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The Bell Jar: A Novel

3.91 of 5 stars 3.91 · rating details · 205,090 ratings · 7,252 reviews

A Special Paperback Edition toCommemorate the Fiftieth Anniversaryof the Publication ofSylvia Plath's Remarkable Novel

Sylvia Plath's shocking, realistic, and intensely emotional novel about a woman falling into the grip of insanity

Esther Greenwood is brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, but slowly going under—maybe for the last time. In her acclaimed...more

Paperback, 244 pages

Published June 11th 2013 by Harper Perennial Modern Classics (first published 1963)

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Jun 12, 2007 Sammy rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: a-the-best

There are many who have read The Bell Jar and absolutely loved it. I am gladly considering myself one of them. I was a little caught of guard when I read a few reviews of The Bell Jar comparing it to The Catcher in the Rye stating how it's the female version of it. I liked Catcher but I know there are many people who didn't and upon hearing that may be similar to Catcher not have the desire to read it. I assure you, The Bell Jar is a book all on it's own and should not be compared to any other b...more There are many who have read The Bell Jar and absolutely loved it. I am gladly considering myself one of them. I was a little caught of guard when I read a few reviews of The Bell Jar comparing it to The Catcher in the Rye stating how it's the female version of it. I liked Catcher but I know there are many people who didn't and upon hearing that may be similar to Catcher not have the desire to read it. I assure you, The Bell Jar is a book all on it's own and should not be compared to any other book... even as a compliment.

When I first started reading the book I was a little put off, feeling it was an extremely pretensious novel. Her descriptions were crisp and precise, often using words that one rarely hears spoken or even read. I went into the novel knowing that Plath was a poet and felt that at first the book was just another form of her poetry and her showing off her writing abilities. But that only remained within the first two pages, because after that I became absorbed. The writing that I was a little sketchy about at first helped me visualize the setting and get to know the characters. And though Plath never really described many characters as to their personality, I began to feel I knew them all intimately.

Strangely enough, if you remember in my last review, what bothered me most about The Good Earth did not bother me in The Bell Jar. Because the Esther, the character we are following, is slowly descending into madness, time no longer matters. There are a few times I was confused about the timeline, but it did not upset me.

The book really spoke to me because of my own personal experiences with depression and suicide. It spoke to me as a woman and my views on sex and the confusion I'm sure most other girls out there face. It's amazing that this book was written and published over 30 years ago, really, when a new woman was coming out into the world. I have a feeling that this book helped women realize that they're not alone, and brought things to light that most people have commonly shoved aside; women and men. But what else is amazing is how relevant these topics still are today. Specifically with suicide, and specifically about the virtue and pureness of women compared to men.

So I guess that is why The Bell Jar is often compared to The Catcher in the Rye, with it's discussions and writings of often controversial titles. Setting off a new generation of writers, styles, and people. Another book also came to mind as I was reading, and that was The Perks of Being a Wallflower. There are moments when I could make a few direct comparisons between the two. With Esther slowly seperating herself from socialization and sinking deeper into her own thoughts and depression. Analyzing things that go on around her and her surroundings. Very reminscent of Perks.

If you feel you're suffering from depression, madness, confusion about topics pertaining to society and sex, or just looking for a good read, The Bell Jar is definetly the book for you. I also advise, if you're seriously suffering from depression, to get help for yourself. There is no shame in it, and getting help is better than ending your life. Even if you need to go on medication, DO NOT feel ashamed, especially if it's going to help you even more. (less)

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Mar 16, 2008 Randy rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction

It's weird how dated books often get remembered for completely different reasons than the author could've possibly intended. I doubt Sylvia Plath thought to herself, "This semi-autobiographical novel will be a poignant look into my adolescence once I attain a cult following for sticking my head in an oven." Or, "I hope my book becomes regarded as a seminal work of postwar ennui and oppressive gender roles."

In The Savage God, A. Alvarez says Sylvia spoke of The Bell Jar "with some embarrassment...more It's weird how dated books often get remembered for completely different reasons than the author could've possibly intended. I doubt Sylvia Plath thought to herself, "This semi-autobiographical novel will be a poignant look into my adolescence once I attain a cult following for sticking my head in an oven." Or, "I hope my book becomes regarded as a seminal work of postwar ennui and oppressive gender roles."

In The Savage God, A. Alvarez says Sylvia spoke of The Bell Jar "with some embarrassment as an autobiographical apprentice-work which she had to write in order to free herself from the past." I can forgive her for being so severe on herself. When you're writing the poems that later become Ariel, it's hard not to consider everything you've written before a steaming pile of crap. But there's an element of truth to her self-criticism.

I give it three stars on its own merits. The woman clearly knew how to write, and the imagery is utterly mind-blowing. With so much misinformation about depression being a primitive pity-fest--and the fact that there are so many pills you can take for it now--not many people realize what an expansive and inexplicable experience depression can be. You can't demean or diminish depression after you've read The Bell Jar.

I give it another star for cultural and historical relevance. This book could be read in a history class on the 1950s. While Betty Freidan was writing about "the problem that has no name," Sylvia Plath was creating a character that was acting it out. And Plath's poetic rendering of depression has taken on increased significance given the explosion of incidence rates since 1980.

