The Bell jar

Discussion in 'Books' started by We_All_Shine_On, May 8, 2004.

  1. We_All_Shine_On

    We_All_Shine_On Senior Member

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    Anyone else totally dig this book?
     
  2. Spyder

    Spyder La dah de dah

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    its one of my all time favorite books, i love it endlessly
     
  3. We_All_Shine_On

    We_All_Shine_On Senior Member

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    have you read her journals? I started to, but then I had to return it to the library :(
     
  4. MoonlightSilver

    MoonlightSilver Member

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    I read it a couple years ago, but I just thought it was ok. Good ok, but not amazing...
     
  5. KozmicBlue

    KozmicBlue Senior Member

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    It's an alright book. I liked it, but it wasn't that amazing.

    Have you read Elizabeth Wurtzel's Prozac Nation? If you liked the Vell Jar, you will probably like Prozac Nation too. :)
     
  6. mick_jagger_is_so_hi

    mick_jagger_is_so_hi Member

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    I found this book very depressing, but good. I didnt know there are also journals you can read.
     
  7. sassure

    sassure Member

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    For me it is a classic, a must-read.
     
  8. We_All_Shine_On

    We_All_Shine_On Senior Member

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    Wasn't prozac nation made into a movie?
     
  9. KozmicBlue

    KozmicBlue Senior Member

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    Not that I've heard of, but then again... I live in Finland, and most of the movies made in USA never reach our little country. ;)
     
  10. veinglory

    veinglory Member

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    I don't think I would use 'love' to describe this book. I appreciated it.
     
  11. Spyder

    Spyder La dah de dah

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    to be honest, i'd say that the bell jar is one of the greatest works, for her to go from poet to novelist, and considering the depression she was suffering at the time it's a work of a monumental nature
     
  12. scarlettchasingroses

    scarlettchasingroses strawberry tart

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    ...I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story.
    From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out.
    I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.

    - comes from chapter seven
     
  13. lorelai_g87

    lorelai_g87 Senior Member

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    I think it's one of the best books ever written. I LOVE it
     
  14. dylanzeppelin

    dylanzeppelin daydream believer

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    I also enjoyed this book and I love those depressing books, just read anything by Elizabeth Wurtzel. To We_Shine_On's question, sorry if I messed up your name, lol its still early.. they have made this book into a movie, Prozac Nation, but due to many issues it still hasnt been made shown to the public.. who knows if we will ever see it, but it starred Christina Ricci, Jason Biggs, Anne Heche, Michelle Williams, etc. etc...

    Back to the subject of The Bell Jar.. I believe it to be an amazing account in a woman's point of view and even talking about it makes me want to read the book all over again.. I haven't read any of her journals, for I shall look into it, I'm always looking for new things to read..
     
  15. moonbeam

    moonbeam Member

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    her poems are gorgeous. there is one about a mushroom. it is beautiful. its so sad how she committed suicide, and she was such a wonderfully talented person.
     
  16. Mercy

    Mercy Member

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    I love The Bell Jar, it is a fantastic piece of literature. She creates a frighteningly accurate account of emptiness and confusion. Sylvia Plath's short stories and other peices of prose are also amazing. Read Johnny Panic and the Bible of Dreams. Fantastic.
    Elizabeth Wurtzel is an incredibly open writer, and I respect her and her work immensely. I loved Prozac Nation, and can't wait to read her other works.
     
  17. off_my_feet_freak

    off_my_feet_freak Member

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    i love this book- dark as it is . its realistic. it reminds me of me in a sick way.

    but man i love her writing. if you enjoy her you might reading anne sexton.
     
  18. Defence_mechanism

    Defence_mechanism Member

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    i liked it. its quite a depressing book, but i think, ironically, it's quite refreshing to read a book whose main character isnt a heroin, isnt confidant, doesnt win all the time... it's starkly realistic you know? and i like that. it doesnt apologise for being depressing, it just tells the story like it is.
     
  19. old_crone

    old_crone Super Moderator Super Moderator

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    The reason here is two pointed. In this place focus seems crazy, or non existant. First is in your past life you died at this age and your body hold the energy imprint of all things ceasing to exist. The second is learning to face your own power of creation by staring another life while yet living.

    Hi Peachkiss24

    At this point you are on your own so to speak. This means that you are your own godself of choices. To embrace this you have to learn to start your own fire. Back when I was a child we would go out in the woods with nothing but the clothes we had on. We learned to be resourceful. We learned to face ourselves and the choices we made. I never got the hang of creating my own fire from nothing so always hid a couple of matches some where in the clothing I had on. My brother never got the hang of eating anything that was not served on a plate, or cooked. My sister used to rock back, and forth before ever getting to the woods, and would cry. Each reaction to the same moment.

    In your case this point in your life is like that woods. The difference is you are living one choice, and seeing through your bodies imprint that you are not living at all. This sets up stagnet waters, and a stand still effect. The only way to get around, and or through this is to create a new world for you. Start by doing a image journel. I often speak of writing a journel. But for you create your journel much like a tapestry. With pictures. Find your hope. Find what touches your heart, if nothing does then make over time something that does. All you have at this moment is your intent. The hardest thing is to begin. Treat yourself as your own protege. The canvas is yours to create. So be creative, and embrace many places within yourself you have yet to explore. For me walking meditations and hikes in the woods are my centering. My muse has a sense of humor. The feelings catch up. When you know you are dead, you just need to find a way to live unto your own center, and being. When you are alive you often find ways to die to the ego making the ego an ally in the transtion of moving beyond yourself.

    So Take the message from your job that you are at the end of your rope. Smile, and know your power to swing is yours when you seek not to hold on. There is no security and all you have is this moment to trust yourself. All you have promised alive, or dead is CHANGE / CHOICE. The two "C's" See I told you so the saying goes when one door opens the other was ajar, and the other one seemed closed. We create our doors. Did I mention the forth door. The one that is the illusion that we know what we are doing sometimes. Thats when our nose gets smashed against the window, and we can not see for the attachemnts we are so close to.

    Create a passion within you. Find your own way to create your fire, or interest. You are only limited by your choices. Become creative, and as I once told my daughter the world is your own fruitcake. You choose what you take unto your path by the lessons you set up for yourself. You choose the taste by the fruitcake you buy, or bite into. To this day my girls can do anything they set their minds, and hearts too. As my daughter said, "The hard part mom is knowing I can trust me to get through." Her sister replied, "You can not trust yourself for the end of the journey just the steps you have the courage to take one at a time."

    This time is about you, and what you are made of. This time is about finding yourself in a world you become one with. YOU ARE YOUR OWN HOPE AND SALVATION. You are your godself looking for a way to understand rebirth.

    Timing is everything, and timing is non existant as well. All you have is now to begin. The key for you is understanding you are your own hope in this matter of living, and dying. You are your everything. This is where truth, and love begin. To avoid this place of becoming yourself by clouding this time with a serious relationship will only put the inevitable at bay, and some day you will face this place again looking from another door.

    So use this time as a gift not a burden. See this time as your power center needing to be re fired, and understood. See this time as a place to create your passion, and honoring of all life, and journeys. The feelings will catch up. This is about learning to swim in the mud. Keep going and eventualy you will find rivers from which to choose a path that calls to you.
     
  20. sylvanlightning

    sylvanlightning Prismatic Essence

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    Very powerful work... I also enjoyed "Ariel"
     

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