thomasgoddard's review against another edition
2.0
Don't believe the hype on this one. You'll only love it if you adore her as a person. Completely. Unconditionally. (Which isn't healthy, stop putting people on pedestals!) Put the writing aside for a moment. She's a good writer/poet and a lot of her letters are equally smart and vibrant.
There's just something... off... about her correspondence for me.
I just didn't enjoy it. It felt like reading a blog. So maybe in a sense she was way ahead of her time. And maybe in another sense most blogs are just really unfiltered and shallow.
The letters have breakthrough moments that reveal interesting things about her. But the rest of the time it was boring or just plain abrasive. Maybe it's just the time she lived in? I don't know.
I get the feeling that she was entirely too self-absorbed to be someone I would have gotten along with. (And yes, I'll accept it might be because I am self-involved)
Another thing important to remember is that it's probably a large part due to the fact these letters were sent to people who knew her and loved her. Primarily, Aurelia Schober Plath.
It would be wrong to fault her on this, but I can say that my rating reflects the fact it took six times as long to get through this because I just found a lot of it buzzed with 'I'm special' energy.
I feel bad saying it. I think some authors are just better as disembodied creatures. Their work is a shining lantern in a dismal world. But if they're yapping away about the prize they just won, ex boyfriends and soap bubble dreams they lose the mystique.
Still, it is good to add this to the shelf, next to Ted's letters, and be able to get a better picture of the life of an amazing writer.
There's just something... off... about her correspondence for me.
I just didn't enjoy it. It felt like reading a blog. So maybe in a sense she was way ahead of her time. And maybe in another sense most blogs are just really unfiltered and shallow.
The letters have breakthrough moments that reveal interesting things about her. But the rest of the time it was boring or just plain abrasive. Maybe it's just the time she lived in? I don't know.
I get the feeling that she was entirely too self-absorbed to be someone I would have gotten along with. (And yes, I'll accept it might be because I am self-involved)
Another thing important to remember is that it's probably a large part due to the fact these letters were sent to people who knew her and loved her. Primarily, Aurelia Schober Plath.
It would be wrong to fault her on this, but I can say that my rating reflects the fact it took six times as long to get through this because I just found a lot of it buzzed with 'I'm special' energy.
I feel bad saying it. I think some authors are just better as disembodied creatures. Their work is a shining lantern in a dismal world. But if they're yapping away about the prize they just won, ex boyfriends and soap bubble dreams they lose the mystique.
Still, it is good to add this to the shelf, next to Ted's letters, and be able to get a better picture of the life of an amazing writer.
streetlightxs's review
Had to return this to the library. Would love to finish it someday though.
whogivesabook's review against another edition
2.0
Don't believe the hype on this one. You'll only love it if you adore her as a person. Completely. Unconditionally. (Which isn't healthy, stop putting people on pedestals!) Put the writing aside for a moment. She's a good writer/poet and a lot of her letters are equally smart and vibrant.
There's just something... off... about her correspondence for me.
I just didn't enjoy it. It felt like reading a blog. So maybe in a sense she was way ahead of her time. And maybe in another sense most blogs are just really unfiltered and shallow.
The letters have breakthrough moments that reveal interesting things about her. But the rest of the time it was boring or just plain abrasive. Maybe it's just the time she lived in? I don't know.
I get the feeling that she was entirely too self-absorbed to be someone I would have gotten along with. (And yes, I'll accept it might be because I am self-involved)
Another thing important to remember is that it's probably a large part due to the fact these letters were sent to people who knew her and loved her. Primarily, Aurelia Schober Plath.
It would be wrong to fault her on this, but I can say that my rating reflects the fact it took six times as long to get through this because I just found a lot of it buzzed with 'I'm special' energy.
I feel bad saying it. I think some authors are just better as disembodied creatures. Their work is a shining lantern in a dismal world. But if they're yapping away about the prize they just won, ex boyfriends and soap bubble dreams they lose the mystique.
Still, it is good to add this to the shelf, next to Ted's letters, and be able to get a better picture of the life of an amazing writer.
There's just something... off... about her correspondence for me.
I just didn't enjoy it. It felt like reading a blog. So maybe in a sense she was way ahead of her time. And maybe in another sense most blogs are just really unfiltered and shallow.
The letters have breakthrough moments that reveal interesting things about her. But the rest of the time it was boring or just plain abrasive. Maybe it's just the time she lived in? I don't know.
I get the feeling that she was entirely too self-absorbed to be someone I would have gotten along with. (And yes, I'll accept it might be because I am self-involved)
Another thing important to remember is that it's probably a large part due to the fact these letters were sent to people who knew her and loved her. Primarily, Aurelia Schober Plath.
It would be wrong to fault her on this, but I can say that my rating reflects the fact it took six times as long to get through this because I just found a lot of it buzzed with 'I'm special' energy.
I feel bad saying it. I think some authors are just better as disembodied creatures. Their work is a shining lantern in a dismal world. But if they're yapping away about the prize they just won, ex boyfriends and soap bubble dreams they lose the mystique.
Still, it is good to add this to the shelf, next to Ted's letters, and be able to get a better picture of the life of an amazing writer.
eta's review
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
tense
medium-paced
5.0
!!!!
susannes_pagesofcrime's review
4.0
I first started reading these letters back in February and then just dipped in and out as the mood took me. Then, I decided that I had to finish it before the end of the year and not carry it over to 2021 and so read 920 of the total 1340 pages just in December.
This is a truly immersive read that takes a great deal of concentration and which serves to demonstrate the many faces of the young Sylvia Plath. I look forward to continuing the journey with her.....next year!
This is a truly immersive read that takes a great deal of concentration and which serves to demonstrate the many faces of the young Sylvia Plath. I look forward to continuing the journey with her.....next year!
soavezefiretto's review
5.0
There's no way I could review this. Just this: anyone who thinks Sylvia Plath is the poems in "Ariel", or her suicide, or her marriage to Hughes, or even her journals - this image will (again) be shattered by this book. Syliva Plath's letters are a study in how we lie to ourselves by lying to otheres and in doing so expose everything about us. Here Plath is more human and flawed than she ever wanted to be, and I love her for it. Such a waste, such a waste. Read this even if you're afraid of very big heavy books. It is so worth it. All of it.
sarahsadiesmith's review
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
5.0