But the book is very dated, in social setting, cultural references (she mentions the Rosenbergs in the first sentence to set the mood), and to a lesser extent language. These limitations wouldn't necessarily be problematic if the themes were more universal (cf. The Catcher in the Rye), but to some extent the resonance of the book is limited by its roots in specific social contexts (e.g., the gender roles) and its emphasis on describing a state of mind that is very hard to communicate and to which few people can relate directly (e.g., the depression). Although she does an amazing job translating such a specific experience into a novel that can be appreciated by anyone, she's right to point out that it's too rooted in specific themes and events to be as universally applicable as some of her later poems.

But there's no question that it's still worth everybody's time, and it's held up for me over multiple readings. She was a hell of an author.
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Feb 27, 2013 Madeleine rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: head-in-the-clouds-nose-in-a-book, mmxiii, our-libeary, maybe-it-s-time-to-live

I feel like I owe Sylvia Plath an apology. This is a book I actively avoided for years because so many people (namely female classmates who wanted to be perceived as painfully different or terminally misunderstood or on the verge of absolutely losing their teenage shit) lauded the virtues of this book and how it, like, so totally spoke to them in places they didn't even know they had ears. My own overly judgmental high-school self could not accept even the remote possibility of actual merit lurk...more I feel like I owe Sylvia Plath an apology. This is a book I actively avoided for years because so many people (namely female classmates who wanted to be perceived as painfully different or terminally misunderstood or on the verge of absolutely losing their teenage shit) lauded the virtues of this book and how it, like, so totally spoke to them in places they didn't even know they had ears. My own overly judgmental high-school self could not accept even the remote possibility of actual merit lurking between the covers of something that such bland, faux-distraught ninnies clung to like a life raft.

I should probably also apologize for referring to every pair of oven mitts I've ever owned as a pair of Sylvias but I think the lady scribe in question was too mired in real problems to care all that much about my sick amusement's crass reduction.

"The Bell Jar," packed as it was with bleak truths, difficult topics and wryly dark humor, was not at all what I was expecting. Old biases die hard: I couldn't help but brace myself for a trivial tribute to mental imbalances, White Girl Problems and petty complaints disguised as life-ruining moments. What I got was an utter lack of histrionics and a sincere, to-the-point road map of one talented young lady's fight against her inner demons. Sylvia's alter ego Esther Greenwood (let's all take a second to appreciate the sly cleverness of trading "Sylvia" for the fictional surname "Greenwood") is so straightforward in addressing her despair that I couldn't help but extend more sympathy than I thought I could muster to her understated suffering. If nothing else, this book taught me that my own bouts of the blues are simply me being human and could be so much more debilitating: For that clarity of self-awareness alone, I am grateful.

Reading this as I neared the "Infinite Jest" finish line offered necessary perspective that helped me get a better idea of what it must have been like inside such a messy head. The relative ease with which IJ's depressed cast could self-medicate in secret or seek refuge where at least someone was trying to understand the extent of such gaping psychological wounds offered a jarring contrast to the way Sylvia/Esther seemed truly isolated from those who couldn't see how awful it was to live inside herself. While she encountered precious little understanding in both her personal life (Mrs. Greenwood's inability to see her daughter's problem as her daughter's problem instead of wondering what she did wrong just rubbed my modern sensibilities the wrong way) and from the medical professionals who were tasked with helping her rise above the sinking despair she couldn't escape, I finished this fictionalized semi-autobiography 50 years after its publication with a keener understanding of what Sylvia Plath endured than I'm comfortable with. (less)

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Nov 21, 2012 Mala rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: disturbing, female-writer, modern-english-fiction

Review of The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
Shelf: female writer,modern fiction,depression.
Recommended for: not everyone.

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

Sylvia Plath is one of the doyens of confessional poetry, The Bell Jar,her only,semi-autobiographical novel,falls into the same category. It's written with an emotional honesty that makes one gasp. Plath wrote it "in order to free (herself)from the past" & to show"how isolated a person feels when...more

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Mar 29, 2008 Mister Jones rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: Peppy Sorority Girls who like Betty Crocker oven recipes

Recommended to Mister Jones by: a self-absorbed pedantic prof of gender-studies

[groan] when I was in my twenties, I read this book and liked it immensely; I related to Esther; I empathized with her angst and anxiety about what life had handed unfairly to her, and how she had enabled all of that woe to alienate her from a world she felt she had no part. The prose was clear; well-written; and was steeped in persecution and isolation as Esther spiraled into the darkest recesses of depression.

