I enjoyed The Bell Jar. Her description of childbirth..."that long windowless, doorless corridor of pain" gave me the willies! -Pedata
i just finished reading this book for the third time this afternoon. perhaps it is my age and the time, but i am drawn to this book. plath writes with this clear, amazing, precise prose that in its own way is poetry. she writes with an often unnerving clarity, and like many others, i find myself indentifying with her moments as many others have. i went into reading the bell jar about two years ago aware of the stigmas that the literary community (and the not-so-literary) as well as our contemporary culture have placed on this book and sylvia plath herself. sylvia plath, despite the fullness of her art, has become the victim of endles oven references and parodies of her sainthood to the adolescent girl. the bell jar has often been called the female catcher in the rye. well *ducks rocks*, i found this book to be much more poignant and full than catcher, and though they both capture young people in a kind of emotional limbo, they seem quite different, when you come down to it. i not only appreciated this book, but cite it as one of my favorites. one of my favorite cultural references to sylvia plath occurs in the woody allen film annie hall, where allen snatches a copy of 'ariel' off of annie's shelf and says something like, "sylvia plath. interesting poet whose tragic suicide was interpreted as romantic by the college girl mentality." diane keaton responds, "i think some of her poems seem neat." this is a great read and i think a lot of educated people haven't read it because of that 'college girl' stigma. i'm a college girl myself, and that's a narrow mentality to have. this book is definitely one of the classic books of the 20th century and should be read by anyone with an interest in the human mind.
its kewl how one book can relate to so many people! l loved it, and i hated it. i loved it for the same reasons you did, it was good and i saw a lot of me in it. i hated it because i am severely clinically depressed and it just aggrivated my condition. and the scary thing was was that i related myself to the character a LOT and when she was contemplating suicide, i actually wanted her to go through with it...
Yeah, I agree that Plath's only published novel deserves a lot more respect from the literary community. It's one of my Top 10 favorite books. (BTW, The Catcher In The Rye is on my list too). I also like the flick. And it doesn't seem to get a whole lot of respect either. I often wonder what Sylvia's response to all this might have been? I mean, she first published the book in England (she actually created a pseudonym: Victoria Lucas), and didn't wanna use her actual name cuz the book is so hugely autobiographical. The reviews were not the greatest. And that only added to her depression. This was only a few weeks before her suicide. Then it was published in the States after her death. Using her real name. And it became a bestseller here. I was one of the few people to see the movie Sylvia. It came out around a year ago? It's all about her intense and oftentimes painful relationship with Ted Hughes. The movie helped me to understand her a lot better. Sylvia was not a saint. She had her flaws just like the rest of us. And there were moments when it would have been extremely difficult to know her. But I feel she was a genius. One of the finest poets to come out of the 20th century. And a good person. And to accomplish what she did! Given her clinical depression. She had to be a very strong person. That's why I get so pissed off when I hear people throwing around some of the cheap Sylvia Plath oven jokes. She certainly did not take the easy way out. She fought her illness long and hard. And somehow managed to become immortal before she finally reached the point where she just couldn't stand to be sick anymore. She deserves much more respect than she gets. Peace, ~PD P.S. Sylvia Plath and Anne Sexton were friends for a short while. Sexton even wrote a poem about her: "Sylvia's Death".
Im going to virtually smacked for asking this, but I thought this books goal was to link race and intelligence. Or was that the Bell Curve? Im just trying to clarify and what not?
I think so but I have never seen of it or heard of the actual movie. I loved Prozac Nation!!!!! Very inspiring into the mind of how things can work if you are depressed. I read it after I came out of depression.... anyway I haven't read the Bell Jar.
Plath's poetry strikes me more than "The Bell Jar." I made the mistake of reading it over Christmas holiday one year and got TOTALLY bummed.
