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The Bell Jar (P.S.) (平装)
by Sylvia Plath
| Category:
Fiction, Autobiography |
| Market price: ¥ 158.00
MSL price:
¥ 148.00
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MSL rating:
 Good for Gifts |
| MSL Pointer Review:
A sad, honest, and best-told tale of a woman's descent into madness. An American literary masterpiece! |
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AllReviews |
  1 2 Total 2 pages 17 items |
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Peter Reeve (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
The death of her father when she was only eight years old had a profound and terrible effect on Sylvia Plath. It was the dark star that ruled her life and led her to a period of insanity in her early twenties and eventually to suicide when she was thirty. All of this can be seen in her poems and in this thinly fictionalized autobiographical account of her mental illness. She likens the experience to being sealed in a bell jar, isolated from the world, her view of which becomes heavily distorted by the glass walls of her mental prison. She herself seems never to have faced up to the etiology of her neurosis and she does not describe her doctors as having discussed the issue, even though, after electroconvulsive therapy and (expensive) nursing care within an asylum eventually effected a cure of sorts (in reality, a temporary patching up), she describes herself as having been 'analyzed'.
The Bell Jar is a painfully honest confessional that captures the characteristic self-absorption and craftiness of the mentally ill. She had considerable difficulty finding the right voice for this, her only novel, but finally hit on a sparse, fragmentary narrative style, embodying surreal poetic imagery, that is reminiscent of Salinger or Nathanael West. It is usually the girlish voice of the novel's protagonist rather than the mature voice of the author herself, with constant reference to hairstyles and shoes and of the unsatisfactory nature of the men in her life. Their real failure, of course, was in not being her father, and the threat they posed was that they would, as he had in a sense done, finally abandon her.
Plath herself said that The Bell Jar could never be published in America, and when, after the author's death, it was, her mother tried to stop its publication. The characters and events were too thinly disguised for comfort. It remains, like most of her poems, a raw and open wound, a beautifully written and compelling narrative that has deservedly become a modern classic. |
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Celine Lau (MSL quote), Hong Kong
<2007-01-08 00:00>
The Bell Jar by the highly acclaimed writer, Sylvia Plath -who is famous for her number of poems - is one of my favorite books. It is a dark and rather disturbing novel; autobiographical to some extent and provides an insight to her and her feelings in a metaphor.
You will be empathetic towards the narrator and main character, Esther Greenwood, a young adult who succeeds her way into university in New York. At the beginning, she was ambitious and witty, and like Plath, Esther is an excellent writer. In the summer of her 19 years, she works as a junior magazine editor at her internship and she introduces her friends and many situations that contribute to her final breakdown, as she gradually declines to insanity as she feels being trapped in the bell jar. She is later admitted to a mental institution, where she'll shares her experiences with you. The rest you'll have to find out.
The book jumps from time to time where she'll recall past events abruptly, this was quite confusing, but after the first couple times, I got the hang of it. There are some humor in this book that breaks the ice, mainly a bit of dark humor once a while. I thought the ending was rather ironic, as after a month of the book being published, Plath had committed suicide...
Plath's poetic language and technique is what makes this novel unique, her ability to describe the details of a situation with similes and put every word together that made it so honest and real. She was able to convey the images and feelings of Esther and lets you in her world to portray mental instability. I also found it hard to separate Esther from the author of the book. This book evoked strong feelings from me when I read it. It is an emotional story and can somewhat be life-altering. |
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Jamie Ramirez (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
First off, why exactly did Esther Greenwood have this breakdown? I looked for clues in how she talked and what she talked about, but could only assume various items. In a work of literature, I don't care who you are, it is important to answer all the readers' questions. Why did she have the breakdown? What was the underlying motive for attempting suicide? How did it affect the rest of her life after all was said and done? I did not get the answers to these questions after finishing the book. This made it hard for me to care for Esther as much as Plath probably wanted each reader to. I just didn't understand where Esther was coming from when she ranted on and on about how fabulous it would be to die. I couldn't feel her pain because I didn't know where it came from. Same goes for Joan. There wasn't enough of her character to really get into to feel shocked and upset at the announcement of her death. Secondly, there were quiet a bit of failed metaphors in the story. Plath used the death metaphor too much and in the wrong places at times. Finally, I didn't get a final resolution out of this story. Esther mentioned near the end "How do I know the bell jar won't descend again?" That deprives the story of any climatic ending right there. I mean, so what if she's let out of Belsize, if the bell jar descends again, then why does this entire ordeal that Plath told matter? |
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Norm Zurawski (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
The Bell Jar is a book that came to me via a monologue I once heard given by the character Chris Stevens of Northern Exposure fame. I don't remember the context, nor the message, nor even the general idea of what was said. All I remember was the name of the author, and the name of the book. It stuck with me for a long time, and finally it bubbled up and found its way to my book pile. Eventually, it got read.
Now that you know the story of my coming upon The Bell Jar, I suppose it would be appropriate to give a reasonable explanation of what I thought of it. Having bridged the subject, I find it difficult to do. The book is easy to read, probably taking me 4 days of sporadic reading to finish it. Be warned though, the book is certainly not light reading material.
The subject matter is dark, in the realm of a more mature I Am The Cheese or The Chocolate War. I felt a lot of resonance between those Robert Cormier books and this by Sylvia Plath. I hated Cormier's books - the same cannot be said of this. While I did find it difficult material, it was not inherently cruel. It was troubling, yet truthful throughout. The struggle that Platt endures is tough reading, especially when you know this is a real story. Granted it was told through her looking glass, so you have to take that into consideration. Still, it's pretty dramatic no matter what your perspective.