In grad school, all I heard was how great Ms. Plath was, how her writing--her poetry,...more

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Jul 13, 2012 Chiara Pagliochini rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: classici-americani

« Dovunque mi fossi trovata, sul ponte di una nave o in un caffè di Parigi o a Bangkok, sarei stata sotto la stessa campana di vetro, a respirare la mia aria mefitica. »

Ci sono dei libri che sono stati scritti non dico da gente come noi, ma da gente che pensava come noi. Le curve del pensiero, sovrapposte, per lo più combacerebbero con le nostre e soltanto qualche sbavatura qua e là dimostrerebbe che, dopotutto, non si tratta della stessa curva. Quando un libro lo ha scritto una persona che pens...more

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Mar 19, 2012 B0nnie rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

The Bell Jar is a first person narrative about one woman's total alienation - from the self, from society, from the world - with the cold war as a backdrop (the references to the the Rosenbergs, the UN, Russians). She is a sort of female 'underground man' of the new age.

The story is told simply, though complex in structure and themes. Sylvia Plath writes with a clear direct style that is ironic, funny, and poetic.

Esther, a young woman of the 1950s, is in New York for a brief, glamourous job...more The Bell Jar is a first person narrative about one woman's total alienation - from the self, from society, from the world - with the cold war as a backdrop (the references to the the Rosenbergs, the UN, Russians). She is a sort of female 'underground man' of the new age.

The story is told simply, though complex in structure and themes. Sylvia Plath writes with a clear direct style that is ironic, funny, and poetic.

Esther, a young woman of the 1950s, is in New York for a brief, glamourous job at a magazine. New York! the centre of the world, the jazz and push of New York, the dark heart of New York. Clothes and parties and men. Esther finds no excitement in this: her mind is on the Rosenbergs, and "being burned alive all along your nerves." She feels empty. It is a crisis of identity, but of course it is more than that. Her sense is that society has placed her under a bell jar, where she is stifled and unable to act.

Magazines, the media of the day, had a large influence on women and their self image. On the one hand, they showed how exiting life could be with a career and travel. Yet they also sanctified motherhood and the good wife. Esther uses an allegory to show how this type of doublethink fragments and paralyzes her :

From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out.

I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.

The moment of total alienation comes when she crawls into the underground - a dark gap in a cellar - to take her own life. From this lowest point she is rescued and brought to recovery, and again able to listen to the old brag of her heart, "I am, I am, I am".

She can breathe and live. The bell jar is lifted, at least for a time.
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Aug 17, 2011 Beth rated it 3 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: 2011-reads, classic, august-2011

I don't know.

I can enjoy the bleakest of books. Living Dead Girl, for example, is one of the most brutal, unforgiving books I've ever read, and yet I still managed to find a kind of small, sick enjoyment - presumably in flipping the pages in a frenzy, panicking, never knowing what was going to happen next and not being sure if I wanted to know. I am using Living Dead Girl as an example because it's truly one of those helpless books, where a happy ending is just not possible.

The Bell Jar is like...more I don't know.

I can enjoy the bleakest of books. Living Dead Girl, for example, is one of the most brutal, unforgiving books I've ever read, and yet I still managed to find a kind of small, sick enjoyment - presumably in flipping the pages in a frenzy, panicking, never knowing what was going to happen next and not being sure if I wanted to know. I am using Living Dead Girl as an example because it's truly one of those helpless books, where a happy ending is just not possible.

The Bell Jar is like that but, then again, not. It involved me. It involved me in the worst possible way. While reading it, I felt like I was being slowly dragged under tepid water. There is a heavy inevitability to all that happens to Esther. I began to feel depressed myself, to be affected by Esther's "what's the point?" attitude towards everything. While I am immensely sympathetic to people who suffer from depression, I also think that depression is one of the worst emotions in the world. I hate any kind of involvement in that feeling whatsoever. In spite of Plath's talent, I began to hate reading The Bell Jar. Yet I couldn't stop.

Maybe this book should get five stars. Maybe it deserves them. But I can't bring myself to give them. There was no relish in The Bell Jar. There was no enjoyment. That is obviously the point -- Esther is seriously depressed and mentally ill, but still, Plath's depiction of her mental illness was so palpable that I couldn't see a light at the end of the tunnel, even when the (view spoiler) rolled around. I could write a lot of standard critiques, like "the characters were unlikeable", but I only feel that unlikeability truly counts if we're supposed to sympathise with and love the characters. Obviously not Plath's intention. There were "no driving questions" - true, because it was all to mirror Esther's increasingly lifeless and hopeless outlook.

Brief rant: however, I cannot see why this book is called a 'feminist' text. Why, because it revolves around an intellectual woman who isn't sure about getting married and having a family? Seriously, those are the only two components of Esther's character that I could really call 'feminist.' Maybe I have a skewed view of feminism, but to me, a feminist text is one that celebrates or depicts female triumph, success or, failing that, strength. To me, even the bleakest of books can be feminist if they revolve around a woman's strength (the movie Volver is my favourite example of this.) Yes, Sylvia Plath depicts the hypocrisy and incomprehension of men, particularly through Esther's first doctor, to the point where the novel borders on misandry; however, Esther also has a dislike of all people (with the exception of Dr. Nolan, who might be one of my favourite supporting characters ever), which makes it difficult to see this, and Esther's determination not to help herself, although I am well aware that this was probably a feature of Esther's depression and she should not be blamed for it, does undermine the whole "one woman against a corrupt and brutal system" conflict that feminists seem to play out. Also, to me, The Bell Jar is a novel about one woman's fundamental weaknesses and failures. Is it called feminist because it dealt with a very taboo subject? Granted, Plath/Esther (the two blur for me, since The Bell Jar is so blatantly autobiographical) has a horrible time in her first round of (view spoiler), but her condition seems to improve after the first round. There's no real scathing take on mental institutions here. This isn't a novel about feminism. This is a novel about a woman. And there is nothing wrong with that.

