The Bell Jar [UNABRIDGED]

Rating:
Summary: Cold as Ice
Review:
Plath writes the way a surgeon would. Beautiful imagery as usual with Plath, a really good book. Yet, and that would be my reproach, it is so incredibly COLD, distant, unpassionate, almost inhuman. That probably fits with the mood but jeez, that book is depressing like hell, don't expect to "relate" or feel like you're less alone or something. It's perfect like diamond as a novel, but it's just as cold too. I might be a bit harsh here, for in fact there are passages that are not this cold, of course, but the overall mood is pretty scary. It chills you. But to be honest I think I should reread it because I read it like two years ago, so what I am talking about now is the impressions it left me with. And I remember it being cold as ice. It's as though the main character is some kind of desperate machine. Which probably is a good definition of depression (the mental disease, not your average being sad), so in that respect it's perfect.

I think the book certainly deserves more than 3 stars, but it's so cold I can't get myself to give more.

Rating:
Summary: An Amazing Book
Review: "The Bell Jar" by Silvia Plath, is a book about a girl named Esther Greenwood. She begins to go crazy after she returns home to Boston, from her summer job in New York. She finds that unreality is taking over her life. She makes several suicide attempts and is taken to a mental hospital to be treated.
I would highly reccommend "The Bell Jar". The author writes in an excellent style that makes Esther Greenwood's insanity seem so real. This is a tragic but wonderful and interesting book of how Esther lives her life with her insanity. She undergoes shock treatments at a mental hospital, but along the way, she meets new people and recalls back on some past experiences. I can guarantee that anyone who reads this book will love it just as I did, and will not be dissappointed.

Rating:
Summary: Experience a Mental Breakdown
Review: Annotation: The Bell Jar details the life of Esther Greenwood, who is very successful, intelligent, and beautiful. For no explained reason, Esther begins to go crazy. Sylvia Plath takes you into Esther's mind, and you slowly fall into her insanity right along with her. You will experience a cynical yet reasonable outlook on life.

Author Bio: Sylvia Plath was born in 1932. She was raised in a middle-class home, and attended Smith College. During her junior year in college, she suffered a mental breakdown. This is chronicled in The Bell Jar, which is largely autobiographical. She recovered well enough to finish her senior year, receiving various awards and graduating summa cum laude. She won a Fulbright scholarship and went to Cambridge University for two years. There, she met Ted Hughes, a British poet whom she married and moved to England with. With him, she had two children. She committed suicide at age 30, and her macabre poetry was collected afterwards in three books.

Evaluation: The reason I bought this book was because the name sounded familiar, and the back told me that I would be following the crack-up of Esther Greenwood. It sounded interesting, but little did I know just how closely I would witness Esther's insanity! What really stands out in my mind about The Bell Jar is how immersed I was in Esther's world, thoughts, and feelings. I felt like I was right there with her, and I could almost feel her emotions. At many points, I had to stop reading because I was beginning to feel as depressed as she was! Sylvia Plath does an excellent job of bringing the reader into Esther's mind. Her cynical views seemed very normal and feasible. Ideas and phrases are well articulated, so you can understand exactly what Sylvia/Esther is talking about. Plath's thoughts are very well expressed. It's incredibly interesting to read about somebody who is going insane, especially since the story is largely autobiographical - so you know that Esther's outlook on life and her downward spiral were actually experienced by Sylvia Plath. I love how nothing in the book is sugarcoated. It's great to read something that has the ability to take you from your normal, healthy mind into the psychology of someone going crazy. Finally, I loved the metaphor about the bell jar, from which the book got its title. So while the story can be depressing and a bit much at times, it's very well worth it in the end. To sum it up, this book is extremely interesting, realistic, and I would recommend it to anyone looking for a good read that's a little bit out of the ordinary.

