Reviews - Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath

348 reviews for:

Red Comet: The Short Life and Blazing Art of Sylvia Plath

WOW. I was knocked out and down by this book. It's a TOME, but so worth the long-term commitment. I loved the way Clark takes us through Sylvia's life--her whole life--starting even before she was born with her parents and grandparents. You really understand how she became the woman that she did. And you really learn so much more about it her than her mental illness. I fell in love with Sylvia Plath when I was in high school--her angst in her novels and poems felt so familiar to me. Reading this book as an adult felt like having tea with her. I cried, I worried, I cheered for her. I wanted only the best for her, and when she suffered, I understood why. I wish the world had been kinder to her in life. Heather Clark as honored her with this biography, so that's something.

laupremor's review against another edition

4.0

challenging emotional informative reflective tense medium-paced

maureenmcc's review against another edition

4.0

First, a pat on my own back for finishing this behemoth of a book. Second, I actually never wanted to give up on it because it was very well written, incredibly well researched and clear-eyed but not opinionated in its portrayal of Plath and the central characters in her life. Third, there were times I did get frustrated with Plath, but if one steps back you can see the myriad forces she was up against and how long and hard she fought to maintain her sense of self. Illuminating and educational—if you are interested in learning more about this very complicated and talented writer, I’d recommend it.

mackenzietaylorreid's review against another edition

5.0

challenging dark emotional informative inspiring reflective sad tense

bfth23's review against another edition

4.0

Well that was a LONG read. Extremely detailed and gave me a greater insight into the woman and the times that she lived in. The author really does an excellent job of exploring all the dimensions of Plath's life (and history). It is an exhausting read; took me a quite a while to get through (and I am a quick reader), but is well worth it. (Although you might need something light and "fluffy" after you get through the darkness that encompasses the life of Sylvia Plath.)

lory_enterenchanted's review against another edition

4.5

challenging dark emotional informative mysterious reflective sad tense slow-paced

Reviews and more on my blog: Entering the Enchanted Castle

Who killed Sylvia Plath? Was it the invasive mother, the dead father, the callously philandering husband, the witchy other woman, the thoughtless lover, the misguided psychiatrist, the inattentive friends? Was it the rejecting editors, the lukewarm critics, the baffled public? Was it the drugs, the doctors, the genes, the traumatic stress, the postpartum depression, the touch of madness? Was it England, was it America, was it all of Western society, was it the whole world? Was it modernity, was it toxic masculinity, was it God or the lack of God?

In this exhaustive and admirably balanced biography, all of these come in for their share of the responsibility for a poet's death. But in the end, that death remains as incalculable as the source of poetry itself. Destiny is a mystery that the biographer can only make a gesture toward, not a final judgment. This short life is one I'll be thinking about for a long time, especially the role of botched psychiatry in altering and probably ending it. That field at least needs to learn some lessons from Plath's tragic end.