Four stars for excellent execution.
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Oct 11, 2007 Greg Carmichael rated it 4 of 5 stars

Going into The Bell Jar I expected immediate immersion into a world of gloom followed by the incessant whining that often accompanies that world. Those of you who have read Prozac Nation know exactly what I mean. What else should I have expected from a woman who committed suicide by putting her head in an oven?

Perhaps that is why I put it off reading this classic for so long. Yet to my pleasant surprise, the novel opens on a high note describing a young Esther Greenwood in the midst of a summer...more Going into The Bell Jar I expected immediate immersion into a world of gloom followed by the incessant whining that often accompanies that world. Those of you who have read Prozac Nation know exactly what I mean. What else should I have expected from a woman who committed suicide by putting her head in an oven?

Perhaps that is why I put it off reading this classic for so long. Yet to my pleasant surprise, the novel opens on a high note describing a young Esther Greenwood in the midst of a summer internship working for a fashion magazine in New York City. We find Esther to be extremely intelligent and analytical if somewhat detached. Plath endears us to Esther through her wit—she takes very little at face value and her whimsical cynicism is strangely charming.

Through the first third of the novel, I couldn’t help but imagine her as Capote’s Holly Golightly before she became a top-shelf prostitute (forgetting, of course, all that we learn about Golightly’s past later in the novel). Smart in looks and mind, she maintains an air of fetching naiveté and entitlement, and I fell for her just like Plath wanted me to.

It is only after Esther has our affection and sympathy that Plath sends her into the downward spiral that she herself experienced. We track Esther’s illness as she contends with a boyfriend she despises, superficial friends, mental institutions and an obsession to lose her virginity. I found this to be a very real depiction of depression, no doubt due to the autobiographical nature of the novel. Often people associate depression with sadness or some upsetting external issue. Yet as we learn through Esther’s descent, apathy and fatigue are very real culprits and are often seen instead as character defects.

The Bell Jar gives us insight into Plath’s particular brand of depression as well as any biography on her could. It is not a cheerful read but has several moments of humor and levity that make it bearable to one not inclined to read a book on this subject.
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Feb 02, 2013 Dem rated it 4 of 5 stars

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath is a book that I had on my real life shelf for a long time and finally got around to reading it.

I really found this novel a dramatic and touching read. The book follows the in depth struggle of a young woman called Esther Greenwood.
Esther Greenwood, the protagonist of the story, is a mentally unstable young woman and she gradually slips into a dark depression while living in New York. She is tormented with the idea of death and tries to commit suicide, believing th...more

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Apr 08, 2012 Trinity rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: intense, poetic-prose, favourite, swim-fan

This review and other fun stuff can be found on my blog Trin In The Wind.

I first read The Bell Jar when I was at Uni. To be honest I mostly picked it up to score scene points. Heck I was at Uni doing an arts degree, look how cool I am. To say the story caught me off guard was an understatement. I don't think I was ready for The Bell Jar. I knew what I had read was amazing but I struggled to tell you why and honestly some parts of the book I found disorientating and confusing.

This isn't a book t...more

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Sep 21, 2012 K.D. Oliveros rated it 2 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to K.D. by: 1001 Books You Must Read Before You Die (2006-2010)

Shelves: 1001-core, semi-autobio, only-novel, saddest

This book did not grip me the way I expected it would. Had I read this when I was younger or when I have not yet read other descent-to-madness books, I would have appreciated it more. Topping the list for me in this kind of sub-genre is Elias Canetti's Auto-da-Fé (4 stars) with a male protagonist or Jean Rhys' Good Morning, Midnight (3 stars) with a female protagonist. I am not an expert on literature because I am a mere reader but I think The Bell Jar is inferior in imparting the exact mood tha...more

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Sep 07, 2009 Annalisa rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: classics, psychology

I really wish I had read this book back in college when I could have related so much more to Esther's character. Scenes like where she fed her clothes out to the wind or pondered moving out to Chicago with nothing but a fake identity or more than anything stood invisible in the shadows as she watched her neighbor cross her house, I could see myself (feel myself) in her at that age. If I had read this when I was in college, I would have seen myself in Esther and wondered if I had the potential to...more I really wish I had read this book back in college when I could have related so much more to Esther's character. Scenes like where she fed her clothes out to the wind or pondered moving out to Chicago with nothing but a fake identity or more than anything stood invisible in the shadows as she watched her neighbor cross her house, I could see myself (feel myself) in her at that age. If I had read this when I was in college, I would have seen myself in Esther and wondered if I had the potential to go mad. I connected to the immensity of Esther's young, somewhat selfish, poignantly observant, and fatalistically driven character. What struck me as odd and yet familiar was the almost obsessive randomness of her actions--rituals that held no emotional attachment but she followed through to attach herself to something as if it made her look normal.

