"What I fear most, I think, is the death of the imagination.... If I sit still and don't do anything, the world goes on beating like a slack drum, ...
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Mar 21, 2008
Kirk
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Reviewing this collection of posthumously published ephemera in 1979, Margaret Atwood called Johnny Panic "a minor work by a major writer." Unfortunately, that perception has stuck for nearly thirty years now, leading to the rather unfortunate conclusion that Plath was less than successful in her attempts at the short story. That presumption does a real disservice to the stories in this collection, which by any other standard than the towering accomplishments of Plath's own poetry, are
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Jul 08, 2008
Emily
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Oh, Sylvia. Thank you for showing me that talent isn't the same thing as genius, and how some people have to struggle for the former until they fall into the latter. And how is it that you were just as effective at throwing me headlong into writing now, at 24, as you were at 15 when I had never before tried? I'm sad to put you down, but this is the last work of yours there is for me to read in the world. Now, more than ever, I wish you hadn't put your pretty little head in that oven. I want more
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Jan 31, 2012
Ashley
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I love the title story; it is by far my favorite. I just love how I feel like I'm tagging along silently next to her as she works in the medical office. Her words just roll off of the page here, and I can feel all of the hard work she put into making her descriptions perfect. I also feel immense envy, as I wish I'd written the story myself, so painfully real are her descriptions of her waking life.
Next up, I admire 'The Comparison' for its concise description of the differences between More...
Next up, I admire 'The Comparison' for its concise description of the differences between More...
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Oct 01, 2011
Dustyn
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I am sad to hear that people think “The Bell Jar” is a better work of art than this collection of short stories, calling it “lackluster” and “mediocre.” I think people read Plath’s short stories incorrectly. You have to really read into them in order to really grasp these stories. Not all of these stories are amazing, but some are incredibly unique, unlike any of the other short stories I’ve ever read. “The Bell Jar” was a fair piece of work, but there are plenty of authors who have exceeded her
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Aug 21, 2009
Karen
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This book is definitely not a staple of the Plathean canon. It's worth a read if you're interested in Plath herself and want to devour everything she's ever written but look elsewhere in her opus for good storytelling and breathtaking writing. The majority of the stories are lacklustre, decidedly average and sort of just dwindle away to nothing. To be fair, this collection was published posthumously in the 1970s, compiled by her husband, and it contains stories that Plath herself had rejected, p
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Sep 29, 2009
Ab
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Somewhat conflicted about this collection, only because had she not died and become a major author posthumously, these would have for sure been kept locked away somewhere or tossed out. However, being the fascinated-by-Sylvia-Plath poser that I am, I just loved seeing how her journal entries just writing very descriptively about the day or someone's home or a person she ran into, translates into fodder for a story. The creative process is so interesting, in part because I feel like I don't have
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Oct 04, 2010
Marissa
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There were stories that were very nice in this book particularly the "Widow Mangada" journal entry and then the short story that came out of that journal entry "That Widow Mangada". It showed how often many of her stories evolved from her real life. The one problem with that was that many of the stories were quite dull and didn't have a lot of punch or interest. I think also Ted Hughes' (the editor of the book and her husband) preface did a disservice to the reader. He to
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Jan 06, 2011
Mark
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Cross-posted from my blog: http://marklindner.info/blog/2011/01/06/...
Short review: A few decent stories and essays, but really only for the Plath aficionado or completist.
I became interested in this book of stories, essays and excerpts from Plath’s notebooks, due to the several references I came across to the title story while looking into Plath’s background as an aid in understanding her poetry for my Madwomen Poets class last fall.
I got a copy via ILL but it More...
Short review: A few decent stories and essays, but really only for the Plath aficionado or completist.
I became interested in this book of stories, essays and excerpts from Plath’s notebooks, due to the several references I came across to the title story while looking into Plath’s background as an aid in understanding her poetry for my Madwomen Poets class last fall.
I got a copy via ILL but it More...
Sep 25, 2011
Sarah
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I'm not a poetry reader, so I've never really read Plath's poems. But like any self-respecting depressed female teenager I read her memoir The Bell Jar. This collection doesn't contain any of her poetry either, its short stories & articles of varying strengths, along with notebook entries. Its interesting to see how some of her journal entries later became short stories, & I enjoyed this book a lot. There were a few dud stories, but even with those you can understand her ideas & as she never pu
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Jun 05, 2010
Leah
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Sylvia Plath is an amazing writer. Her poems are sometimes too chilling so I take enjoyment in her prose. Just because she writes in prose doesn't mean she is blunted. Her short stories are fierce, tense, and tautly wrapped up with memorable characters and unpredictable plots. My favorite would have to be the Johnny Panic story, of course, it was an ending that I could not ever forget. Even many years later, I still sometimes think to myself the last lines of that story and let myself savor the
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Dec 04, 2010
Kristina
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I'm really sad to say that some of these stories didn't engage me at all. So I kept wondering whether to give this book 2 stars or 3 stars. But quite a few other stories here were great. My favourite was probably the notebook entry "Cambridge Notes". It's a beautiful piece from start to finish (I actually underlined the first few lines of both the first paragraph and the last paragraph of the piece, among all the other excerpts I took note of.) It had such beautiful and insightful bits
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Jul 22, 2011
Amanda
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Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams is a collection of short stories, essays, and journal entries by Sylvia Plath. Altogether, 20 stories, 5 essays, and 5 journal collections grace this book. I must say that it’s extremely difficult to read a short story collection in a timely matter. It took quite a bit of effort to read this one in 10 days, averaging 3 pieces a day, about 32 pages. Why? Because each time I finished a story, I had the immensely satisfying “I’m finished” feeling that comes at t
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Sep 29, 2011
M.
