Reviews with content warning for Ableism - The Bell Jar

Reviews tagging 'Ableism'

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

56 reviews

fatkidatheartreads's review against another edition

dark emotional

Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

5.0

"I felt dull and flat and full of shattered visions."

The way a nervous breakdown is described and how when you are sad and depressed, all you seem to think about is sad and depressing things. It's very scary how much I relate to this character but I digress.
Okay, the bell jar, let's talk about this semi autobiographical piece of literature written by Sylvia Plath a month before she took her own life.

The bell jar follows 19 year old Esther Greenwood who is an intern in a Fashion house in New York City. From the very beginning we can tell that she is troubled. Sylvia begins the book talking about an electrocution & the main character's fascination with it.
Esther struggles with dissociation from reality , heteronormativity especially in terms of relationships with men and marriage and her morbid fascination with death and dying. The first half of the book sets her on a downward spiral which only worsens after she moves back home. She feels stuck after her internship and doesn't know what path she should be taking for her future(that fig metaphor was brilliant).
At home, her struggle with depression, suicide attempts and institutionalization is well documented. As you can tell, this is a very eerie piece of literature.
The title is a reference to her feeling of being stuck in a kind of bell jar (remember the enchanted rose in Beauty and the beast) and being left there to stew in her misery and hopelessness. Sylvia's use of symbolism to explain the character's state of mind was so well done. It's so sad that she only got to write one novel before losing her battle to mental health. She succumbed to her own bell jar. It is clear that she was a brilliant poet and novelist . Her works will continue to live on through her art.

TW: ableism, fatphobia, racism, depression and suicide.

Also, the writing was quite accessible which isn't always the case with classics.

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nefie's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny inspiring lighthearted sad tense medium-paced

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

4.5

first time reading: 3.75
second time reading: 4.5

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libraryfairy's review against another edition

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dark emotional inspiring reflective sad tense medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Strong character development? It's complicated
Loveable characters? It's complicated
Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

I’ve been meaning to read this book for a while, especially since it seems to be one of those books everyone knows or has read before. However, I didn’t know what to expect going into this, and I was surprised in many ways. Firstly, some thoughts and topics in this book make me feel seen as someone who has dealt with depression all my life. Secondly, the amount of racism in this book is astounding. It’s like it’s second nature for the author to use racial stereotypes and slurs with such ease that it’s sickening Overall, it’s a very good read, but I can’t ignore the blatant racism it has.

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sexyslutsyndrome's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad 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

3.5

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snartyhasgottheskills's review against another edition

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emotional reflective sad medium-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? It's complicated

3.0

. so- this book is incredibly relatable, sad and the emotional nature of the book makes you empathise with the main character, which sucks because sylvia plath uses racist remarks throughout and sometimes disregards the priveledges given to her/the main character due to disadvantages she faces within sexism, homophobia and ableism. The beginning of the novel is basically a recount of plath’s life and written in a lighter tone even when exploring dark themes, the rest of the novel however is written within an incredibly dark headspace and kind of glorifies suicide and other harmful ideas which may be harmful to some readers and isn’t really explained anywhere on blurbs or covers which isn’t needed but i think is necessary

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e123's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? Character
Loveable characters? It's complicated

4.0

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bugcollector's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad tense fast-paced

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

3.5

tbh at the beginning the mc seemed shallow, and with constant racist (and other bad tase) comments, i found it hard to relate to her.
it happens so many times throughout the book, that you can't just let it pass and move forward right away imo.

at about page 140 i started to get what people like about this book.
the author does have a way with describing depression, and numbness. that part i found the most heart wrenching

to sum up, if you get skip the insufferable mc at the start, i think you find good soup 👌🥣, though i still finished it feeling like something was missing and i can't put my finger on it

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