At one point Esther mentioned in passing something about her childhood and it felt so honest and real that I felt that she were real, or that Plath were sharing a part of herself with me. It's what makes Esther's character so three-dimensional and I don't know that I can separate Esther and Plath. I loved the eloquent description and her fabulous metaphors. I wish I had marked them because they happened in the beginning when Esther was lucid and by the end I had forgotten them. The strongest is the image of depression (or mental illness) being like looking at the world through a distorted, suffocating bell jar, very powerful. I took this route with Esther as all hope and ambition failed her and she hung all her self esteem on an acceptance letter and when that failed, she had nothing else holding her up. I could relate to that, to postponing depression to a fixed event.

I was almost disappointed with the second half because I wanted to feel the madness in Esther, but it wasn't crazy, it was depression, cold, languid, mind-numbing depression. Plath stops describing the the backdrop to the scenes, stops analyzing, stops telling us how Esther feels. I felt gypped, that I had connected with Esther and then she didn't feel real to me anymore, until I realized that just like Esther quit showering and changing her clothes, she quit describing her world to me. And when she started feeling again, I knew she would be alright. I love the unknown at the end. I don't need to know what Esther does because Plath already showed me that she was seeing the world again, without the bell jar.

It's a beautifully written novel. I know I love psychology and would have loved it anyway, but that part was so quiet, it was the poetic description and a very real Esther that made me like the book—or maybe the fact that I like to read about crazy people. I tried not to think about Plath committing suicide as I read the book, but it was there, not because it made the book morbidly fascinating, but because it made it raw. I can see Plath writing this novel as her own therapy with Esther as a thinly veiled version of herself. I just don't know what to do with the unemotional description of depression and the hope for recovery other than believe Plath wanted to be better, to be happy and maybe through Esther she could see that for herself even if she never got there.(less)

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Aug 05, 2007 carolime rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

i really, really enjoyed this one. i knew i would; everyone recommended it to me and all my bests appreciated it wholeheartedly. i even picked up a paperback copy at a used bookstore years ago and didn't read it until now!

my bad. this is an awesome novel. it traces the mental breakdown of a college-age girl who seemingly has everything right. you know, grades, awards, scholarships, internships, etc. of course, the bell jar enumerates actual events and characters from the life of sylvia plath. so...more i really, really enjoyed this one. i knew i would; everyone recommended it to me and all my bests appreciated it wholeheartedly. i even picked up a paperback copy at a used bookstore years ago and didn't read it until now!

my bad. this is an awesome novel. it traces the mental breakdown of a college-age girl who seemingly has everything right. you know, grades, awards, scholarships, internships, etc. of course, the bell jar enumerates actual events and characters from the life of sylvia plath. so on some levels, it rings alarmingly true to real experience. i never suffered mental dissolution on this level- but i was always guilty of having the surface "perfect academic life" and the internal riots of doubt and neurosis. thus, i think the thoughts and experiences this book intimates are crucially important to understanding young women, the modern era, overachievers, sexuality in intellectuals, etc.

you know how you always try to identify with the main character? or even the narrator (if they're separate.) you align some aspect of your personality, your features, even your goals. it always makes the story more real, and i think that for myself it allows me to completely block out my own world and join the story-world. how could you cry at the end of the book if you weren't in story-world? the bell jar, for me, required no effort at all to indentify with the protagonist.

she's smart, observant, driven, snarky, emotional, creative, introspective; and eventually, neurotic, timorous, questioning, judgemental. she faces all sorts of the same questions i (and most of my peer group) faces. intellectualism or self-satisfied family life? sex or love? the outside world or my mental space? caring about everything or caring about nothing? it is the way esther, the main character, treats these questions that makes her fabulously real and alarmingly close to home. she isn't consistent. she identifies her goals but also recognizes her own behaviors as subverting them. she's her own sharpest critic-- and it that what brings about her mental breakdown?

i think, too, that i was really touched by her realizations about place-- that the city (new york OF COURSE) is overwhelming. full of people and things and maybe not all of them are worth caring about. but how can one sort out that challenge? the suburbs, by comparison, are small-minded and sleepy, capable only of choking one's brain. other places in the novel-- cities that aren't new york, the mental institution, various hospitals and doctor's offices-- these places seek to enrich the basic dichotomy. they counterpoint and fine-tune, often offering respite or challenges of their own. i think that i'm pretty influenced by places and that my own mentality often aligns place with mental state. would i go crazy if i had to move back and live with my parents in their northern virginia bedroom community? crazy is a relative term, i suppose.(less)

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Sep 24, 2012 Angus rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: reviewed-and-blogged

Original post at Book Rhapsody.

***

Suicide for Dummies

I always get curious when a book is semi-autobiographical. Since it’s “semi,” I cannot help wondering which parts of the book are lifted from the life of the author. It could be that I am curious because some of what I am reading happened to someone, or it could be because things that happen in the real world are sometimes stranger than entirely fictional books.

