Sylvia Plath
1963
1963
Around 300 pages
We've been reading a lot of novels lately about mental hospitals, I guess everybody from the Kennedys downward were pushing people into these institutions and strapping them down. There are many sad boy novels on the List, so it's nice to shake it up with a sad girl novel. And this is the ultimate female depression novel. Virginia Woolf would have been proud.
In 1953, Esther Greenwood is a 19 year old who recently earned a summer internship at the Ladies Day Magazine in New York City. She doesn't feel any kind of stimulation from her life, or the city, which New Yorkers would have you believe is impossible. She also feels trapped by the conventions imposed on women at the time, and fears getting pregnant. This is a very relatable state of being as a woman, even if you're as depressed as Esther.
Sylvia Plath committed suicide shortly after this novel, so I don't think many people have experienced this novel without that event coloring their view of the story. It's painful to know somebody suffered so much and didn't get the help they needed. Oof, these have been some heavy reads lately. We need some British guy with a silly hat in here to lighten the mood.
Plath really had talent, and her story is tragic. Definitely an essential novel, which is more uplifting than you might think, if you ignore the context.
RATING: *****
Interesting Facts:
Interesting Facts:
Early working titles of the novel included Diary of a Suicide and The Girl in the Mirror.
On November 5, 2019, the BBC News listed The Bell Jar on its list of the 100 most inspiring novels.
UP NEXT: Inside Mr. Enderby by Anthony Burgess
1 comment:
I was fascinated with this novel and have actually read it twice. Once when young and once when older. Always sad but the writing was amazing.
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