Rating:
Summary: Sylvia Plath at her Best
Review: Before reading "The Bell Jar," I read "Ariel," Plath's collection of poems that really address the climax of her depression with such great poems like "Daddy" and "Lady Lazarus." But it was only after I read "The Bell Jar," that I truly appreciated Plath's genius and sophistication as a writer. One of the reasons Plath was such a genius was her command of the English language. "The Bell Jar" does not read like a novel, but more like prose, which made the book a quick read.

"The Bell Jar" tells the story of Ester Greenwood, a young woman interning at a woman's magazine in New York City. The reader fully witnesses Ester's decent into depression and her institutionalization in a mental hospital. Like her poetry, "The Bell Jar" is semi - autobiographical and very emotional. Plath also leaves the ending of the novel ambiguous, I do not want to give the ending away but I will say this, do not expect any sort of resolution.

All in all, I would recommend this book to Plath fans and those who appreciate a clever, wonderfully written piece of literature.

Rating:
Summary: Riveting and Wonderful
Review: For anybody who has suffered from clinical depression, the book presents a powerful reminder of how it feels. I never interpreted this part of the novel as a criticism of patriarchal social attitudes. I never found Sylvia's annoyance at the squeak of baby strollers outside of her bedroom window to be a statement about the role of women as mothers and wives in society. Why not? Because I was too swept up in her mental illness. Plath writes one of the most vivid accounts of depresson ever put on paper. The disease is characterized by the analogy of the bell jar. Living under a transparent cage, surrounding by stale, suffocating air and unable to escape. For Esther, everything is flat, uninteresting, and terrifying.

Esther's mother becomes worried and takes her daughter to a psychiatrist, who happens to be a man. This doctor immediately decides to treat Esther with a crude form of electro-convulsive therapy. This was a common treatment for depression at the time, and is still used in a modified (and more humane form) today. The "shock treatments" are traumatic for Esther and don't seem to do much good. She never accepts her doctor, and resents the pain he caused her during the ECT treatments. Is this a patriarchal figure abusing Esther as men have always abused women? I don't know. I do know that he is a doctor living at a time when very little was known about the causes or treatments for serious depression.

The time immediately following her first treatments are traumatic for Esther. She seems to be getting worse, and makes a half-hearted suicide attempt by swimming far away from shore in the ocean. Eventually, in a reenactment of Plath's own suicide attempt, she takes a huge overdose of pills and stuffs herself into a crawlspace in her basement to die.

Fortunately, she did not die. Her mother found her several days later after hearing moaning coming from the wall. She is taken to a hospital and eventually committed to a mental institution.

In this setting, Sylvia meets a doctor who can help her. This time, a female psychiatrist treats her. She has a much stronger empathy for her patient (whether it is because Plath is a female is uncertain in my mind) and uses a much gentler form of ECT to treat depression. Esther receives these treatments while moving through various levels of the institution. Finally, she begins to see the light at the end of the tunnel as the bell jar is removed and she recovers.

I read this novel as a personal account, rather than as a piece of social criticism. Whether or not Plath wanted to use this novel as a bold statement against patriarchal practices in Western Civilization is irrelevant to me. I read this on a more personal level because I have suffered from serious depression, and I deeply empathized with her character. Fortunately, I do not have the kind of bipolar depression that drove Sylvia/Esther to attempt suicide on several occasions.

The overall impression you get when reading this novel is one of tragedy, even in the face of the novel's hopeful ending. This is because, as everybody knows, Sylvia ultimately killed herself one day during a relapse. We read about her previous trials and successes with the knowledge that she would ultimately lose her battle with depression. This makes for a powerful, and sobering read.

This novel is a triumph of personal discovery. It is a coming of age story, and a story about being mentally ill. Finally, it is a lovely example of the novelist's art. Plath's writing style is unique and intense, often writing in short statements alternating with elaborate analogies and descriptions. Her pacing is wonderful, and ulitmately you read this novel as a story. It pulls you in and carries you along for the ride.

