Bell Jar, The
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Amazon.co.uk Review
Plath was an excellent poet but is known to many for this largely autobiographical novel. The Bell Jar tells the story of a gifted young woman's mental breakdown beginning during a summer internship as a junior editor at a magazine in New York City in the early 1950s. The real Plath committed suicide in 1963 and left behind this scathingly sad, honest and perfectly- written book, which remains one of the best-told tales of a woman's descent into insanity.
--This text refers to an alternate
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"'In looking at the madness of the world and the world of madness [this book] forces us to consider the great question posed by all truly realistic fiction: what is reality and how can it be confronted?' New York Times Book Review"
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Most Helpful Customer Reviews
61 of 62 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
The original and best on depression?,
By
This review is from: The Bell Jar (Paperback)
Sylvia Plath is probably one of the most recognisable female authors and poets of modern times, she will be largely remembered for her haunting poetry of depression and mostly autobiographical novel (the first and last) the Bell Jar in which her real life persona is replaced by Esther Greenwood, a young woman who is on the verge of breaking into the writing world. In the first section of the book Esther is an intern in New York working for a prestigious fashion magazine. It is clear from the outset that she has worries as she cannot find any immediate beauty in the cosmopolitan world of NY, she merely carries on day to day but it is clear the enjoyment and excitement is gone. As the book progresses we see her return home where she essentially suffers a nervous breakdown in which she is unable to move from her room and concludes that the everyday tasks of life are too unbearable. She then goes on the journey into a deep depression in which she clearly considers the best method for suicide, has regular visits to a psychiatrist and spends time in a mental rehabilitation unit. The one thing that this book highlights is the terrible way in which mentally ill people were treated in the 50’s and early 60’s, the method of electric shock therapy to eradicate her depressed feelings leaves her scared of any other ‘help’ she may receive, and we see how petrified she becomes when next given this ‘treatment’ albeit once more under more friendlier circumstances. The story is a powerful evocation of Plaths own mental health issues and by writing this book she successfully suggested to a quietened nation of other mental health sufferers that it was ‘ok’ to feel this way and that it happened to the best and most promising bright young things. The way in which the Bell Jar is still seen as a core piece of literature on depression shows the values it holds even today, when rivalled against other authors memoirs such as Elizabeth Wurtzel’s ‘Prozac Nation’ and later on ‘More, now, again’ she remains the original and possibly the best writer on the issue of depression and mental health.
10 of 10 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Truly Excellent,
By Beauty on the Fire (Essex, UK) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Bell Jar (Paperback)
As a real book worm, I knew that this book was semi-autobiographical before I read it, and I had thought that Plath would struggle to remove herself enough from her situation in order to be able to write about it in a subjective way. I am pleased to say however, that I was mistaken! Plath describes excellently the plunging depths of depressive illness, even conveying to me - someone who has never suffered from depression - the true despair and suffocation that can be experienced.
The bell-jar itself is a description of how it feels to fall into a period of depression- entering into a suffocating, surreal and distorted world where only you live- unable to communicate with anybody. One piece of symbolism I really enjoyed in the book was the notion of the fig tree, and how your life can be represented by a fig tree...so many branches representing the many paths you could take in life. The choice of; which branch will lead you to a delicious fig?...but the ever conscious notion that if you take too long to decide your path, the figs will all be rotten by the time you pick one. I really enjoyed this book. Excellent read.
23 of 24 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A fantastic, haunting insight,
By Me123 (Glasgow) - See all my reviews
This review is from: The Bell Jar (Paperback)
Sylvia Plath's semi-autobiographical novel is a harrowing, thought provoking insight into the mind of a woman who is almost synonymous with mental illness.
Indeed, the mental health issue runs through the novel and the main character, who is based on Plath in a number of ways, spends a significant amount of time in a mental institution, dealing with the effects this has on her and her condition. The work provides a haunting insight to the reality of a mental illness, and how this affects the sufferer and their immediate family and friends. From studying Plath's poetry, it can be clearly seen that the central character is based on the author. The most obvious representation comes from their conditions in the novel (bi-polar disorder, abandonment issues, a hint of an Electra Complez) and if you know anything about Plath, many short quotations in the novel take on a much more significant meaning than they would on their own. In fact, it is probably best to understand the writer's basic background before approaching the novel. So far, I've painted a picture of a heavy, depressing read. Whilst I cannot deny that it is a heavy book dealing with a massive subject, I did not find it depressing in any way, but rather fascinating. "The Bell Jar" is a crucial work of American literature, and is an essential purchase for any fan of Plath's work, or any fan of literature in general. Be warned, however, that it is a heavy book, particularly if you do not understand the background.
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Most Recent Customer Reviews
5.0 out of 5 stars
Brilliant!
I'm going to get to the point: I love this book! I simply couldn't put it down. It can join a select group of books that have had that rare power to make me want to keep reading...
Published 9 days ago by Vanessa
5.0 out of 5 stars
Thought provoking, honest and a touch of genious.
The only problem with this book for me was that I already knew what to expect and what the ending was so I'll try not to give you any spoilers.
Published 1 month ago by alb
4.0 out of 5 stars
Insightful and honest
Anyone who has suffered from depression will recognise themselves in the descriptions of isolation and the feeling of "differentness" described in Sylvia Plath's only novel, the...
Published 2 months ago by The Wombat
5.0 out of 5 stars
An Insight into Insanity
This book, from the first page, simply fascinated me; everything about it, from the use of metaphor and rhetoric, to the way she describes the most mundane and supposedly terrible...
Published 5 months ago by Set_A_Snapshot
4.0 out of 5 stars
Great read...
Sylvia Plath's only novel is both depressing and endearing. The torment of an intense mind is beautifully documented and it is haunting yet uplifting.
Published 5 months ago by CC
4.0 out of 5 stars
Sylvia Plath
I struggled with this at times, much as Ms Plath must have suffered, but in the end was totally uplifted by it, her descriptions of people, places and emotions ring so true.
Published 6 months ago by Michelle Scutt
5.0 out of 5 stars
Social commentary and account of depression holds its place in modern literature
Sylvia Plath's novel is a snapshot of life for an average young woman in the 1950's. Caught between her own desires and hangups, and the societal expectations of her as a single...
Published 7 months ago by Talc Demon
5.0 out of 5 stars
'The Bell Jar' by Slyvia Plath
'The Bell Jar' is Slyvia Plath's only novel. It was originally published in 1963 under the pseudonym 'Victoria Lucas'.
Published 7 months ago by Joseph Porter
5.0 out of 5 stars
`The air of the bell jar wadded around me and I couldn't stir.'
Esther Greenwood, a college student from Massachusetts wins a dream assignment, with eleven other students, on a big New York fashion magazine.
Published 8 months ago by J. Cameron-Smith
4.0 out of 5 stars
Delightful and identifiable
I assumed the Bell Jar would be harrowing and I prepared for a gruelling read, but Plath's beautiful prose do not make Esther seem irritating, self indulgent, egotistical or even...
Published 8 months ago by S. Hughes
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