About this title: Plath's only novel, published shortly before her suicide, THE BELL JAR tells the story, based on the author's own experiences, about a young woman's descent into madness. Esther Greenwood spends a month in New York City as a guest magazine editor--just as Plath did as a Mademoiselle magazine intern--and gradually loses her grip on reality. THE BELL JAR was so autobiographical that, when it was first published in 1963 in England, it appeared under the pseudonym Victoria Lucas.
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Description: Very Good. Great condition for a used book! Minimal wear. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Description: Good. Shows some signs of wear, and may have some markings on the inside. Shipped to over one million happy customers. Your purchase benefits world literacy! read more
Binding: Softcover
Publisher: Not Available, Not Available
Date Published: 0000
Description: Good in Good jacket. See Notes. Gently used paperback. ** PLEASE READ: This book is: PLATH, SYLVIA: THE BELL JAR This is the book you will receive if you order this item. read more
"The main character of this novel reminds me of the main character in "The Stranger", except that she has emotions. The book reveals society's insanity in trying to create a cookie cutter generation of females. The surrounding character's expectations of Esther Greenwood lead to her nervous breakdown and attempted suicide. The book is not intense, but it will keep your interest until the end."
"This was an exceptional book. However, what i found most interesting was researching the story of Sylvia Plath and her eventual suicide. I did not realize that the Bell Jar was auto-biographical and that only made the character of Esther Greenwood that much more real and sad. It was so interesting to imagine Plath actually going through this downward spiral in real life, in a time when there wasn't much conversation about such states. For its time it was very ground breaking in bringing to light the face of depression and anxiety, but also the challenges faced by women in that era. I actually like the character of Esther a lot and could relate to her thinking on some levels. All in all it was a great read and an interesting story."
"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 1950's, 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 York City. When Esther returns to her mother's suburban home, she finds herself uprooted from what she feels is one artificial world to another. Unable to write, feeling estranged and incapable of envisioning the manifestation of a fulfilling future, she descends into a deep, suicidal depression. Her mother places her into a psychiatric hospital, where Esther suffers through electric shock therapy and the stigma that comes with having been deemed psychologically unfit.
I have to admit, I had trouble relating to Esther at times. She is so consumed by her melancholy that she can see no escape other than suicide, despite there being obvious alternatives for her. But that, I suppose, is the trap of depression, and Plath does an excellent job at giving us a vivid sense of that world, and how hard it is to dig out of it.
The book has a very contemporary writing style, and is filled with Plath's poetic imagery and eloquent descriptions. Not a light read, but it is a fast one. The fact that Plath committed suicide just 6 weeks before her book's publication makes it all the more heart-wrenching.
"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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