The appendix at the end of the book, detailing Plath's real life struggles with depression, are a vital read. They give insight into how Esther and Sylvia were the same person. They also include a stunning poem Sylvia wrote while in college called "A Mad Girl's Love Song" which is, in my opinion, one of the finest poems I've ever read. Along with The Bell Jar, I'd like to recommend The Losers Club by Richard Perez, another wonderful, very original book.


Rating:
Summary: Does Not Depict
Review: Forgive me, but I just can't understand the popularity of this book. It's supposed to get us inside the mind of a mentally ill young woman, but to me it's merely a two-dimensional relating of events without any true depictions of the raging emotions that must have been going on inside the heroine's mind during them.

I came across Plath's "The Bell Jar" in a roundabout way. After seeing the rental video version of Elizabeth Wurtzel's "Prozac Nation", I read the book. Being prone to depression myself, I felt quite a bit of empathy for Wurtzel's stream-of-consciousness relating of her experiences when she was suffering from acute depression and the way her mind was racing at the time. Yet, when I read other readers' reviews of Wurtzel's book, I was shocked at how many readers felt it was unconvincing and recommended Plath's "The Bell Jar" or Susanna Kaysen's "Girl, Interrupted" instead. So, I read those books, too.

Plath's "novel" is actually a novella-length, autobiographical sketch of Plath's own experiences with depression/schizophrenia as is made clear by both the Introduction and the Biographical Note included. The plot itself is interesting enough (hence, two stars), but that's ALL Plath gives us. A book like this needs to make us FEEL what Plath is feeling. And this Plath doesn't do at all

Example: Plath blandly states that she hasn't been able to sleep at all for three weeks. And just leaves it at that. Maybe she assumes everyone's had the same experience. But I've BEEN there. Chronic insomnia cripples and isolates you. If she hadn't slept in three weeks, she would hardly be able to communicate with anyone around her. And believe me, most "normal" people do NOT know what that is like at all.

Another example: Plath suffers from schizophrenia. Fortunately, I don't; but many years ago I read Joanne Greenberg's "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden" -- another autobiographical novel by a schizophrenic and, interestingly, written at about the same time Plath was writing this book (the 1960s). Greenberg's depictions of her "voices" holding counsel inside her mind haunt me to this day. At one point Plath mentions that her own "voices" were screaming at her, too. And again just leaves it at that. What did her voices say to her? How did they say it? How did they affect her? You won't find out by reading this book.

At any rate, for those who are trying to experience what it's really like to look out at the world from a mind suffering from some sort of chronic depression, I still highly recommend Wurtzel's "Prozac Nation". For those interested in what it's like to be institutionalized, I recommend Kaysen's "Girl Interrupted", but not as highly. For those wanting to experience the world of schizophrenia, I strongly recommend Greenberg's "I Never Promised You a Rose Garden", even though this book is hardly mentioned in other readers' reviews.

As for Plath's "The Bell Jar" . . . alas, I can't recommend it for anyone.


Rating:
Summary: The Bell Jar: Psycological Relativism at its Best
Review: I found Sylvia Plath's "The Bell Jar" to be an excellent read and source of understanding. It is not just another book, but a mirror in which the souls of many are reflected. Young women of all generations, both young and old, can relate to the situations young Elly finds herself in, from the awkward boys she meets and the "perfect" best friend, to the moments she feels as though life itself is not worth living. Ultimately, she is the female version of young Holden Caufield, and for that reason, the book finds such success.
While I found it quite easy to relate to the main character in the book, I found bits and pieces of the story itself to be quite confusing. Several questions remain unanswered, and one must work actively to "connect the dots." However, perhaps the abrupt twists and turns Plath takes throughout the story are meant to throw the reader off course, and further explore the inner workings of Elly's psyche.
All in all, I would rank Plath's "The Bell Jar" at 5 stars, because that it was it truly deserves. Never before has a book kept my mind so intrigued and eager to move forward than that about a young woman named Elly.

