Reviews tagging 'Chronic illness'

La campana de cristal by Sylvia Plath

41 reviews

sashabaker177's review against another edition

dark emotional reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? No
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

This book lulls you into a false sense of security. Esther initially seems sardonic, judgemental and disconnected as she spends the summer in New York, but her thoughts become increasingly dark and her narration appears ever less reliable. The final act is a terrifying and viscerally detailed portrayal of mid-century mental healthcare. Knowing the author's fate the ending feels ominous rather than hopeful. My only criticism of the book would be that at times the character expresses racist and homophobic sentiments, which later on in the book feel integrated with her break with reality, but earlier on at times feel like the author's prejudices seeping through. To be expected with a book this old, but nonetheless a little jarring.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Vomit, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Death, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, and Medical trauma

Minor: Chronic illness, Gore, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Grief, and Lesbophobia

mblanke's review against another edition

dark funny sad fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Racial slurs, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Body shaming, Sexual assault, Sexual content, and Alcohol

Minor: Vomit and Alcohol

bzzzzzz's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny reflective sad tense slow-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? It's complicated

3.5

Sylvia Plath's writing is magnetic. Yet, given her state of mind, it comes as no surprise that this book is devoid of love, hope, or joy. I think art needs touches of these things to truly be a masterpiece. Also, it has a tragically distorted view of sex.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Drug abuse, Infidelity, Mental illness, Misogyny, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Torture, Toxic relationship, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Medical content, Grief, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis , Pregnancy, and Alcohol

vartikas's review against another edition

dark sad fast-paced

0.5

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, and Suicide attempt

kairipaopu12's review against another edition

challenging emotional reflective tense fast-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? It's complicated
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Chronic illness, Racial slurs, Racism, Sexual content, Forced institutionalization, and Injury/Injury detail

todrick_the_tree's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.75

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Death, Emotional abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual content, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Rape and Sexual harassment

jlebon's review against another edition

dark reflective tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? Yes
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

My copy of this book is absolutely full to the brim of underlined and highlighted passages, dog-eared pages and protruding tabs - which is undoubtedly a great barometer for how good a book is.

Sylvia Plath was a master with words and, in the novels best passages, you can tell (without prior knowledge) that she was first and foremost a poet and secondly a novelist. Her use of language is so evocative and makes you stop and reread her beautiful prose over and over again. I found myself savouring every letter printed in this book.

Narratively, this book is fundamentally very dark in places - morbid in the protagonist's (Esther's) approach to life. And yet this was strangely comforting for me in places. I would be lying if I didn't say there were points in the novel that I related to, with the book feeling as if you're contained within the character's head - much like a person contained within a bell jar you could say. Therefore it feels as if Plath is just sometimes writing what most people think but don't say. It is also nice to read about a protagonist who initially seems to all her life in order, before it slowly crumbling away before her.

A criticism could be levelled that the novel lacks depth within the plot, basically just focusing on the psychology of one individual. However, I do think this works perfectly in unifying the protagonist and reader - seeing what she sees and hearing what she thinks. 

I would love to reread this book again, at a less busy period, where I can dedicate time more regularly to devour this book once more. And who knows, maybe that will increase my already high valuation of this book even further.

Up there as an all-time favourite for me!

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Child death, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual content, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Blood, Vomit, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, and Schizophrenia/Psychosis

Moderate: Chronic illness, Death, Panic attacks/disorders, and Suicide

Minor: Body horror

sorene_'s review against another edition

informative lighthearted reflective 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

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Forced institutionalization, Medical content, Suicide attempt, and Injury/Injury detail

Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Infidelity, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Sexual assault, Forced institutionalization, and Classism

Minor: Body shaming, Chronic illness, Homophobia, and Vomit

junglejelly's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional funny hopeful reflective sad tense medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Character
• Strong character development? Yes
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? No
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

The Bell Jar is a short but incredible book. Having mental health illnesses myself, I really related to some of the experiences in the book.

Set in the 50s made it even more interesting, reading how much and little has changed for women, and mental health.

I would implore everyone to read this to better understand what a mental health illness can look like, or to understand your own mental health better.

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, and Suicide attempt

Moderate: Racial slurs and Racism

Minor: Chronic illness, Fatphobia, and Medical content

jeanne24's review against another edition

challenging dark medium-paced

• Plot- or character-driven? Plot
• Strong character development? No
• Loveable characters? It's complicated
• Diverse cast of characters? Yes
• Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.25

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Content Warnings

Graphic: Chronic illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, and Suicide attempt