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giulietta1599's review against another edition
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? Yes
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
marwareadss's review against another edition
4.0
Rating: 4/5
When Sylvia Plath wrote "When they asked me what I wanted to be I said I didn’t know.
"Oh, sure you know," the photographer said.
"She wants," said Jay Cee wittily, "to be everything.", and "The silence depressed me. It wasn't the silence of silence. It was my own silence.", and "If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed.", and "I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.", and.....
[Finished on January 21, 2023]
When Sylvia Plath wrote "When they asked me what I wanted to be I said I didn’t know.
"Oh, sure you know," the photographer said.
"She wants," said Jay Cee wittily, "to be everything.", and "The silence depressed me. It wasn't the silence of silence. It was my own silence.", and "If you expect nothing from somebody you are never disappointed.", and "I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.", and.....
[Finished on January 21, 2023]
jadekeely_'s review against another edition
- 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
3.0
Content Warnings
Graphic: Sexual assault, Racial slurs, Suicide, and Racism
misa_pisa's review against another edition
4.0
I didn’t expect to relate to Esther/Plath as much as I did. My copy included a brief author biography with explanations on the novel’s parallels to her life, so it was also great to see Plath as more dimensional than 2013 Tumblr made her appear
trista_e's review against another edition
dark
sad
tense
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? Yes
- Loveable characters? No
- Diverse cast of characters? No
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
3.0
I’ve heard so much hype surrounding this book, that it’s so profound. Maybe I just don’t get it, but I thought this book was quite boring. From the synopsis, I thought that Esther was going to descend into total madness, but her only problem was major depression. I rated this three stars because I’m sure it was much more relevant at the time it was published and it does give perspective to how women were deemed crazy back then for just having normal feelings. I think it’s worth the read and I probably would have had a better experience if my expirations were different.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Suicide
Moderate: Racism
rojasnacho's review against another edition
dark
reflective
fast-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0
nicmeiki's review against another edition
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
tense
medium-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
5.0
unabridged_reader's review against another edition
4.0
Rating: 3.5
I was both intimidated and intrigued by the premise of The Bell Jar. The novel is about a woman’s unconventional coming-of-age—her floundering career, battle with depression, her sexuality—yet it seems inappropriate to label this novel a bildungsroman, at least in the traditional sense. Esther Greenwood’s experience describes one’s desire for the will to survive, a universal desire that I think everyone, regardless of age, has. Her experiences may have been affected by her journey into adulthood but her story is not defined by her youth.
And it’s truly heartbreaking to learn that Plath committed suicide shortly after The Bell Jar’s publication. It makes me wonder if she wrote the novel’s ending with a sincere hope that the bell jar would never again descend on her/Esther or if she was simply trying to please her audience with this ending.
I was both intimidated and intrigued by the premise of The Bell Jar. The novel is about a woman’s unconventional coming-of-age—her floundering career, battle with depression, her sexuality—yet it seems inappropriate to label this novel a bildungsroman, at least in the traditional sense. Esther Greenwood’s experience describes one’s desire for the will to survive, a universal desire that I think everyone, regardless of age, has. Her experiences may have been affected by her journey into adulthood but her story is not defined by her youth.
And it’s truly heartbreaking to learn that Plath committed suicide shortly after The Bell Jar’s publication. It makes me wonder if she wrote the novel’s ending with a sincere hope that the bell jar would never again descend on her/Esther or if she was simply trying to please her audience with this ending.
julyninth's review against another edition
dark
emotional
inspiring
sad
slow-paced
- Plot- or character-driven? Character
- Strong character development? It's complicated
- Loveable characters? Yes
- Diverse cast of characters? It's complicated
- Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes
5.0