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4.64 AVERAGE
4.64 AVERAGE
A fascinating deep dive into one of the best poets of the century. It focused less on her tragic death and more on how she developed over time in her career and as a person, which I appreciated. I would recommend to anyone that wants to know more about SP and has the patience for a 1,000pg chronology of her life.
I started reading this when I bought it in 2021 but I find it so hard to read enormous hardback books, just from a practical perspective. I got it out on Libby and read it on my phone, burning through it as I fed my baby in the middle of the night.
Have been interested in Plath since I was a teenager and this biography is as good as it gets. So well written and researched, hurtling towards its tragic ending. It’s the first time I’d ever read anything Plath related since becoming a mother and the biography’s conclusion that she killed herself to avoid harming her children is just fucking heartbreaking.
One for the true Plath enthusiasts, or those who enjoy excellent biographies.
Have been interested in Plath since I was a teenager and this biography is as good as it gets. So well written and researched, hurtling towards its tragic ending. It’s the first time I’d ever read anything Plath related since becoming a mother and the biography’s conclusion that she killed herself to avoid harming her children is just fucking heartbreaking.
One for the true Plath enthusiasts, or those who enjoy excellent biographies.
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Content warnings are, as always, at the bottom.
4.5 stars. I was not expecting such an electrifying read from a 937 page biography, to put it lightly. I struggle with this genre typically, especially at this length. I often find biographies to be dry, long recitations of what happened on x date with a sentence or two of speculation about how such events may have impacted the subject. I was leery of this tome for this reason, but decided to forge ahead because of the excellent reviews and my interest in the subject. I have not delved into any prior biographical content of Plath, partially because of my skepticism of the authors and content given the circumstances. I was pleasantly surprised. The only real criticism I have of the work is that it could have used another good revision. It became repetitive at points, but I imagine that is hard to avoid with a manuscript of this length. As someone who likes poetry and writing, I also appreciated the close reading of some of Plath’s poetry.
I must admit, however, that while I enjoyed this book very much I was also deeply disturbed by it. This book haunted me, especially over the last week and I was relieved to finish it. Plath's tortured experience of her life and the gendered expectations she struggled with as a wife and then a single mother, and as a struggling artist were triggering as someone who struggles with mental illness and a (still) sexist and ableist society more than 60 years later. Her relationship with her mother and the interplay with sexist norms and pressure toward conformity was especially relatable and troubling to read.
Having said that, I really appreciated that while this biography endeavored to give us as much of Plath's interiority as it could via journal entries and conversations with friends, it did not overtly identify itself with her narrative. Instead, Clark strengthens the theme of Plath's fascination with "doubles" by uncovering another doubling--the Sylvia Plath that was known to others vs. the one she knew as herself. All of us are, to some extent, different versions of ourselves depending on context, but Plath outshone most people in this respect. She wore many masks, and sometimes even wore them with herself. She was not always a reliable narrator. This comes across most obviously in her correspondence with her mother, and her conversations with friends compared to the content in her journals.
This biography is exhaustively researched and thoughtfully written to counter the narrative that Plath's entire life was leading up to one unavoidable result: her premature death. I appreciate that Clark took the time to develop the nuance from all the available information, which suggests that there were many factors that culminated very unfortunately in Plath's suicide, including a dangerous cocktail of meds, painful weather-related living conditions and illness, post-partum depression specifically, uncertainty regarding the dissolution of her marriage, her impending institution and more. One of the only things Olwyn Hughes ever said that I find valuable is that Plath "had no inner calm at all." This is tragically relatable and comes across strongly in her own voice. I will not attempt to diagnose the dead, but Plath's journals made very clear that in addition to depressive episodes, she often struggled with mania.
I mostly appreciate the line Clark tiptoes with respect to Ted Hughes. No one can truly know what happens in another person's marriage--especially someone as proud and closed off as Plath. But there is no doubt that Hughes treated Plath badly, by his own admission. I found myself wishing for more explanation from him, when what we got were vague hand-waves about how he suppressed his own needs to meet Plath's which over time created strong resentments. This is somewhat ironic given how much Sylvia struggled to take care of their family after he had mostly disappeared from their lives. At bottom, we don't have those admissions because for much of his life, Hughes refused to speak vulnerably about his relationship with Plath. Close to the end he finally realized his mistake and published Birthday Letters, but we don't get much interiority about his own struggles with their emotional relationship. I understand the struggle, especially given Hughes' background as a working class man coming of age in the '50s and fighting against the emotional repression of society in general and Britain in particular...but it was very upsetting to read about Ted's feverish exclamations that "it was me or her" at the funeral, his bringing Assia to live in the wake of Sylvia's ghost, his continued emotional neglect of her and his youngest child, and their eventual deaths. Few people make good decisions in times of grief, but Hughes perhaps especially suffered from his own mistakes and made others suffer. His failure to see women around him as full human beings certainly came across even through Clark's diplomatic readings.
CW: spousal abuse, suicide (frequently throughout), parental death, institution and shock treatment, intrusive thoughts of filicide/matricide, brief descriptions of infection/amputation/attempted rape. This is probably not comprehensive; this book has a lot of disturbing content.
Content warnings are, as always, at the bottom.
4.5 stars. I was not expecting such an electrifying read from a 937 page biography, to put it lightly. I struggle with this genre typically, especially at this length. I often find biographies to be dry, long recitations of what happened on x date with a sentence or two of speculation about how such events may have impacted the subject. I was leery of this tome for this reason, but decided to forge ahead because of the excellent reviews and my interest in the subject. I have not delved into any prior biographical content of Plath, partially because of my skepticism of the authors and content given the circumstances. I was pleasantly surprised. The only real criticism I have of the work is that it could have used another good revision. It became repetitive at points, but I imagine that is hard to avoid with a manuscript of this length. As someone who likes poetry and writing, I also appreciated the close reading of some of Plath’s poetry.
