Bell Jar

Rating:
Summary: A decent book!
Review: I had heard from a number of people that this was a book that was worth my time. It was a quick read, and it was pretty enjoyable. The description on the back cover of the book says it's about Plath's descent into insanity (<-- not a direct quote). However, it wasn't much of a descent. It was more like, she wasn't insane at the end of one chapter, and at the beginning of another chapter she was suddenly insane.

Regardless, it was a pretty good book. Not spectacular, but interesting enough to hold my attention.

Rating:
Summary: The Bell Jar
Review: I came across this book while aimlessly drifting through the library. I found Sylvia Plath to be very intriging. While I may not be considered a mature individual I feel I can easily connect with Plath's central character, Ester. The isolation is a predominant cycle in my life as well. I only wish there was a sequel to this fantastic novel.

Rating:
Summary: a moving experience
Review: Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar is one of the most moving and enlightening novels I have ever had the pleasure to read. Her honesty and patience in relating such personal (and obviousely autobiograohical) events is startling and hugely admirable.

The compassion it evokes in the reader is deeply powerful but the relationship it establishes with the reader is even more powerful and it will sit on your bookshelf for decades to come like an old, reassuring friend. I thoroughly recommend this book to anyone and everyone.

Rating:
Summary: An exercise in empathy
Review: Many readers seem to reject this novel because it offers no clear explanation for the psychololgical collapse it narrates. But nor, from the perspective of the afflicted, is there often any such explanation in real life. I find the way Plath unexpectedly cuts from the hilarious antics of Esther's month in New York City - told with an endearing Holden Caulfield-like voice - into her sudden depression to be a very effective literary device. Plath doesn't explain what happens so much as she shows us what it's like. Compare the tone of the first fifty pages to the last and you'll see this is a narrative which gradually unhinges, disintegrates, becomes less reliable. It's precisely what you'd expect in a first-person account of a depressive episode. Yes, it can get "boring and repetitive" as many reviewers have noted - and that's an apt representation of the lugubriousness of depression and the traditional treatment of it. These is no simple answer, no easy happy ending for Esther. She is a young person confronting the meaninglessness of life, too intelligent to fall into the easy distractions of marriage and work, but not sufficiently self-knowing to forge her own path without those things. That such a path is unclear is part of the point. Hatred for this book seems to come out of a view life (and of literature) as something certain, meaningful, entertaining and closed - precisely the view which Esther, and most depressed people, cannot take. That Plath can put us in her position for a few hundred pages, and show us how puzzling and frightening it can be, is a testament to the strength of her talent.

Rating:
Summary: Excellent inside look
Review: This is an excellent book for fans of Plath. If you know a little bit of her personal life beforehand, this book will make more sense.

Rating:
Summary: Mind Blowing
Review: One of the best reads of my life. Dark, brooding, and insightful. This is a chronicle of an ambitious woman who happens to have problems. A brilliant woman poet on the verges of successful publication, depressive descents, mood swings, and family life. Sylvia Plath's autobiography of a time in her life under the Bell Jar.

Rating:
Summary: Important and disturbing
Review: I recently asked my wife to create a list of the ten most important novels she has ever read; "The Bell Jar" was on her list. I have spent the past two days reading Plath's novel and I come away from the book feeling vulnerable. Plath has created a work that immerses the reader in a dark world in which mental stability is not a given. I feel a new closeness to Plath for the struggle that was her life and for the power and urge that let her transform that into art. She has ceased to be a "suicide victim" in my mind and has, instead, become a human being.

I was initially surprised by the voice of the narrator. It reminded me of Holden Caulfield -- honest, down-to-earth, knowledgeable, caustic. I found Esther immediately likeable and a sympathetic character. Reading like a diary at times, the story tells about simple events (a cab ride, a party, a visit from a boyfriend) told in simple language that frequently shines with such exquisite phrasing that I was forced to step back and laugh or smile or just appreciate Plath's ability to use language in such powerful and meaningful ways. Two examples of this:

1. Referring to a picture of Dwight Eisenhower in "Time" magazine, Plath writes: "The face of Eisenhower beamed up at me, bold and blank as the face of a fetus in a bottle." (72)
2. "I felt limp and betrayed, like the skin shed by a terrible animal. It was a relief to be free of the animal, but it seemed to have taken my spirit with it, and everything else it could lay its paws on." (83)

Language and technique made the sad events of the novel seem real and immediate. Plath selects events in a masterful way, telling stories of simple conversations, giving brief insights into the narrator's mind, exposing fears, illustrating pathologies, foreshadowing events.

