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hairymclary28's review against another edition
4.0
What I found particularly interesting about The Bell Jar was that there was never any clear point when Esther Greenwood, the protagonist, is what she considers 'normal'. She's already got the insidious beginnings of depression at the start of the novel and by the time it ends she is on the verge of leaving the mental hospital, but she hasn't left yet.
jlanderson13's review against another edition
4.0
Well that was depressing. I don’t really know what I expected from this novel, but I didn’t like it. Which is probably the point.
serenaii's review against another edition
dark
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? No
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
2.5
Content Warnings
Moderate: Racial slurs, Racism, and Sexual content
lar_iiious's review against another edition
5.0
The Bell Jar. Just read these words aloud, let them hover, let them sink in. There is so much meaning in these three words and it already tells you so much about this novel. It sounds so fragile and like a wonderful metaphor and I can't seem to stop thinking about how beautifully this title fits the novel.
“Everything people did seemed so silly, because they only died in the end.”
Yes, this novel is about suicide. About mental breakdown, about the purposelessness of life and depression. And as it is a semi-autobiographical novel, everything is described in an incredibly realistic and honest way. I loved how the protagonist's thoughts are shown - unreflected and so honest it took my breath away.
“Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one’s head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace."
However, what I loved most about this novel is the writing. This prose is so incredibly lyrical it often made me catch my breath. Everything is full of metaphors and every sentence is beautiful and cold like a crystal of ice and sharp like a splitter of glass. I wanted to copy just about every second sentence, frame it and look at it again and again.
"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.”
If this isn't beautiful I don't know what is. I could breathe these words. And I could probably quote half the novel here, so maybe just better read it if you haven't already. I mean it. The Bell Jar is a wonderful classic that is definitely worth the read. It is brilliantly written, criticizes society (of the mid 20th century) and asks questions everyone desperately tries to find answers to. And it is of a rare beauty, intensity and honesty that is very hard to find.
Now, one last quote that expresses how I felt when I finished this book:
"I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my eyes and all is born again."
“Everything people did seemed so silly, because they only died in the end.”
Yes, this novel is about suicide. About mental breakdown, about the purposelessness of life and depression. And as it is a semi-autobiographical novel, everything is described in an incredibly realistic and honest way. I loved how the protagonist's thoughts are shown - unreflected and so honest it took my breath away.
“Death must be so beautiful. To lie in the soft brown earth, with the grasses waving above one’s head, and listen to silence. To have no yesterday, and no tomorrow. To forget time, to forgive life, to be at peace."
However, what I loved most about this novel is the writing. This prose is so incredibly lyrical it often made me catch my breath. Everything is full of metaphors and every sentence is beautiful and cold like a crystal of ice and sharp like a splitter of glass. I wanted to copy just about every second sentence, frame it and look at it again and again.
"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.”
If this isn't beautiful I don't know what is. I could breathe these words. And I could probably quote half the novel here, so maybe just better read it if you haven't already. I mean it. The Bell Jar is a wonderful classic that is definitely worth the read. It is brilliantly written, criticizes society (of the mid 20th century) and asks questions everyone desperately tries to find answers to. And it is of a rare beauty, intensity and honesty that is very hard to find.
Now, one last quote that expresses how I felt when I finished this book:
"I shut my eyes and all the world drops dead;
I lift my eyes and all is born again."
emi_fford's review against another edition
dark
emotional
mysterious
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
It was a good book - I think, it's difficult to place. It drew you in and made you want to read on. Esther was a very 'real' character, you ended up going through periods of liking her more and liking her less, though the liking more periods aren't a loving sort of emotion though. It is well written and I think displays a lot of thoughts and feelings that Plath herself probably struggled with. The plot is more focused on what Esther feels and how she feels more than any major events that bring her here and there. Though, I did feel slightly more upset over Joan than I thought I would have.
13space_cadet13's review against another edition
2.0
The Bell Jar is a book that I highly anticipated, mainly because of how it is hyped up to be a novel with a brilliant depiction of mental illness as Ester descends into madness. Even though Plath's presentation of a woman and her mental journey is somewhat enjoyable and does show Ester's mental health in a realistic way, I could only think that the story was not hyped up to be.
To begin with, when I started reading, I was enjoying it. That was until about three or four pages in, when Plath casually pops out her first racial slur. That was when I stopped enjoying reading it as much as I was expecting to when I read the first line, or the first page. Plath doesn't stop her overt racism there, either, as it is prevalent throughout the book and makes the character of Ester extremely unlikable. It was particularly uncomfortable when Ester later gets admitted to an asylum and becomes bitter, especially taking this bitterness out on a black man who works at the asylum in which she is living in. Although Ester's mental health issues are extremely relatable, her whiny character and her hatred for people who are not straight and white makes her a whole lot less relatable, especially for someone reading in the present day.
I find that the whole reading experience of a novel that has been highly recommended to me, which I have been anticipating reading for a long time, was ruined by Plath's views and prejudice. The only reason I have not rated lower is because it was extremely easy to read and the mental health aspects were relatable.
To begin with, when I started reading, I was enjoying it. That was until about three or four pages in, when Plath casually pops out her first racial slur. That was when I stopped enjoying reading it as much as I was expecting to when I read the first line, or the first page. Plath doesn't stop her overt racism there, either, as it is prevalent throughout the book and makes the character of Ester extremely unlikable. It was particularly uncomfortable when Ester later gets admitted to an asylum and becomes bitter, especially taking this bitterness out on a black man who works at the asylum in which she is living in. Although Ester's mental health issues are extremely relatable, her whiny character and her hatred for people who are not straight and white makes her a whole lot less relatable, especially for someone reading in the present day.
I find that the whole reading experience of a novel that has been highly recommended to me, which I have been anticipating reading for a long time, was ruined by Plath's views and prejudice. The only reason I have not rated lower is because it was extremely easy to read and the mental health aspects were relatable.
buglikeareader's review against another edition
3.0
The writing was really really cool, and I did enjoy it and it was quiet easy. I just don’t know if it was the best thing for me to read currently as I am also quiet sad and I somewhat related to Esther and that is worrying
cassmelanie's review against another edition
5.0
This book was beautiful. It was sad, poetic and insightful and I just really loved it. It broke my heart a little, but I find that the best books either make you make you fall in love or make you cry.
I went into this book with really high expectations (I felt like if I had hated it, that I would've felt more let down than any book I've ever read because I wanted so badly to love it) and I'm so glad that it didn't let me down. I always love a book more when it meets and breaks my high expectations.
The themes are really strong (so please be careful if you do choose to read it) in this but wow, I recommend it to anyone who's just a little bit lost in the world.
I went into this book with really high expectations (I felt like if I had hated it, that I would've felt more let down than any book I've ever read because I wanted so badly to love it) and I'm so glad that it didn't let me down. I always love a book more when it meets and breaks my high expectations.
The themes are really strong (so please be careful if you do choose to read it) in this but wow, I recommend it to anyone who's just a little bit lost in the world.
idilsindir's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
mruhpy's review against another edition
dark
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75