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4.11 AVERAGE
4.11 AVERAGE
informative
reflective
slow-paced
dark
informative
reflective
slow-paced
Reviews and more on my blog: Entering the Enchanted Castle
The subtitle is misleading, as the book is more about the biographers of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes than about SP and TH themselves. Read as a break from the latest bio that I've been reading -- Red Comet -- and makes me appreciate the balanced perspective of that book, the first full bio of Plath that I've read. But I'm not sure Malcolm makes any amazing, earth-shattering points; she merely highlights what we should already know when reading biographies (but maybe forget all too often), that the true facts of a human life can never be fully known. A reminder to treat all such stories with respect, and to remember that there are two sides of every conflict.
The subtitle is misleading, as the book is more about the biographers of Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes than about SP and TH themselves. Read as a break from the latest bio that I've been reading -- Red Comet -- and makes me appreciate the balanced perspective of that book, the first full bio of Plath that I've read. But I'm not sure Malcolm makes any amazing, earth-shattering points; she merely highlights what we should already know when reading biographies (but maybe forget all too often), that the true facts of a human life can never be fully known. A reminder to treat all such stories with respect, and to remember that there are two sides of every conflict.
challenging
dark
emotional
informative
sad
medium-paced
Reading this taught me absolutely nothing about Sylvia Plath, even less about Ted Hughes, but instead a billion details about all the people who were involved in writing her biographies. That's not what I came for though.
I don't like Janet Malcolm, but I suspect that she would have appreciated that.
I had to read this for my thesis. Honestly, if I knew who Sylvia Plath and Ted Hughes was before this book, I would've enjoyed it more. It was an interesting read though and an interesting approach to biography writing.
Malcolm's perceptiveness and honesty never ceases to amaze me.
i read this w all the relish of a gossip mag. Jacqueline Rose da only real 1
emotional
informative
reflective
fast-paced
this was a fantastic read. this book was more an intervention into the genre of biography itself. By reflecting on the many biographies of Plath’s life, Malcom really demonstrates the messiness and dark side of the biography genre. Whilst tackling these big ideas the book itself was a page turner filled with humour and drama. Highly recommend
This book is extraordinary. Malcolm pulls back the curtain of biography, revealing the mechanics, the subsequent curtains hung by Plath's various "biographers." Hughes shares with Plath the subtitle of the book, but he in many ways loses his pride of place in Malcolm's narrative. This book is as much about why people write (the passage about unsent letters is one of my favorites), as why they don't, and sometimes don't let others write...and the records, actual and imaginary, of this all.