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readings_musings2002's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
fast-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
4.5
This is my bell jar!!!
Note: there is a very gruesome abortion scene.
"All the other assets that I had so carefully cultivated in my youth I had abandoned somewhere, half-formed, in the flood of matrimony, and now at twenty-four I was too old and frightened to go back and reclaim them. My early promises had all been broken; now all my fragile eggs were in this one worn basket."
“My sweet Sasha, one night you go to sleep a little girl, and the next day you wake up a young woman. You’ll be a lovely woman, Sasha.” But I knew I was not a woman. I was a child, frightened, unable to comprehend what was happening.'
"They say it’s worse to be ugly. I think it must only be different. If you’re pretty, you are subject to one set of assaults; if you’re plain you are subject to another. Pretty, you may have more men to choose from, but you have more anxiety too, knowing your looks, which really have nothing to do with you, will disappear. Pretty girls have few friends. Kicked out of mankind in elementary school, and then kicked out of womankind in junior high, pretty girls have a lower birth rate and a higher mortality. It is the beauties like Marilyn Monroe who swallow twenty-five Nembutals on a Saturday night and kill themselves in their thirties."
"I studied audacity, determined that if I couldn’t be sure I had the power that comes with beauty, I would have another kind of power."
"Between fifteen and eighteen,” reported Dr. Watson, summarizing his vast scientific researches,
a female changes from a child to a woman. At fifteen she is but the playmate of boys and girls of her own age. At eighteen she becomes a sex object to every man.
Every man! By all means, I must perfect my glance."
"But it was only out of habit that I reassured him, for I knew after it grew back in it would never be the same."
"No matter how grand my schemes or fanciful my ambitions, my year abroad hadn’t dented the universe."
"As I took off my coat, aware of my hair twisted artfully on my head and my first resort to mascara, I sensed new possibilities."
“What do you want with me?” I asked with an impermissible seriousness.
“I? Why, to enjoy you,” answered Will.
His answer, appropriately airy, made it worse. I was sick of affairs; I had grown old being enjoyed."
"October28: First word: pity (pretty)."
"But it was only out of habit that I reassured him, for I knew after it grew back in it would never be the same."
ajs1906's review against another edition
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
3.0
I found the book hard to get into at first, but after the first hundred pages I was fully immersed. This book is the embodiment of men being The Worst. Even the men who were not that bad were only that because the bad ones were so horrible. By the end of the book, Sasha has been stripped of all her individuality and interests (reading, studying philosophy, not wanting a child and seeming almost polyamorous in ideals) to nothing other than what she feared being the most, a house wife/stay at home mother. It’s not even that I don’t think being a wife and a mother is a bad thing, it just seems really sad to me that the only real thing she wanted to do with her life was study philosophy and make a career for herself, and almost every single person she meets does their best to squash that instinct in her.
For example, her second husband, Will. He starts of respectful and loving and helped Sasha get out of her horrible marriage to her first husband, Frank. They have a loving, fulfilling relationship, I even think he would have supported Sasha if she wanted to continue her studies at that point. Until Sasha decides to have Will’s baby (because WILL wants one, not her), and suddenly he can’t handle it. Why should he be inconvenienced with having to raise his own child, or to share his wife with someone else. By the end, he couldn’t even put up with Sasha getting a hair cut, let alone being any kind of individual. She’s just a possession to him.
Then there’s the abortion. My god, was I not prepared to read the most graphic and gruesome description of the ending of a pregnancy I’ve ever read. Honestly, the less said about that, the better.
My favourite part of the book was the friendship between Sasha and Roxanne. Neither of them exactly fit the ideals laid out for them and they bonded at University over poetry and not taking anyone’s bullshit. Even when life forced them apart, they still stayed in touch and helped each other through all of the major events in their lives. It’s refreshing to see a relationship based on mutual respect rather than sex, like a lot of the relationships in the book.
