Reviews

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

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husseinfaour's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional sad tense slow-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

pagesbyolivia's review against another edition

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reflective medium-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

4.0

I was honestly not expecting it but I did end up enjoying this book a lot! The depiction of depression was so realistic and similar to what I’ve experienced and I love how it was told without emotion because that is what depression often feels like: empty.

However, the main character was really mean and annoying which I didn’t like because depression (or other mental heart issues) doesn’t give you an excuse to be horrible to others.
And the racism in this book is absolutely the biggest downside. It made me so uncomfortable and was so unnecessarily over the top even for the time it was written in.
Because of that I don’t feel comfortable recommending the book but if you want to read a story about depression and get into modern classics then this isn’t a bad place to start because it was a surprisingly easy read.

logolepsy_e's review against another edition

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4.0

Libro letto per l'università, mi sono approcciata ad esso senza conoscere nulla di Sylvia Plath, né la sua storia, né le sue poesie.

Esther è una ragazza che, apparentemente, ha un brillante futuro davanti a sé. Studentessa modello dagli ottimi voti, si trova ora a New York grazie ad una scolarship e sta lavorando per una prestigiosa rivista femminile, circondata da altre giovani di talento proprio come lei. Quando tornerà a casa, ha intenzione di iscriversi a un corso di scrittura tenuto dalla sua università: vuole diventare una scrittrice. Un futuro con un'ottima carriera, un buon partito al suo fianco, probabilmente una bella casa e una bella famiglia sembra snodarsi davanti a lei. Pare proprio che Esther diventerà una di quelle tipiche donne dei suburbs degli anni '50. Eppure, qualcosa va storto.
E così, Esther si ritrova ad affrontare un mostro invisibile che vive dentro di lei. Un mostro invisibile e senza nome, un mostro che, nell'America degli anni '50, affliggeva moltissime donne inconsapevoli. "The problem that has no name" non ha una definizione, non ha dei sintomi e, soprattutto, non ha una vera e propria cura. E allora, riuscirà Esther a liberarsi dalla campana di vetro che grava su di lei e che la isola dal mondo esterno, impedendole di farla sentire una persona come tutte le altre?
Devo ammettere che non mi aspettavo una lettura così interessante. Questo libro autobiografico è ben scritto e tratta un argomento che fa riflettere molto. Il problema della protagonista sembra essere lontano da noi, eppure è qualcosa che accade ancora oggi alle donne.
Ci sono stati momenti in cui avrei volentieri strozzato Esther: il suo modo di pensare e di vivere è diametralmente opposto al mio, ma proprio per questo ho apprezzato la lettura, perché mi ha fatto scoprire i meccanismi che si mettono in moto nella testa delle persone che devono affrontare un problema come la depressione.

robin_nescu's review against another edition

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It was awful to get through, boring and annoying. I don't care about the main character, she doesn't fell like a person, she feels like a shoe box but somehow even less interesting than that, I don't care about anyone, apathy is usually something I don't feel towards media, the media consume takes over my life and brain, but this was so tiring to get through. I don't like this book at all, there's nothing good about it that I can think of. I hate the writing style, it's to hard to read and too pretensious for what it's taking about. Racism out of nowhere and a characters with no personalities. I thought I would like it, you know a critique to abilist nerotypicals as a nerodivergent person, noting was interesting, just read 'Show us who you are' if you want a good book that isn't filled to the brim with ignorance and hatred.

albycarnaby's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? No
Diverse cast of characters? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.0

mysterygirl88's review against another edition

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dark reflective sad slow-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? Yes
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? No
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

3.5

Portrayal of a young woman's mental illness
Rebirth
Psychiatry
Depression
Dissatisfaction with societal norms and uncertainty with self and the future

Content Warnings