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I am not really trusting much of anything Ted Hughes edited. Will narrow my search from here on with unabridged, unedited works of Sylvia Plath. I do think she was not especially gifted in the prose department. Perhaps too mediated by her desire to be a big-time writer published in the popular mags of her day which turned out to be a rather short one, didn't it?
Jun 06, 2008
Yvette
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I'll qualify my review by first saying that I love Sylvia Plath's work. I really do. Her poetry is magnificent in it's incisiveness.
Her short stories, however, are a bit hit-and-miss. A few, like the title story, All the Dead Dears, The 59th Bear and others are really quite good, and carry some of that incisiveness and amazing language of her poetry. Others just feel a bit like an exercise.
The journal entries are interesting as far as putting some of the ensuing sto More...
Her short stories, however, are a bit hit-and-miss. A few, like the title story, All the Dead Dears, The 59th Bear and others are really quite good, and carry some of that incisiveness and amazing language of her poetry. Others just feel a bit like an exercise.
The journal entries are interesting as far as putting some of the ensuing sto More...
Jul 27, 2009
Xanthe
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I'm the biggest Sylvia Plath fan and this book of her short stories is excellent. Each one draws from her life experiences but it's Sylvia's imagination and engaging writing style that give them a pulse.
The title story, Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams, is a particularly good one that you won't forget in a hurry.
The title story, Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams, is a particularly good one that you won't forget in a hurry.
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Jan 21, 2009
Clodagh
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Some of these stories are so so and some are great, it's a mixed pot really! The story Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams is one of the best short stories I've read so I would buy it for that alone! If they were all of that calibre the book would be getting full marks, but there are some boring stories in there as well.
Feb 17, 2010
Lavinia
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Sylvia is such an exquisite prose writer, too bad I can only digest a few stories a day - that's the trouble with short stories! Even her diary entries are so much different from what/how people normally write. She's able to turn banalities like the neighbors' lives into fine pieces of prose or a landlady in Benidorm into a delicious latino character that even Almodovar would envy.
Now I really have to try her poetry.
Now I really have to try her poetry.
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Aug 22, 2010
"What I fear most, I think, is the death of the imagination....If I sit still and don't do anything, the world goes on beating like a slack drum, without meaning. We must be moving, working, making dreams to run toward; the poverty of life without dreams is too horrible to imagine."
Apr 21, 2010
Thuraya
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Haven't finished this...remember not quite being able to make it though though Plath's essay "Ocean 1212-W" is wonderful and my favorite piece in the book so far...
will prepare a better review once giving it another go...
will prepare a better review once giving it another go...
Jun 10, 2009
Raquel
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I just love Sylvia! It's awesome to see her early short stories, because you can really see how she developed as a writer. Oh, those turns of phrase! Oh Sylvia.
Oct 16, 2010
Natasha
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A few stories were good. Most were ok. The notebook excerpts were painfully ordinary and boring. My favorite piece was the one comparing poetry to novels.
Dec 02, 2009
Danielcox
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Nice short stories, nice poetry, nice journal entries. Recommended for fans of Plath, not necessarily for those who are new to her work.
Jan 19, 2008
Aaron
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I was amazed to find out that there was a collection of some of Sylvia's short stories. Her fiction writing is so unlike her poetry, novel, and journal writings that one might easily forget that this is Plath. There are tell-tale signs that this is Sylvia, still; such as word-choice, which Sylvia has stock words and phrases that set her apart from the rest. People forget that her short story writing is what jumpstarted her career as a writer, and it's easy to see why in this collection. I hi
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Jan 19, 2010
Sofia
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solidified Sylvia Plath as the voice and expression of the anomie i felt in my late teens/early twenties.
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Jul 08, 2011
Stacey
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Not as good as I had hoped. Got bored, and didn't even get through it all. Oops.
Apr 28, 2008
Rachel
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This is a collection of stories, prose, and diary excerpts. The diary stuff was mostly boring unless you are really into Plath and the real people she based characters on. I skipped a lot of it. The short stories were entertaining though. But not extremely memorable, except a couple. "Johnny Panic" was great. About a girl who obsessively learns people's dreams, and the story ends with what may or may not be a dream of her own. Johnny Panic being, I guess, anxiety/fear. I also l
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Nov 12, 2009
Tomie
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The short stories in this book are very different form Plath's other works.
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