I hope that after this story, Sasha would teach her two young girls that they could be whatever they wanted to be, didn’t have to be house wives or mothers if they didn’t want to be, let them be themselves in the way that no one let her when she was young.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Abortion and Miscarriage
helenap's review against another edition
3.0
ok so it took me forever to read, stopping and starting
probably revolutionary for the time but like not fantastic now
written quite well
sometimes hard to follow though
maybe i missed the subtlety ?
probably revolutionary for the time but like not fantastic now
written quite well
sometimes hard to follow though
maybe i missed the subtlety ?
jwa's review against another edition
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
4.0
Considering how long ago this was published I was surprised to only come across it now. When I read the blurb and reviews online I was eager to read it since it's considered a feminist classic.
For one I liked the setting and found it to be both interesting and relatable still. It attempts to give an honest insight into 60's America and how it felt to grow up as a white middle-class girl and come into womanhood, get married, and become a mother. It does criticize the treatment of young girls in that society and the pressures put on them to conform and be perfectly obedient. It looks at love and duty and highlights how many never saw the importance of real affection and love but that once married it was the duty of those married to stay together for the sake of children, their parents, or saving face within society. We see how our author pushes back against society first by adamantly insisting on going to university, however unsuccessfully, she ends up not staying enrolled as it was deemed more important that her husband would continue education once they had a home to keep, so she was forced to stay home. It clearly shows us the appointed roles that were in place in this era for both men and women and our author largely criticizes the roles enforced upon women of the time.
For one I liked the setting and found it to be both interesting and relatable still. It attempts to give an honest insight into 60's America and how it felt to grow up as a white middle-class girl and come into womanhood, get married, and become a mother. It does criticize the treatment of young girls in that society and the pressures put on them to conform and be perfectly obedient. It looks at love and duty and highlights how many never saw the importance of real affection and love but that once married it was the duty of those married to stay together for the sake of children, their parents, or saving face within society. We see how our author pushes back against society first by adamantly insisting on going to university, however unsuccessfully, she ends up not staying enrolled as it was deemed more important that her husband would continue education once they had a home to keep, so she was forced to stay home. It clearly shows us the appointed roles that were in place in this era for both men and women and our author largely criticizes the roles enforced upon women of the time.
rachelemm's review against another edition
3.0
I received this book as part of my subscription to the fabulous book box service 'Books That Matter' and decided to read it straight away.
I had never heard of this book despite it having sold over a million copies. Turns out it was a cult classic during the feminist movement of the 1970s. I can see why, the book's protagonist Sasha sticks two fingers up at the traditional role of a wife and mother. Yet despite her efforts at freedom she still ends up trapped in the double bind of wifehood and motherhood.
What stopped this from being a 4 or 5 star book for me was the disdain I felt for the main character.
The book has a lot to say about how limited the options were for women in the 1950s, the double standards around sexual freedom and parental expectations for women as compared with men. However, much of that is muted by how awful Sasha is to everyone. She was horribly self absorbed and dismissive of her family and friends. So rather than sympathize with her at the end of the book, I rather felt she was getting everything she deserved.
I had never heard of this book despite it having sold over a million copies. Turns out it was a cult classic during the feminist movement of the 1970s. I can see why, the book's protagonist Sasha sticks two fingers up at the traditional role of a wife and mother. Yet despite her efforts at freedom she still ends up trapped in the double bind of wifehood and motherhood.
What stopped this from being a 4 or 5 star book for me was the disdain I felt for the main character.
The book has a lot to say about how limited the options were for women in the 1950s, the double standards around sexual freedom and parental expectations for women as compared with men. However, much of that is muted by how awful Sasha is to everyone. She was horribly self absorbed and dismissive of her family and friends. So rather than sympathize with her at the end of the book, I rather felt she was getting everything she deserved.
mmeller's review against another edition
4.0
I picked up this book after reading about the positive way it treated female orgasm, something quite remarkable for it's time. I found it interesting to read a story which both showed how far we've come in terms of women's options and how little has changed. It was certainly worth reading.
gracenicholls's review against another edition
dark
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? No
3.0
sorchabarry's review against another edition
reflective
relaxing
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
4.0
kueki's review against another edition
challenging
informative
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? It's complicated
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.75