Bell Jar

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Summary: Reality at its harshest
Review: Although this book was harsh reading, it was a slap in the face of reality. It was real, and it was depressing, but it gives society something to understand. We are all not perfect people and not everyone is going to go to college. It just shows us that there are so many pressures out there that it is hard for a young man or woman to survive. I thought it was very depressing, but very poetic at the same time. It really just makes you think.

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Summary: Genuine, masterful and poingnant
Review: Many things fascinated me about The Bell Jar. One is that I knew the story of Sylvia Plath's suicide before I read it, so I knew I was not merely reading a story. I was reading Sylvia Plath's own deepest fears and ambitions and joys, many of which I could relate to. It is fascinating how seemlessly her writing flows from her sanity to insanity in a way in which you can barely tell when the change began. It is almost eery (and a bit frightening) when you realize how many moments in Esther's life you can completely relate with emotionally. And finally, it was fascinating to learn from her story, how a seemingly normal person's mental stability can be so fragile and unreliable. I will never forget this book as long as I live, and recommend it with all my heart. MRL

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Summary: It was incredibly smart and one of the best books I've read.
Review: I've always been a fan of the work of Sylvia Plath. We share a birthday and my best friend had a few of her books so I decided on buying this book simply because I was bored. I'm 15 currently and I really felt a connection with this book as she branches out into insanity. This makes Go Ask Alice pale is comparison. Anyone looking for an interesting read really should buy The Bell Jar.

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Summary: From a young poet to a brilliant author
Review: When I was a freshman in highschool, my sister left for college. When she would come home on weekends, she would often bring her literature book. One day I opened the book and began to read some of the poetry. One poem that instantly got my attention was "Lady Lazarus" by Sylvia Plath. Since that day I have been a fan of Sylvia Plath. When I first picked up The Bell Jar for the first time, I knew it was going to be a very interesting book, but it wasn't until after I finished it when I found out that an author can grasp the world and shove it all into one book. I have read the book numerous times and will continue to read it and every other book and poem written by Sylvia Plath that I can get my hands on.

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Summary: An innocent is corrupted and almost destroyed by "culture".
Review: Sylvia Plath's enlightening novel "the Bell Jar" is the story of a young girl who win the chance of a lifetime and becomes part of New York society. She comes to New York an innocent, striaght from a womans College, and instilled with all of the confines of a wealthy East-coast life. Once she is set free, however, she begins to make choices which bring her life around in a whole different direction. At the end of the summer, when she is thrown back into her dated and lacking society, she suffers a breakdown of mind and spirit, which leave her scarred for life. This story is wonderful not only in it's structure, but in the epathy that Plath causes the reader to have for the girl-woman Ester, but is also a brillent insight into the mind of Plath herself.

Rating:
Summary: Mirrors Sylvia Plath's own nervous breakdown at age 20.
Review: I read this novel for the first time when I was a freashman in high school, and instantly loved it. It is heartbreaking, at times humorous, and young adult females will surely see a little bit of themselves in the character Esther Greenwood. Overall, it is humane and sobering. It would be a mistake not to read it.

Rating:
Summary: Powerful and all too familiar
Review: ~The first time I read this book years ago I couldn't really relate. The second time I related a little too well because I was falling into my own depression. I can't leave this book alone, maybe because Sylvia wrote about something that is very persona"~ Bell Jar" is a fast read but will stay with you for a long time. If you are suffering from depression, I do recommend that you balance it out with hopeful and inspirational books like "You Are Not Alone" by Julia Thorne, because "The Bell Jar" will pro

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Summary: Written as only a bell-ridden poet could.
Review: The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath, is listed as fiction, but I would categorize it as a psychological study. The main character, Esther Greenwood (a hero fashioned after Sylvia) barely survives the trials and tribulations of a life which includes electroshock and temporary "insanity." Her life is sheltered under a suffocating bell jar which distorts reality into a pessimitically biased version of the truth. To escape this life-style, Esther attempts suicide on several occasions (many of which paralleling the attempts of Sylvia). The bell jar is a depressing, but accurate, account of a less-than-ideal life. Esther will have you weeping and laughing as she attempts to lead a normal life-style. If Sylvia hadn't committed suicide in 1963, she would have been very proud of its success.

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Summary: Tells best of the tale of Plath herself
Review: Most exciting book I've read in ages. I have been looking into all the literature of Sylvia Plath, and by reading this auto-biography type story, the veil of all her poetic work lifts up. Also recommended for teenage readers.

Rating:
Summary: A book to be read again & again throughout life.
Review: I first read this book when I was a teenager and was totally enthralled by it. It has stayed with me through the years and now a 30 something wife and mother I understand it even more. Now as then when I read this book I "feel" the bell jar surround me. For a writer to get inside ones head that way I think is the sign of a great book.