The chapter at the end of the book I read was an additional biographical note by Lois Ames, and in it we find a little of what happened to Plath after the book ends. It brings things together, in a sense. In a very real way it comes as no surprise to read those pages. I'll leave it at that, since there is already too much between the lines for the unknowing reader to glean from.
In a strange way this book is a modern classic. It will likely not sit on the pedestal that The Good Earth will occupy (another recent read, thus the reference). Written in the 1950s, it relates well to a lot of what is happening today, in 2006. You could take out various items that date the book, release it now, and today's reader would be none the wiser. While the inherent subject matter is not confidence building or heart-warming, it does show people what they feel is not a solitary emotion.
This book is not for everyone. It's not a happy book, written in a happy place. It is not a corollary to Harry Potter, it is not a sequel to Charlotte's Web. The book is loaded with dark text, showing the dark inner thoughts of a young woman in the dark world that we live in. Entertaining, even funny at times, the subject material is surely serious and the potential reader should be ready for the like.
Some call this a young woman's Catcher in the Rye. It's been too long since I read that book to say. Still, I certainly recommend this book. Well done and appropriate even for this day and age. |
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Leanne (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
The Bell Jar has got to be one the best novels ever written as it clearly and effectively elucidates to its reader the dark, grotesque place of the mind one enters into in the midst of mental illness. It refrains from sugar-coating how that sort of experience actually is and how lonely a person must feel to be a victim of their own irrational mind. Esther Greenwood, a sort of representation in itself of Sylvia Plath, suffers from suicidal depression that leads her through the ever-hyped electro-convulsive shock therapy and eventually into an institution. This novel seems to never be ashamed of laying out the facts, as disturbing or irrational as they may seem, from the maddening, wrenching scenes of shock therapy to the self-deprecating feelings Plath experienced that constantly pushed her towards suicide. I think, however, that one has to reach a certain level of maturity or simply experience of age to really identify with this book. Definitely, further reading of Sylvia Plath's works and life would aid immensely in the comprehension of this novel. No one should pass this up. |
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Jessica Jacobson (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
The Bell Jar tells the story of Esther Greenwood's slow descent into madness. Really a thinly veiled recounting of Plath's own mental troubles and her first suicide attempt, it provides a disturbingly realistic account of how a smart, talented and promising young woman can fall so far.
Esther Greenwood is a scholarship student at a prestigious Eastern women's college and a talented writer. However, when she fails to gain admission to a summer writing course, her first inklings of psychological trouble multiply and she falls quickly into despair.
The book takes the readers into Greenwood's mind. The slight changes in perceptions, the means of reacting to life's events, the thought processes, change gradually for the reader, as they did for Esther herself. Only the reader is better equipped to track the changes and to predict the result.
The book describes Greenwood's suicide attempt and eventual recovery. It likens depression to being inside of a bell jar, which distorts the senses for the person trapped inside of it. At the same time, it recounts her journey into adulthood, her exploration of her body and sexuality, which remains active even at her lowest points, and definition of herself as a woman.
At the height of Greenwood's mania, the repeated thoughts of suicide become tiresome. However, Plath presents both the lead-up to her psychosis and her recovery in a realistic and moving manner. The biographical note at the end of the book presents a helpful summary of Plath's life.
Plath's eventual death by suicide at the age of 30 makes this work all the more moving. Despite her struggle to get out from under the bell jar, she couldn't prevent its final descent. Readers can only sympathize by viewing, through this book, what it was like for her inside the jar. |
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Delphine (MSL quote), USA
<2007-01-08 00:00>
I've recently decided to write a review for every book I ever loved. So, yes this is written in retrospect. And perhaps I don't have all the detail written down perfectly. But if you want to read a summary, I'm afraid to inform you that I cannot give you one. I can only give you my opinion.
I was quite young when I first read this; maybe 14 or 15. Perhaps I was too young to fully understand it. I was, for one, a neurotic over achiever and couldn't quite grasp that someone could have an inability not to work. But looking back, I now find myself in the same situation or rather coming out of the same situation.
I recommend this book to everyone, but only after you break into a few of life's tragedies and turmoil. Otherwise, there will be a void in reading this that can't be comprehended or severely hinders the reading.
This was certainly written by a poet. It flows smoothly and nothing too contrive or sentences that were complicatedly constructed for the sake of being complicated. I remember fully enjoying this book.
This book is as relevant today as it is was in the 60s when it was written. Things have changed, yes. But things have also remained the same. The same stresses, worries and concerns still plague many up and coming adolescents. (It's funny for me to write that sentence as one.)
What I love most about this book is that it is not a moral tale warning about the rights and wrongs of life. Neither is an apologetic story. She doesn't make excuses. She tells it like it was for her. Being lost, being annoyed at being asked "what are you going to do with the rest of your life", being the odd one out, being gawky. All of this is still relevant today as it is for me.
Where it loses people is when she starts to spiral down. It's a natural progression that flows smoothly downward - there was never one big incident or anything that explain any such thing. It doesn't try to prod in the physiological of the matter. It's like a first hand account of an accident about to occur where the person can't explain what is about to happen. She just knows she is going to crash.
I'm not saying you have to be depressed or a wounded human being to read this. No. No one is perfect; everyone has problems. If you're young, maybe give this books a few years. But if you've lived some, then read this. This is not a story to be missed. Easy. Deep. Mesmerizing. |
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1 2 Total 2 pages 17 items |
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