esther starts her post college year as an aspiring writer doing what people that age do. She attends parties and bars, leading the life of a normal 23 old woman. However, Esther enters a downward spiral into a world of entrapping depression. I like this book for the complicated and well structured plot system which Plath provides for the reader. I especially enjoyed how the book so well introduces us and acquaints us with Esther. Around the first few pages, Esther speaks of her constant desire to eat. This kind of common thought dialogue so easily acquaints us with Esther, therefore understanding and liking her. Thus by witnessing her thoughts, we feel overbearing sympathy for Esther as she slowly but surely enters a dark and gray realm of anger and depression. Plath does well at structuring Esther's downfall. Not just one event makes her break down to her knees, but the sum of small futile events. All of Esther's colleagues around her prosper with significant others and job lives, as she is blatantly turned down by an eccentric man and as she loses a chance to write a powerful article which she very much wanted. There Esther sits, in a bell jar as an observer. She observes everyone around move forward on the road of life, as she sits back watching everyone disappear in the far distance. Certain points of the book seem to drag on, losing some feel to Plath's writing. For a clump of pages, Esther continuously speaks of her ex-boyfriend, Buddy Willard, which gets old really quickly. Truthfully, I do not have much negative to say about Sylvia Plath's only novel. It is a very moving book with dazzling imagery as well as many poetic gestures. I would

recommend this book to anyone with an open mind. If you read this book and say "What a crazy lady," then this book was NOT for you. If you have an open mind to these types of situations, then this is the book for you. Girls might enjoy it more than men because since Esther is a female, girls can obviously relate much easier than guys can.

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Summary: A must-read, this book is phenomenal!
Review: Sylvia Plath paints a vivid portrait of a privileged life gone terribly wrong. The Bell Jar is a (somewhat) autobiographical account of Plath's breakdown and depression. This novel gives you an intimate look at the story behind the poetry. Somewhere along the way, this amazing author/poet suffered a breakdown which sent her spiraling into a deep and rather dark depression. The Bell Jar explains to readers, in almost desturbing detail, Plath's story from her time at Smith College to the various asylums in which she was treated by such meathods as electroshock therapy. A definate must-read for all Plath fans as well as anyone looking for someone to relate to during difficult times. In relation to the controversy over the novel and Plath's suicide, I must say that it only intregues the reader more and inspires them to learn more about this inspirational author/poet.

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Summary: An Eminent Autobiography of One Girl's Sturggle
Review: The Bell Jar is a mysterious yet a lumionous novel. It starts off in New York City and takes us through Esther Greenwood's life. The novel is about the emotional problems that Esther faces in her young adulthood. Sylvia Plath takes the reader through a intertwining road and keeps the reader entertained at all times. The reader always is on the edge of his seat and always has the urge to read on. The creative writing syle that Plath uses is magnificent and unique. We have never come upon a novel so intriguing and extravegant. We recommend this novel to all readers who enjoy mysterious yet through-provoking stories. However, we do not recommend this novel to young teenagers. This book has the tendancy to explore areas that not many other novels have dared to do so.

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Summary: Want to Feel as if You're Trapped Inside a Bell Jar?
Review: This book will suck you into the mind of Esther Greenwood right away.Sylvia Plath is an author with a confusing writting style yet interesting. This book has many flashbacks into past experiences that Esther has had. This book may appeal to people who can relate to Esther. Esther is a college girl who has a mental break down due to her busy life in New York City, working on a magazine, and deciding what she wants to do after college.

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Summary: Everyone is Esther - READ!
Review: sylvia plath is my hero! the bell jar is a classic tale of her alter ego, esther greenwood's, downward spiral into the dizzy world of insanity. plath pulls you in with the first sentence and never lets you go. i honestly cant emphasize how much i adored this book - plath makes fashion, sex, and NYC seem trivial and suicide sound glamourous. this book made me laugh, cry, dance, sing, and want to change the world. your life isnt complete until you read this book.

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Summary: Plath: The Personification of Excellence
Review: I have just re-read Sylvia Plath's, "The Bell Jar" having first read it some 20+ years ago as a teenager. Now, as then, it flowed gracefully before me as though I were sitting beside a stream, watching water move, instead of words across the pages of a paperback. Plath's unmatched mastery of metaphors astounds. Her grace and style and ease make "The Bell Jar" seem like one is hearing one's own thoughts; her thoughts and her words would be my thoughts and words in a parallel situation. They would be the thoughts and words of women all around the world, were we all so articulate to communicate them as efficiently as does Plath. Style, it seems, was her greatest weapon.

"The Bell Jar" is Sylvia's autobiography-meets-enough-fiction-so-as-not-to-make-my-friends-and-family-ticked-off-at-me. She remarks in one passage about some works of writing being such that she loved them so much that she wished she could climb in, into the pages, between the lines as though between the opening of a split rail fence. "The Bell Jar" is like this. The reader feels they know Plath -- she is like the best friend you always wanted to be more like. Her story here is not simply an interesting compilation of anecdotes, but a friendship and connection with a young woman too brilliant. Because there is such a thing.

I highly recommend this book, and ANYTHING and EVERYTHING by Sylvia Plath. Seldom has so gifted a writer placed foot upon this planet.

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Summary: I disagree with teresa's review, here's why:
Review: The Bell Jar is one of those books that stays with you forever. Although teresa is right when she says this is an excellent book, she is wrong about one thing. Esther, the main character, has a lot more going on in her head than teresa let's on. I won't give the plot away, but at the end of the book, the reader walks away still disturbed. She knows that Esther isnt better, and probably will never be. Sylvia Plath, the author, writes an autobiography here, which has been proven. She herself did not get better, and committed suicide later on in life. This book is a haunting protrayl of mental illness, and is a must-read for all young women.

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Summary: Pure, raw emotion
Review: This is the most amazing book and I usually don't even enjoy fiction. Sylvia Plath speaks straight from her heart through the main character 'Ester.' Plath's writing style is incredible and she communicates feelings, passion, dispair, etc... better than anyone. As you read, you're like, man I feel exactly that way or I have at some point in my life. The analogy about the fig tree in the book relating to the future of her life is breathtaking. I stayed up and read this all in one night.

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Summary: Insanity, madness, etc...
Review: After finish reading "The Bell Jar" by Sylvia Plath, I wasn't left with those weird when emotions whne a really good book affects you. As a matter of fact, I wasn't surprise that the author committed suicide. In life, when people feel enclosed and that no one cares, people are driven to desperate measures. Especially during the time Esther/Sylvia were living in. Us women have to deal with many issues. Always have and always will. The novel just makes me think that does reality really exist or do we just live in a fantasy world and not care with goes on around us? Reality is much scarier than fiction.