I must admit, however, that while I enjoyed this book very much I was also deeply disturbed by it. This book haunted me, especially over the last week and I was relieved to finish it. Plath's tortured experience of her life and the gendered expectations she struggled with as a wife and then a single mother, and as a struggling artist were triggering as someone who struggles with mental illness and a (still) sexist and ableist society more than 60 years later. Her relationship with her mother and the interplay with sexist norms and pressure toward conformity was especially relatable and troubling to read.
Having said that, I really appreciated that while this biography endeavored to give us as much of Plath's interiority as it could via journal entries and conversations with friends, it did not overtly identify itself with her narrative. Instead, Clark strengthens the theme of Plath's fascination with "doubles" by uncovering another doubling--the Sylvia Plath that was known to others vs. the one she knew as herself. All of us are, to some extent, different versions of ourselves depending on context, but Plath outshone most people in this respect. She wore many masks, and sometimes even wore them with herself. She was not always a reliable narrator. This comes across most obviously in her correspondence with her mother, and her conversations with friends compared to the content in her journals.
This biography is exhaustively researched and thoughtfully written to counter the narrative that Plath's entire life was leading up to one unavoidable result: her premature death. I appreciate that Clark took the time to develop the nuance from all the available information, which suggests that there were many factors that culminated very unfortunately in Plath's suicide, including a dangerous cocktail of meds, painful weather-related living conditions and illness, post-partum depression specifically, uncertainty regarding the dissolution of her marriage, her impending institution and more. One of the only things Olwyn Hughes ever said that I find valuable is that Plath "had no inner calm at all." This is tragically relatable and comes across strongly in her own voice. I will not attempt to diagnose the dead, but Plath's journals made very clear that in addition to depressive episodes, she often struggled with mania.
I mostly appreciate the line Clark tiptoes with respect to Ted Hughes. No one can truly know what happens in another person's marriage--especially someone as proud and closed off as Plath. But there is no doubt that Hughes treated Plath badly, by his own admission. I found myself wishing for more explanation from him, when what we got were vague hand-waves about how he suppressed his own needs to meet Plath's which over time created strong resentments. This is somewhat ironic given how much Sylvia struggled to take care of their family after he had mostly disappeared from their lives. At bottom, we don't have those admissions because for much of his life, Hughes refused to speak vulnerably about his relationship with Plath. Close to the end he finally realized his mistake and published Birthday Letters, but we don't get much interiority about his own struggles with their emotional relationship. I understand the struggle, especially given Hughes' background as a working class man coming of age in the '50s and fighting against the emotional repression of society in general and Britain in particular...but it was very upsetting to read about Ted's feverish exclamations that "it was me or her" at the funeral, his bringing Assia to live in the wake of Sylvia's ghost, his continued emotional neglect of her and his youngest child, and their eventual deaths. Few people make good decisions in times of grief, but Hughes perhaps especially suffered from his own mistakes and made others suffer. His failure to see women around him as full human beings certainly came across even through Clark's diplomatic readings.
CW: spousal abuse, suicide (frequently throughout), parental death, institution and shock treatment, intrusive thoughts of filicide/matricide, brief descriptions of infection/amputation/attempted rape. This is probably not comprehensive; this book has a lot of disturbing content.
the most intimate and in-depth book on the life and writings of sylvia plath that is out there—probably. this book is not about her death or speculating the cause of it but rather focuses on the person she was from birth until the end. the research is so well done and written so clearly i feel as if i know the poet. took me a month and a half to read but very well worth it.
some information became redundant at points and maybe it didn’t have to be as long BUT it didn’t take ruin anything.
some information became redundant at points and maybe it didn’t have to be as long BUT it didn’t take ruin anything.
challenging
emotional
informative
reflective
medium-paced
emotional
informative
reflective
slow-paced
had a good cry
bitting the cheek stuck in my head . this truly is a brick but very well written and an exceptional biography
ending with post humorous work + how she crossed out lines about take them with her DARK + woah
I rarely write reviews, but Red Comet is impeccable.
Some would argue (like another Plath biographer, whose work Clark indirectly critiques, wrote in the Evening Standard) that this leans toward hagiography. Those people skipped the endnotes.
I am echoing many other readers when I say that all subjects are treated both critically and empathetically in light of extensive, exacting documentation. There are no villains here (with the possible exception of Ruth Beuscher). This may be a lengthy book, but the payoff is worth the effort.
Some would argue (like another Plath biographer, whose work Clark indirectly critiques, wrote in the Evening Standard) that this leans toward hagiography. Those people skipped the endnotes.
I am echoing many other readers when I say that all subjects are treated both critically and empathetically in light of extensive, exacting documentation. There are no villains here (with the possible exception of Ruth Beuscher). This may be a lengthy book, but the payoff is worth the effort.
I will miss this book now that it’s over but it’s given me a long list of books and poems I want to read next. This is my first Plath biography— it feels very thorough and also very compassionate. Also the biographer is a great interpreter of Plath’s poetry. It was helpful to have a copy of Plath’s collected poems nearby while I was reading the bio.
Having read plenty of Plath literature and biographies before, I was skeptical of how much this would change my perspective. But what a meticulous, thorough, and understanding glimpse into the life and legacy of a monumental mind. I was blown away by Clark’s attention to detail - and yes, the length of this book - all of which culminates in a breathtaking, powerful portrait. I found myself in tears by the end, once again pondering the impact Plath had on me personally and her broader impact on uncounted creative minds.
A book that is long overdue and much needed in the Plath world.