Reviews with content warning for Death - The Bell Jar

Reviews tagging 'Death'

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

476 reviews

lexi_lee1020's review against another edition

4.75

dark emotional sad tense medium-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

Content Warnings

carolinacortez's review against another edition

3.5

dark emotional reflective slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Me tarde sigloooos en acabar este libro, y es que la verdad si es complicado de leer, sobre todo la primera mitad del libro, muchas veces no entendía que estaba pasando, ni entendía los brincos en la historia que daba Sylvia (ahora uqe se un poco más del contexto en el que fue escrita la novela, puedo entender un poco mejor), eso sí Esther (la protagonista) es super relatable sobre todo al momento de tratar la crisis que tenentra al acabar la prepa y el que vas a hacer con tu vida, la segunda mitad del libro que es en la que se trata la salud mental, es la parte más fuerte y, en mi opinion, la mejor parte, esta se lee con más agilidad y más fluidez.

una de las cosas negativas que le vi a la novela,es el racismo enorme por parte de Esther, para la página 10 ya había varios slurs, y conforme iba leyendo cada vez se me hacía más incomodo, así que eso es algo que tener en cuenta.

Content Warnings

elisabethkatee's review against another edition

4.0

dark funny reflective sad medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Yes

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

loved the writing. learnt many new words. i related in some ways and then felt totally disconnected in others. i really loved it. will definitely read again it was a quick and easy (define EAsY) read !

Content Warnings

greatu's review against another edition

3.0

dark sad

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

pixieless's review against another edition

4.0

challenging dark emotional hopeful reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Complicated

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

this book should be 5 stars. from its masterful depiction of depression and it’s magnificent prose, I adored this book throughout the majority of its saddening pages. unfortunately the racism plath casually dropped into the narrative for absolutely no reason or sense really added nothing to the story (not that racism has any reason or value in any narrative sense.) i was disappointed and disgusted with her treatment of and views on the only black character in her story, looking down on a black nurse in the asylum for literally no reason in story terms, unless she was trying to make esther seem incredibly unlikeable. you would think this shameful revelation of her character would take away more stars, and it probably should, but the story up until then was presented so beautifully, i would have to award 5 stars for what the story could’ve been. from the glorious descriptions of doreen’s dewy skin to the heartbreaking reflections on esther’s depressive episodes, i was completely enthralled, and honestly rather forlorn reading these melancholic episodes. I wish plath didn’t feel the need to add the unexpected, unscrupulous and unnecessary racism as it totally detracted from my sympathy for esther as a tortured character, as despite everything she was feeling and had gone through up until that point, there was no excuse for her views towards the african-american man she was talking to. aside from this horrific point, the book is incredible and I wish I could rate it higher for how it describes the depression that I often feel in such an honest and raw fashion. i would say it’s a beautiful depiction of depression due to her incredible use of prose and descriptive language, but in all honesty, sylvia plath had no qualms in depicting depression in the horrible, terrifying manner it truly is.

Content Warnings

nabeeyak's review against another edition

2.75

dark informative reflective sad slow-paced

Content Warnings

ashleysketch's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional funny reflective sad slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Yes

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

I’ve never related to anything more than Sylvia Plath talking about taking baths. A part that stuck out to me was when she decided to walk for hours drunk in the middle of the night to return home sober, I found the book very slow until the psychiatric hospital but once there I felt very much connected to the character and saw pieces of myself in her. A very interesting part was explaining the overdose from her perspective.

Content Warnings

blingping's review against another edition

4.25

dark emotional reflective medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: Yes

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: No

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

sunny_not's review against another edition

3.25

dark emotional funny sad tense medium-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Strong character development: No

Loveable characters: Complicated

Diverse cast of characters: Complicated

Flaws of characters a main focus: Yes

Content Warnings

_inge's review against another edition

slow-paced

Plot or Character Driven: Character

Loveable characters: Complicated

I had high expectations going into this, but those ultimately fell flat. The Bell Jar is written beautifully, some metaphors especially were really well done. I also understand now how impactful this book must’ve been on release - even now, the descriptions of self-harm and suicide attempts are shocking, and I imagine this character going against men would have been a lot to take in back then too. But the reading experience for me unfortunately wasn’t what I’d hoped it would be.

There’s a lot of characters who are introduced briefly, and this book keeps shifting back from different segments in the past to the present. Often the protagonist thinks about something else whilst she’s having a conversation with another person, for instance. She’d trail off into her thoughts for a couple pages, and those thoughts then spark new memories so she trails off further. When she does end up back in the present it often takes you by surprise. You only have chapters to go off, no further indications about the story are being given. I often didn’t know if a particular event even mattered in the present either, sometimes a thought seemed more like an interesting anecdote the main character was remembering.

This is also probably the most racist classic I’ve ever read. A black man speaks English in a caricature way, and his face is described as being like molasses. Every Chinese person in this is yellow. Chapter 10 starts with the main character describing her face as that of a ‘sick Indian’. A woman from Slovakia is a stereotype and only appears for (what is implied to be) sex, and an Italian woman mimics the main character’s mum and can’t be trusted either. Every non American, non white character is a stereotype or seen as less worthy. Obviously this was written in a different time, but that’s something to consider before reading.

Content Warnings

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