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The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath

Start date: March 1, 2023

Finish date: May 31, 2023

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Why we're reading this: Revisit the Shelf Reread, March 2023

Revisit the Shelf Reread, April 2016

Previous Reads:
New School Classi…more
[close] Revisit the Shelf Reread, March 2023

Revisit the Shelf Reread, April 2016

Previous Reads:
New School Classic Group Read, December 2014

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What Members Thought

Nov 12, 2013 Franky rated it liked it

Heralded as an introspective look at the mental deterioration of Esther Greenwood, Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar is based closely on the author’s life. Plath went through and changed the names of those people within the book as to not offend or draw undue attention to these individuals.

While this book often gets plugged in many “best of” lists when it comes to literature, I found the book to be a little disappointing. For one, Esther is just not a very likeable character. I realize she is going t Heralded as an introspective look at the mental deterioration of Esther Greenwood, Sylvia Plath’s The Bell Jar is based closely on the author’s life. Plath went through and changed the names of those people within the book as to not offend or draw undue attention to these individuals.

While this book often gets plugged in many “best of” lists when it comes to literature, I found the book to be a little disappointing. For one, Esther is just not a very likeable character. I realize she is going through depression, but she comes across as snobbish and self-important, treating others (her mother, her friends) with disdain and with a certain level of smugness. So, in total, it is difficult to empathize with her. Secondly, I realize there are many variables that lead to the onset of depression, but I had a difficult time discerning exactly what caused Esther’s mental breakdown. Perhaps a disconnect exists because the story is told from her perspective. It just seems like there are many gaps in the narrative (from Esther’s first signs of depression to being completely suicidal and in the asylum).

Still, there are moments of sheer brilliance in Plath’s writing, especially as Esther battles her demons: “But I wasn’t…How did I know that someday—at college, in Europe, somewhere, anywhere—the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn’t descend again?”
The bell jar becomes a symbol of the blurry, distorted life outlook for Esther, and Plath does examine the controversial aspects of shock treatment for those suffering from suicidal thoughts or severe depression. The novel itself seems like it was sort of a therapy for the author to purge some of these awful life experiences from her system (it’s too bad it ended tragically, though).

I’m glad I read The Bell Jar, as I’ve had it on my “to read” pile for quite some time. Still, I think I like Plath’s poetry (“Mirror” is such a brilliant and haunting poem) a little more than this novel.

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May 24, 2010 Leanne rated it it was amazing

Shelves: psychology, classics, coming-of-age, audio-book, challenging-life, challenges-your-mind-to-think, feminism

I just finished. Just barely. And I am devastated. As I think of Sylvia Path's young brilliance in this book and how early she died, I feel like her death is fresh. I am in mourning.

The Bell Jar ripped my heart out. Any words I use to describe Plath's writing simply feel muddy compared to her devastatingly honest prose.

I have thought for years that I had read the novel and didn't like it; however, as I picked it up this week to "re-read" it as my daughter read it, I was stunned that Bell Jar w ...more

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