A review by fictionandfauna
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

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

5.0

 I would say that this book is about to become my whole personality but that would be wrong since I feel like it already IS my personality. 
 
As a mentally ill girly, I rarely read any books that so perfectly encapsulate the experience of battling depression, anxiety, ADHD or even mania. But The Bell Jar practically reflected back to me the girl I was in my late teens. 
 
I have never felt so seen and understood by a book before and when I learned that it was the one and only novel Sylvia Plath wrote before she took her own life in 1963, my heart broke because it so easily could have been me in 2011. 
 
The slide from “normalcy” into complete and total breakdown was so insidious and accurately depicted, you can’t help but feel for Esther as she battles the dark recesses of her own mind. Anyone who has experienced a depressive episode or lives with chronic depression will see their experience written in the pages of this book. We may not all wind up in an asylum undergoing electric shock treatment these days but the events that led to it are still relevant today. 
 
The one flag is that there is some ugly, jarring racism in this book with stereotypes, racial slurs and even assault. One scene in particular makes for harrowing reading and readers should take care. The fact that this book was published in 1963 does not excuse the awful content but it does offer some context as to the very privileged, very white, very racist world that Sylvia Plath herself was a part of. 
 
Overall, The Bell Jar feels like the original My Year of Rest and Relaxation and for those who enjoy unhinged main characters, this one is the OG. 
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