From the Bookshelf of Catching up on Classics (and lots more!)…

The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath

Start date: March 1, 2023

Finish date: May 31, 2023

Discussion: Upcoming Books: No Spoilers

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

Find A Copy At

Libraries

Group Discussions About This Book

Showing 2 of -20 topics — 267 comments total

Upcoming Books: No Spoilers

This topic has been closed to new comments.

* Purpose of this Folder
By Katy , Quarterly Long Reads · 31 posts · 857 views

last updated Dec 01, 2024 11:48AM

Farewell, My Lovely by Raymond Chandler - No Spoilers
By Lynn , New School Classics · 3 posts · 24 views

last updated Sep 14, 2025 05:34AM

showing 10 of 77 topics view all »

What Members Thought

Jan 12, 2020 Rianto Dermawan rated it really liked it

Shelves: fiction

"Instead of the world being divided up into Catholics and Protestants, or Republicans and Democrats, or white men and black men, or even men and women, I saw the world divided into people who had slept with somebody and people who hadn't. And this seemed the only really significant difference between one person and another."

It reminds me to John Gray's book , 'Men Are From Mars, Women Are From Venus', though I still couldn't figure out and rather difficult to understand the matter of feminin ...more

4 likes · Like · see review

Apr 10, 2021 Katy rated it really liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: kindle

Was disappointed in the amount of errors in this Kindle edition.

The story itself is one crazy ride in and out of the asylum.

4 likes · Like · see review

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.

...more

1 like · Like · see review

Apr 11, 2016 Sharon rated it liked it · review of another edition

Shelves: classics, 2016-read, gilmore-girls, gilmore-girls-complete

The first half of the book was beautiful. It was dark, interesting, and Esther was easy to relate to - even the difficulties she was having with trying to figure herself out within the confines of the way her life was beginning to play out.

The second half of the book was disjointed, confusing at times, and simply sad to read. Her mental health did not seem to change at all during the last half the book. So as a reader, I'm not really sure what allowed her to be released from the asylum at the en ...more

Like · see review