References of Sylvia Plath’s works in pop culture are abundant, especially in movie...more

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Aug 13, 2007 Chris rated it 3 of 5 stars

I'm really not sure what to say about this book. It was a fascinating read, but I didn't really love it. And yet at times I could really relate to Esther...to almost a scary degree, actually.

Early in the book, she seems like the poster child for the so-called quarter life crisis, and (unsurprisingly) that's the part of the book where I really felt like I was over-relating to her. I actually had trouble getting through that section, and I wonder if it's because I found myself recognizing so much...more

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Jul 02, 2008 Chloe rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Recommended to Chloe by: Charity

Shelves: classics, fiction, 1001-list, i_am_in_love, white_whine

This review has been hidden because it contains spoilers. To view it, click here.

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Dec 29, 2010 Adrienne rated it 4 of 5 stars

Shelves: my-classics

Ok you should know that when I started this I knew very little about Sylvia Plath, her writing or her personal story. I think reading the Bell Jar without all the 'baggage' that comes with knowing too much was a good thing. The story I read was fascinating! I felt as though I were in the story as Esthers companion as she slipped into her dark place. The first third of her story was written like a regular novel, I thought maybe this would be a high class/literary predecessor of Valley of the Doll...more

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Mar 27, 2013 Fatin rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: cobwebs, owned, bildungsroman, favorites, reviewed, hello-hi-please-read-this, needs-a-trigger-warning, wonderful-opening-lines, feminist

I absolutely adore the way Sylvia Plath writes. It is so simple, and yet the book is full of beautiful imagery.

There are no villains in the story, but society could be deemed an evil. Esther doesn't want to be a typical housewife, and then she feels she should be because that is what is expected of her. If she isn't a housewife and a mother, she can be a novelist, or a an editor for a magazine. I was sad that she never felt there was a way for her to be both.

Our protagonist isn't portrayed as...more

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Mar 19, 2012 Ikra Amesta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Saat Esther Greenwood mengawali narasinya sambil berpikir tentang pasangan kriminal yang hendak dieksekusi listrik, maka pembaca bisa mengidentifikasi arah cerita di buku ini adalah menuju jurang depresi. Dan dalam halaman berikutnya, si tokoh utama sudah memberikan prolog karakternya yang “tidak menyetir apapun, bahkan diriku sendiri,” dan juga “hening dan hampa seperti pusat pusaran tornado yang bergerak dungu di tengah-tengah kebisingan,” lalu dari sana kita meluncur bebas ke dalam pikiran Es...more Saat Esther Greenwood mengawali narasinya sambil berpikir tentang pasangan kriminal yang hendak dieksekusi listrik, maka pembaca bisa mengidentifikasi arah cerita di buku ini adalah menuju jurang depresi. Dan dalam halaman berikutnya, si tokoh utama sudah memberikan prolog karakternya yang “tidak menyetir apapun, bahkan diriku sendiri,” dan juga “hening dan hampa seperti pusat pusaran tornado yang bergerak dungu di tengah-tengah kebisingan,” lalu dari sana kita meluncur bebas ke dalam pikiran Esther yang tidak hanya berliku tapi juga pecah-belah.

Esther memiliki semua hal untuk dicemburui. Sebagai gadis remaja, ia pintar secara akademis, memperoleh beasiswa bergengsi, menerima berbagai penghargaan, bekerja di majalah mode, berpesta dan bertemu dengan para sosialita di malam hari. Namun di balik semua keistimewaan hidupnya tersebut, Esther merasakan guncangan dalam setiap jejak napasnya yang terasa tanpa arah yang pasti. Ia menampilkan dirinya selalu berada dalam kecamuk batin yang hebat mengenai segala hal. Lalu akhirnya Buddy Willard, sang kekasih, menunjukkan "jalan terang" bagi Esther. Lewat sifat munafik Buddy yang polos, Esther menderita mental breakdown yang membimbingnya ke tempat rehabilitasi mental di mana sesekali ia mendapatkan terapi kejut.

Namun sebenarnya ini bukan kisah mengenai cinta yang menghancurkan hidup seorang perempuan muda. Dari awal, Esther memang pribadi yang rumit. Masalah hubungan percintaannya itu hanya seperti buah cheri yang diletakkan di puncak kue tart, yang menjadi titik akhir akumulasi kisah hidupnya yang mendorong Esther untuk mencoba bunuh diri (perdebatan batin mengenai cara, bagaimana, dan kapan bunuh diri dilakukan adalah proses yang tidak kalah kompleks). Masalah Esther, lebih dalam lagi, adalah masalah yang berkaitan dengan isu eksistensi manusia dalam hidup dan bersosialisasi. Esther menyebutkan bahwa dirinya “tidak bisa hidup di pedesaan atau kota” yang menyiratkan ketidakmampuannya untuk berada di dalam batas kenormalan atau norma yang diakui oleh masyarakat atau bahkan menjadi bagian dari peradaban sosial. Esther terlalu sibuk mencari jati diri di dalam dirinya sendiri namun ia menutup kemungkinan untuk bisa melihat “dirinya” dari orang-orang yang berada di sekitarnya sehingga ia menjadi seperti planet kecil yang berputar dengan kacau balau pada orbitnya sendiri.

