xx_selenite's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
sad
slow-paced
5.0
I am truly speechless. I finished the book 40 minutes ago and needed those 40 minutes to process the monumental biography I just read. My thoughts are not fully organised yet, and I apologise for this.
- I believe Heather Clark knows Sylvia Plath better than Sylvia herself. There isn't one aspect of her life that wasn't talked about. This is the first time I feel familiar with a person through a biography.
- Related to the previous point, I cried, which is new for me upon reading biographies.
- Despite having studied The Bell Jar, I did not realise how autobiographical it was before reading this book. Even smaller, more trivial elements are rooted in Sylvia's real life. In the same way, some poems become much easier to interpret
- This book didn't feel tedious to read like some biographies are. It reads as easy as a novel, at the end of each chapter I just wanted to keep reading.
I truly believe this is a book one must read if they've ever read anything by Sylvia Plath. It is necessary to understand her writings, and her life illustrates the psychiatry of her time, a system which failed to understand women's suffering and the impact of patriarchy on their psychology.
A genuine, major recommendation.
- I believe Heather Clark knows Sylvia Plath better than Sylvia herself. There isn't one aspect of her life that wasn't talked about. This is the first time I feel familiar with a person through a biography.
- Related to the previous point, I cried, which is new for me upon reading biographies.
- Despite having studied The Bell Jar, I did not realise how autobiographical it was before reading this book. Even smaller, more trivial elements are rooted in Sylvia's real life. In the same way, some poems become much easier to interpret
- This book didn't feel tedious to read like some biographies are. It reads as easy as a novel, at the end of each chapter I just wanted to keep reading.
I truly believe this is a book one must read if they've ever read anything by Sylvia Plath. It is necessary to understand her writings, and her life illustrates the psychiatry of her time, a system which failed to understand women's suffering and the impact of patriarchy on their psychology.
A genuine, major recommendation.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicidal thoughts, Mental illness, Suicide, and Suicide attempt
renmarshallbrown's review against another edition
5.0
Wow. This is the best biography I've ever read. Comprehensive, unbiased, and compulsively readable. It's the longest book I've ever read, but one of the best.
dommdy's review against another edition
3.0
Only 3 stars because this book was way too long. I got tired of the endless similar episodes of her life. As interesting as I find Plath, this book did a disservice to her by a lack of editing.
jdisarray's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
reflective
sad
tense
slow-paced
5.0
Content Warnings
Moderate: Chronic illness, Suicide, Domestic abuse, Mental illness, and Toxic relationship
Minor: Animal death
momwrex's review against another edition
5.0
Well researched, based on objective documentation, fascinating and heart-breaking. The author provides essential insight into the poetry of Plath, and of other writers of the period.
In addition, while describing Plath's life, it also depicts the life and circumstances of intelligent women struggling to be seen for their intelligence in a time when women's intelligence was overtly dismissed and undervalued. Her struggle to be a writer, while also living with the demands of being a mother and "wife" (i.e. taking care of house and husband, while husband has few practical demands placed on him) were (are) a plight for many women.
I found this picture of Sylvia Plath with baby Nicholas. It wasn't in the book, but I wanted to share it https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sylvia-plath-photos-_b_2648814?slideshow=true#gallery/5bb61fe5e4b039c29568b782/10
In addition, while describing Plath's life, it also depicts the life and circumstances of intelligent women struggling to be seen for their intelligence in a time when women's intelligence was overtly dismissed and undervalued. Her struggle to be a writer, while also living with the demands of being a mother and "wife" (i.e. taking care of house and husband, while husband has few practical demands placed on him) were (are) a plight for many women.
I found this picture of Sylvia Plath with baby Nicholas. It wasn't in the book, but I wanted to share it https://www.huffpost.com/entry/sylvia-plath-photos-_b_2648814?slideshow=true#gallery/5bb61fe5e4b039c29568b782/10
trippalli's review against another edition
dark
emotional
informative
inspiring
mysterious
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
5.0
For a46 hour looking audio book I was interested in every bit of the story, which really surprised me. But it's well written and am amazing sorry full of details on writing, poetry, relationships, challenges and accommodations in Sylvia Plath's life. While a sad story out shines a light on mental health, women's lives and successful artists and writers of the times. Excellent biography, one of the best I've read.
martinaflowerss's review against another edition
5.0
i dont really know how to move on from this an go into reading another book
kindledspiritsbooks's review against another edition
5.0
Many would ask how it is possible to write a 1300 page biography about a woman who only lived for thirty years. Those people clearly don't understand just how much incredible and ground-breaking writing Sylvia Plath managed to produce in such a tragically short period of time. Clark paints a vivid and human portrait of a gifted artist who struggled with the restrictions and expectations placed on her by her society, going into tremendous amounts of detail about her family life, her early relationships, her struggles with her mental health and her traumatic experiences at the hands of psychiatrists. Clark draws on huge volumes of Plath's personal writing including diaries and letters to bring this often misunderstood figure to life as a real living, breathing, brilliant and flawed woman. She affords similar generosity to other polarising figures from Plath's life, including Ted Hughes, Assia Wevill and her mother, Aurelia Plath. Where others have demonised these individuals in the wake of Plath's suicide, Clark also shows them compassion and presents a balanced portrait that acknowledges their own strengths, struggles and flaws along with Plath's. While many previous Plath biographies have scried though her poems to find signs that make her tragic end seem like the inevitable conclusion of a life possessed by a powerful poetic spirit, Clark's work feels as though it does the opposite. Reading it I was overwhelmed by the sense that her death was deeply preventable. Had the freezing winter not left her isolated and miserable, had the medication she was on been better monitored, had in-patient mental healthcare not been such a terrifying prospect, there might have been a very different outcome and she might have lived decades more. The loss to the literary world is incalculable and the loss to her many many friends and loved ones immeasurable. For anyone who loves Plath's poetry, Red Comet is an undertaking that will leave you devastated, but it is worth every page.