Book review: The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

My rating: 5 of 5 stars


I watched a documentary about Sylvia Plath's life last year and it made me curious to read this book. It was the only novel written by Plath, and she died about a month after its release. The documentary featured many people who had know Plath, and they all said that this book was written about real events and was more of an autobiography than a fiction novel.

There is a real feeling that the main character, Esther Greenwood, feels very uncomfortable and pigeonholed in the life that she leads. This book is the story about that character's struggle with mental illness, and many believe it's Sylvia Plath's own story of her battle with clinical depression, or bipolar. It's an intriguing insight into the types of facilities and 'cures' that were available for mental illness in the early part of the 20th Century.

Although this book does relate many examples of when Esther Greenwood was depressed or suicidal, and portrays her as disillusioned a lot of the time, I got the feeling that the voice of the author held a lot of hope for the future despite everything that had gone before. The way it is written, although dark, is not depressing. It contains a wealth of humour.

Worth reading.



View all my reviews