Esther sebagai seorang perempuan, bisa dilihat sebagai kritik terhadap posisi perempuan di dalam dunia ini yang selalu menjadi korban. Keputusannya untuk tidak mau menikah atau memiliki anak justru malah menyudutkan takdirnya sebagai perempuan. Kebebasan untuk menjalani hidup menjadi hal yang dipertanyakan bagi perempuan. Dunia sastra sudah lama mempersonifikasikan masalah tersebut dari mulai dilema Anna Karenina, delusi Madam Bovary, represi gadis-gadis keluarga Lisbon, sampai yang termodern, sifat antisosial Lisbeth Salander.

Karya semi-otobiografis dari Sylvia Plath ini memang memiliki gaung yang keras. Terlepas dari kisah tragis yang mengikuti sang penulisnya (bunuh diri beberapa minggu setelah buku ini diterbitkan), konflik mengenai kebingungan dan kegalauan seorang perempuan dalam menjalani hidup ini merupakan sebuah echo yang akan terus berpantulan dari masa ke masa.
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Jun 04, 2009 Laurel rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: fiction, psychology

I recently listened to an audio recording of Sylvia Plath's poetry (spoken in her own voice), which I found beautifully expressed -- though, not surprisingly, also quite dark and melancholic.

The same can be said of her semi-autobiographical book The Bell Jar. Set in the 1950s, it is the story of the intelligent and gifted young Esther Greenwood who slowly experiences a psychological breakdown. This breakdown occurs following a short period of interning as an editor at a magazine company in New Y...more

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Dec 24, 2012 Saman added it · review of another edition

Shelves: biography, novel

واقعیت این است که درباره‌ی خود کتاب عرضی ندارم. شهرتِ این کتاب و به خصوص شعرهای (سیلویا پلات) بیش‌تر از این‌ اندازه‌هاست که این کم‌ترین بخواهد و یا علاقه‌ای داشته باشد(مورد دوم کاملا ً صدق می‌کند) که چیزی بیفزاید یا بکاهد. اما پیرامونِ کتاب و شاید بتوان گفت: درباره‌ی جان مایه‌یِ کتاب که همان (زندگی و مرگ) است؛ راغب‌ترم که چند خطی بنویس

ببیندید! من زندگی یک آدم معمولی را خیلی سریع و ام پی‌تری وار روایت می‌کنم: به دنیا می‌آید. دورن طفولیت را پشت سر می‌گذارد. کودک می‌شود. دوازده سال درس می‌خواند تا...more

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Soulmaz خداوندا تو مسئولي
خداوندا تو مي داني
كه انسان بودن و ماندن
در اين دنيا چه دشوار است
چه زجري مي كشد آن كس كه
انسان است
و
از احساس سرشار است
Jul 21, 2009 02:55am

deleted user سلام
شما دوست عزیز مطلب درستی نوشتید و دیدگاه خود را به خوبی بیان کرده اید.نوشته ی شما چند بخش دارد:تولد،زندگی،مرگ و خودکشی
که بنده بعد از خواندن مطلب ش...more
Jul 21, 2009 05:15am

Oct 14, 2007 Christina barry rated it 4 of 5 stars

Interview
1.) Why are you in New York?
I’m currently here for a month. I’m working as a guest editor for a fashion magazine.

2.) Why did you leave Doreen alone with a guy that she had just met, especially if she was drunk?
Well, I saw that Doreen and her date were having fun, joking around and playing. Besides that I was starting to get bored and a little irritated with them so I figured I’d just go home.
3.) Why did Doreen miss the luncheon?
She just wanted to spend some time with Lenny, I guess.

4...more

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Feb 10, 2009 Jennifer rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition Recommends it for: Everyone.

Shelves: memoirs, classics, tmi

I read this a couple of times in my teenage years. It was really the perfect book when you are a teenager being ravaged by hormones and feeling like quite the outsider - not to mention depressed.

I read a review of this book that said this book was dated. I think I understand what they mean by that - but I never felt that way. Just like when you read any book written in another time period you have to allow yourself to be transported into the time the book was written in. So I guess I would have...more I read this a couple of times in my teenage years. It was really the perfect book when you are a teenager being ravaged by hormones and feeling like quite the outsider - not to mention depressed.

I read a review of this book that said this book was dated. I think I understand what they mean by that - but I never felt that way. Just like when you read any book written in another time period you have to allow yourself to be transported into the time the book was written in. So I guess I would have to say, a book isn't dated if it is written in another time - it just takes place in the past. (Unless of course it's a non-fiction book for Business or Health or something.) I understand the treatment for and behavior toward depression as portrayed in the book is rather disturbingly primitive by modern pill popping standards, but it was the reality of the illness at the time.