The horror of the initial suicide attempt stayed with me throughout the rest of the novel. The second half that outlines her relationships with doctors and her stays in psychiatric institutions is dreamlike. We abruptly find ourselves in new surroundings, in the middle of conversations. This discontinuity creates a world that mimics Esther's increasingly nightmarish life. As readers we do not calmly watch from a distance; we are thrown into the consciousness of the patient.

"The Bell Jar" was a disturbing book, but one that expanded my understanding of Plath and her work and gave me a perspective on mental illness that I had previously lacked.

Rating:
Summary: A beautifully written, insightful, and depressing story
Review: This book is a work of art. Plath's poetic skill comes shining through in this novel about a young woman suffering from severe depression and suicidal ideation. Plath's use of words to convey images, feelings, thoughts and personality is precise. The story flows beautifully, as she tells the story of Esther Greenwood.

Esther's fall into depression reveals in depth insights into the malady that come from Plath's own experiences. This brings up an issue when reading this book. It is difficult to separate the character and the novel from the author and her own life and tragic ending. That consistently loomed in the back of my mind as I read about E. Greenwood.

I enjoyed reading this, but also had to put it down at times because of the depressing nature of the story. Plath puts the reader into the thoughts and consciousness of a depressed young woman, and that is not an uplifting experience. I don't think this is the type of novel you just read for pleasure w/o becoming involved with the character. Plath wants to make sure you know what it is like to be a depressed person thinking about suicide.

It has an optimistic ending that allows you to leave Esther Greenwood to take on the world again and to trust that she will do OK, even though the author fell victim to the depression that haunted her.

Rating:
Summary: Highly overrated
Review: First off, why exactly did Esther Greenwood have this breakdown? I looked for clues in how she talked and what she talked about, but could only assume various items. In a work of literature, I don't care who you are, it is important to answer all the readers' questions. Why did she have the breakdown? What was the underlying motive for attempting suicide? How did it affect the rest of her life after all was said and done? I did not get the answers to these questions after finishing the book. This made it hard for me to care for Esther as much as Plath probably wanted each reader to. I just didn't understand where Esther was coming from when she ranted on and on about how fabulous it would be to die. I couldn't feel her pain because I didn't know where it came from. Same goes for Joan. There wasn't enough of her character to really get into to feel shocked and upset at the announcement of her death. Secondly, there were quiet a bit of failed metaphors in the story. Plath used the death metaphor too much and in the wrong places at times. Finally, I didn't get a final resolution out of this story. Esther mentioned near the end "How do I know the bell jar won't descend again?" That deprives the story of any climatic ending right there. I mean, so what if she's let out of Belsize, if the bell jar descends again, then why does this entire ordeal that Plath told matter?

Rating:
Summary: No mature, intellegent person over 30
Review: could possibly think this is a good book. Since I've reviewed a number of other items about Plath, the positive reviews are amusing. When I 1st read this at 19, I thought 'eh.' Now into my late 20's I only found it all the more dull. The only reason anyone thinks this is above trash is because of Plath's fame as a poet. Even she thought it was garbage & was embarassed by it. If this had been written by some dumb 1950's housewife it would have been forgotton. Esther is a self-centered, melodratic & wooden character. The other characters are based in cliches & this example is aptly shown when she's in the room with the two guys. The dialogue is forced & shallow, especially when she uses "negro" dialect attributed to the black men in the hospital. I found this offensive & degrading. What surprises me is how no one else seems to notice or care. There are some nice descriptions of phrasings and it is easy to see her talent for words. But the narrative is atrocious. To compare this to "Catcher" is also laughable.