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leahreadsstuff's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
tense
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
Reminds me of a summer storm: wild and loud and terrifying in its beauty. Fraught and at times violent in its imagery.
It’s a slow build of a read, with her work laid out chronologically. The earlier poems are disjointed and chaotic, as if she wrote entirely by inspiration of the moment. The deeper themes are there, but veiled behind conventional ideas. It’s a slow, queasy, inexorable slide into emotional honesty. The subjects are not for the faint hearted: death, isolation, identity, and the strange heavy leaden weight of depression.
1961 is a marked turning point. From then on the pretension disappears, and there is a raw and intensely vivid openness that starts to take shape. 1962 is incredible. “Daddy” in particular is a disturbing, horrifying, wrenching piece of work. And “The Jailer” continues the imagery of rage and pain. “Lady Lazarus” stuck with me. Her uncomfortable emotional honesty and macabre humor bring the truths she is laying open home.
It’s impossible to separate Plath’s work from her mythology, at least for me, and knowing her life story makes the work all the more poignant.
emmacraig's review against another edition
dark
reflective
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
maryncemetery's review against another edition
dark
emotional
funny
lighthearted
mysterious
sad
medium-paced
4.5
kaydee_reads's review against another edition
The trouble with organizing poetry in chronological order, rather than the order the author intended them to be read, is it feels very jarring hopping around from one theme and style to another. This is clearly meant to be more of an encyclopedia than a reading experience - I’ll try Ariel instead in future.
valeriaq24's review against another edition
dark
reflective
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
3.75
irodori_megu's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
inspiring
reflective
sad
medium-paced
4.5
kmgard's review against another edition
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
saucemallow's review against another edition
adventurous
challenging
dark
emotional
hopeful
inspiring
lighthearted
mysterious
reflective
relaxing
sad
medium-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? N/A
- Strong character development? N/A
- Loveable characters? N/A
- Diverse cast of characters? N/A
- Flaws of characters a main focus? N/A
5.0
This is the second poetry book that I have fully read through. Firstly, I think it is very interesting that it is her ex-husband who helped to publish and edit her books about twenty years after her suicide. It makes for an interesting background, but also the events that led up to it are essentially what influenced the order and themes of many of the author’s poems. Sylvia Plath managed to discuss the full range of the experience of being a woman, the trauma that society faces, and many other ideas like the beauty of nature. I liked her juvenilia the best but it is hard to choose the best poems out of so many good ones. They are each eye-catching and meaningful in their own ways. Titles like “The Beekeeper’s Daughter” and “Poppies in October” match up to the uniqueness of their names.