It's hard to separate the iconic hugeness of Sylvia Plath from her book. To write a book about depression and alienation and suicide and then later kill yourself - that's hard to shake off as you read it. I am actually glad I read this before I really knew anything about Ms. Plath (in the 80's in a small town in Wisconsin - we didn't talk much about Sylvia Plath at the local Perkins.) I almost feel like I got to experience The Bell Jar before all the mess of her real life tainted the experience. (I hate spoilers - I like to walk into something and have my opinion be formed on my thoughts and not be lead into my perception - which I find is way to easy to do - yes I am a sheep.) That all being said I should read this again when I come across my old tattered copy - it would be fun to read it through 37 year old eyes rather than 17 year old eyes.

There is an image I think of very often from this book - Esther is at a bar and she doesn't know what to order for a drink. So she orders a glass of vodka neat because she saw it in an ad in a magazine and the image stuck in her head - it looked so cool and crisp and refreshing. I am not sure why but of all the things in this book that is one of the images that sticks so crisply in my head.

Finally - This is one of those books that everyone should read. It's referenced all over the place and it's really a part of the 20th century literature Cannon of books "you should read". Last night I was watching a Family Guy episode and Meg was laying on the bed reading "The Bell Jar". Seriously - if this book is in a Family Guy episode then this book is all over the place. Ya gotta read it at least once.
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Jul 05, 2008 Taylor rated it 1 of 5 stars · review of another edition

I've never shied away from depressing material, but there's a difference between the tone serving the story, and a relentlessly depressing work that goes entirely nowhere. I know it can be viewed as a glimpse into Plath's mind, but I would rather do a lot of things, some quite painful, than read this again. It hurt to get through it, and I think it's self-indulgent and serves no real artistic purpose. Which is truly a shame, as I love a lot of Plath's poetry.

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Jun 12, 2013 Alex rated it 5 of 5 stars

Shelves: reading-through-history, 2013

For the past five years I've been reading through all the classics in chronological order, and one of the exciting things that's happened as I get closer to today is that for some more recent authors, their echoes are really loud and clear. A guy like Ulysses, he echoes all over the place but the echoes are all changed and weird because it's been a while. But Plath was writing recently enough, and her voice is powerful enough, that you still hear her distinctly through people like Lena Dunham or...more

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Mar 18, 2013 Teresa rated it 5 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: favorites, l2013, 5-estrelas, mprt, gl-classico, a-usa

Certa vez perguntei a alguém: “Porque lemos nós livros que nos fazem sofrer?”, ao que ele me respondeu: “Porque são verdadeiramente bons!”

Um romance, um poema, onde, através da personagem Esther Greenwood, Sylvia Plath nos revela a sua alma.
Um livro que tem tanto de belo como de triste, que me quebrou e esmagou o coração de tristeza pela menina, presa nas sombras da depressão e da loucura: “Não consigo comer, não consigo dormir, não consigo ler”.
“Para a pessoa dentro da campânula, vazia e imóv...more

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Dec 04, 2012 Simona Bartolotta rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: novecento

«Ricominceremo da dove eravamo, Esther» aveva detto con il suo dolce sorriso da martire. «Faremo come se fosse stato soltanto un brutto sogno.»
Un brutto sogno.
Per chi è chiuso sotto una campana di vetro, vuoto e bloccato come un bambino nato morto, il brutto sogno è il mondo.

E' incredibile che siano passati tre giorni da quando l'ho finito, e che ancora non sia capace di formulare una frase coerente al riguardo. Tre giorni vissuti un po' come in apnea: mi sento ancora nella campana di vetri di E...more

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Dec 05, 2012 ميّ أحمد rated it 4 of 5 stars · review of another edition

Shelves: سير-ذاتية, روايات

أكثر الكتب التي أحب الكتابة عنها هي تلك الكتب التي تؤثر بي بشكل خاص .. لم أعرف سيلفيا بلاث إلا منذ سنوات قليلة من كتاب جمانة حداد عن الشعراء الذين قضوا نحبهم بالإنتحار .. شاعرية بلاث وإرتباطها بهيوز وطريقة موتها بوضع رأسها في فرن الغاز عوامل ساهمت في شهرتها وتأتي هذه الرواية التي تحكي قصتها لتؤكد إبداع سيلفيا إلى جانب جنونها ..

استير فتاة متدربة في إحدى مجلات الموضة متفوقة تبدو كأن المستقبل يفتح أذرعه بإتجاهها تحضر حفلات ، تشارك في الحياة ، لكنها فجأة تبدأ بالقيام بتصرفات غريبة دون سبب واضح تنحدر...more

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Apr 18, 2008 Tracy Elizabeth rated it 1 of 5 stars Recommends it for: my ex

I only had to read it once. I never read it for or with pleasure. I prefer childbirth.

24 likes · like · see review

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About Sylvia Plath

Sylvia Plath was an American poet, novelist, and short story writer.

Known primarily for her poetry, Plath also wrote a semi-autobiographical novel, The Bell Jar, under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas. The book's protagonist, Esther Greenwood, is a bright, ambitious student at Smith College who begins to experience a mental breakdown while interning for a fashion magazine in New York. The plot paralle...more

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Quotes from The Bell Jar

“If you expect nothing from anybody, you’re never disappointed.” — 3,343 people liked it

“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.” — 3,229 people liked it

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