Rating:
Summary: An Evocative study of tone's demise through depression
Review: I had heard of "The Bell Jar" for a long time before I picked it up to read it. My friend and fellow writer, Greg Goodsell, liked to read Sylvia Plath's work at the Open Mic's we attended. I would hear her name and think, "I am so woefully under-educated in these classics." For the past few years I have set to righting that wrong.

Sylvia Plath's tale of Esther Greenwood's stumble into insanity mirrors her own journey in many uncanny ways. It is not unlike the words of Virginia Woolf who wrote ""If one shuts one's eyes and thinks of the novel as a whole, it would seem to be a creation owning a certain looking-glass likeness to life."

Esther's life mirrors not only Plath's life, it also mirrors many others of us who have experienced depression. The voice is as clear and familiar as the rooms in my home - known intimately through daily experience. Plath's writing is evocative, clear and haunting.

We are witness to Esther's journey first as an intern at a woman's magazine - a highly coveted position - to her tumble into deep depression, hospitalization, and return to "the outside". We witness her continued losses (one of her friends succumbs to suicide, her experience of shock treatment, her first love relationships.

My favorite lines in the montage of tremendous lines are these, both from the final chapter::

"A fresh fall of snow blanketed the asylum grounds, not a Christmas sprinkle, but a man-high January deluge, the sort tha snuffs out schools and offices and churches, and leaves, for a day or more, a pure, blank sheet in place of memo pads, date books and calendars."

"I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am...."

This book is now used in many classrooms. This is a very good thing, to explore insanity as well as witness a writer capable of creating such beauty and at the same time, not being able to continue with her own life.

I would also suggest readers study Plath's poetry, my favorite collection being "Ariel". Finally, if you are especially taken with the life of Sylvia Plath, there is a DVD you may want to rent starring Gwyneth Paltrow in the lead role and is entitled "Sylvia." I found it to be highly telling and entertaining.


Rating:
Summary: From a Teenager
Review: It was so hard for me to read this book! To read about a 20-if-not-30-something woman who wanted to lose her virginity. She also for some reason hated herself, so much, she was writing so many ways to commit suicide. It was depressing. I've heard so many people say it is such a good book, but it is sooooo heavy. WARNING: NOT A LIGHT READING BOOK!

Rating:
Summary: Looking at what's under glass
Review: Lorna Lindquist
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Looking at what's under the glass

A review of Sylvia Plath's The Bell Jar

While reading Plath can be muddied by all the "Plath baggage" that history has shown us, I think that coming to and away from this book with an open mind will help the reader enjoy it as much as I did. Plath's untimely end is not a mystery to the current reader, but to expect this book to be depressing insults the message that Plath tries to convey.
The main character, Esther Greenwood, obviously suffers from a chronic depressive disorder. She constantly thinks to herself that she should be happy. She looks objectively at her sadness and explores it as though it is simply a bad habit. Greenwood comments again and again that she knows she should be excited about her fortunes in life.
These fortunes mimic the fortunes that Plath herself enjoyed as a young writer. She was published early and had early success, but still her life felt blank enough for her to stick her head in the oven before she turned 30. I think that in this way, The Bell Jar is a thinly veiled autobiography. I also think that she wrote this in third person not so that her personal life could be kept hidden, but so that the examinations of depression could gain a sort of validity by being removed from the author and her stigma.
One farce of depression that Plath destroys in Greenwood is the cliché that all depressed people simply lay around feeling sorry for themselves all day. In fact, Plath suggests that people who are depressed know that there is a problem with themselves, but lack the ambition to root it and solve it because even life as a whole has lost its luster.
As a work, message removed, Plath's talent as a poet comes shining through. She uses phrases that so accurately describe Greenwood's situation that you feel like you can see her thoughts. She uses childish language that indicates the childish tone Plath thinks that life has to offer. She constantly says that things are "stupid" she is "stupid" others are "stupid."
Overall I think that The Bell Jar offers more to the reader than a simple story to read about what appears to be a "crazy girl," it offers instead excellent insight made by a talented writer.