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dark
emotional
reflective
sad
medium-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
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Misogyny, Racial slurs, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Vomit, Medical content, Suicide attempt, Sexual harassment
challenging
dark
reflective
sad
fast-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
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Death, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
challenging
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-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
Esther Greenwood appears to be on the brink of a bright future. She’s done an internship at a fashion magazine in New York and has a passion for writing but she also feels at odds with the world around her and is being consumed by a darkness that she can’t seem to shake.
“The Bell Jar” definitely needs to come with trigger warnings for suicide, self-harm and mental health issues as Plath’s descriptions are quite stark and realistic with no sugar coating at all. It’s no secret that this is said to be semi-autobiographical and was released shortly before Plath’s own death by suicide in 1963.
I really enjoyed Plath’s writing, considering the difficult subject matter there are moments of lightness and I found Esther to be a very relatable character. Most of the first half of the book we see her trying to fit in with the other girls on the internship but struggling to find her place a little and I’m sure lots of us have felt that way at one time or another. The first person narrative works very well with the subject matter as I could see how conflicted Esther was between the life she appeared to be living from the outside and the way she was feeling inside but it also meant the depiction of her depression hit even closer to home as the book goes on and her condition worsened.
It’s quite a short book but I think that works in its favour in some ways as I don’t think it is a great idea to spend too much time with characters as low as Esther gets. I was careful to keep an eye on my own mental health whilst I was reading this, which I think is very important, particularly if you have struggled with depression or suicidal thoughts yourself.
New York is one of my absolute favourite places so it’s always nice to see it depicted in books and I particularly love seeing it in different time periods too. I feel like I would have loved 1950s New York just as much as I do the modern New York and Plath really utilised the location well.
Reading this made me a little sad for what might have been. Plath was clearly a talented writer and there are some absolutely beautiful descriptive passages within this, the analogy of the bell jar was similar to the way I have seen other people describe their experiences with depression. With the treatment of Esther and how her depression was misunderstood and minimised by family and friends I could see how Plath was likely feeling and how she had probably been treated too. She also includes a scathing indictment of the treatment people would receive at state facilities at that time with Esther being fully aware of how privileged she was to be in a private hospital.
Overall, it’s not entirely an enjoyable read as such as the subject matter may be extremely difficult for a lot of people but it is incredibly well written.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
dark
emotional
funny
informative
reflective
sad
tense
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
A mix
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual assault, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Blood, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt, Schizophrenia/Psychosis
Moderate: Death, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism, Death of parent, Lesbophobia
dark
emotional
reflective
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Moderate: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide attempt
dark
emotional
reflective
sad
fast-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Complicated
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Panic attacks/disorders, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Medical content, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Sexual content
Minor: Vomit
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
reflective
sad
medium-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Drug abuse, Mental illness, Self harm, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Terminal illness, Medical content, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Blood
medium-paced
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
I read this once sometime either in my senior year in high school or my freshman year of college. I read it on my own time and recalled loving it to pieces. As an adult, I didn't remember a damn thing about this book aside from younger!me loving it, so I opted for a reread.
It's truly fascinating to revisit an old favorite with more experience and wisdom than your younger self had. I resonated with The Bell Jar because it was one of those few stories which made me felt less alone. For all the books I was forced to read throughout high school and the plethora of characters I had to identify with, nothing struck as close to home as The Bell Jar had.
And it simultaneously pains and comforts me as an adult to know it still does.
There's something ephemeral about mental illness and I always felt poets captured that odd sensation better than most and with good reason - sometimes regular, structured prose fails to explain a sensation that is beyond conventional words. I'm sure plenty of people have or will read this book, who have never been depressed or anxious of manic a day in their lives, and not get it. As someone who continues to find balance with their fickle, elusive mind, I felt like I could have been Esther and Esther was me.
The prose is lovely, albeit too simple and unimaginative at times. It's great to see the subtle shifts in the narrative as Esther crumbles further into her depression. Her grandiose descriptions of everything and anything break down to barely comprehending the world around her. It's details like this that resonate with me while struggling with my own demons.
I will say that the first 25% left me wondering why I even liked this book to begin with. It takes some time to warm up to you and make sense as to what's going on, but it is a touch hard to settle into.
Sadly, this book is a culprit of "a product of its time" or whatever. I did not remember the blatant racism and fatphobia when I was younger; it freaking punched me in the face now. It was incredibly awful to read Esther describing these people as if they're not even human. Esther herself is described as a stick of a girl and when she gains twenty pounds later on, she says she looks like a pregnant woman. No you don't, sweetie. Can you just stop? If it wasn't for sections like this, I would've given this five stars.
Despite its flaws, this book remains an important book and it pains me that there haven't been many strides in the mental health community since this was published. Reading the sections about the various wards she was placed in alone reminded me that so little separated the standards from the 50s from what is in place now. A painful, yet cathartic read, but important nonetheless.
It's truly fascinating to revisit an old favorite with more experience and wisdom than your younger self had. I resonated with The Bell Jar because it was one of those few stories which made me felt less alone. For all the books I was forced to read throughout high school and the plethora of characters I had to identify with, nothing struck as close to home as The Bell Jar had.
And it simultaneously pains and comforts me as an adult to know it still does.
There's something ephemeral about mental illness and I always felt poets captured that odd sensation better than most and with good reason - sometimes regular, structured prose fails to explain a sensation that is beyond conventional words. I'm sure plenty of people have or will read this book, who have never been depressed or anxious of manic a day in their lives, and not get it. As someone who continues to find balance with their fickle, elusive mind, I felt like I could have been Esther and Esther was me.
The prose is lovely, albeit too simple and unimaginative at times. It's great to see the subtle shifts in the narrative as Esther crumbles further into her depression. Her grandiose descriptions of everything and anything break down to barely comprehending the world around her. It's details like this that resonate with me while struggling with my own demons.
I will say that the first 25% left me wondering why I even liked this book to begin with. It takes some time to warm up to you and make sense as to what's going on, but it is a touch hard to settle into.
Sadly, this book is a culprit of "a product of its time" or whatever. I did not remember the blatant racism and fatphobia when I was younger; it freaking punched me in the face now. It was incredibly awful to read Esther describing these people as if they're not even human. Esther herself is described as a stick of a girl and when she gains twenty pounds later on, she says she looks like a pregnant woman. No you don't, sweetie. Can you just stop? If it wasn't for sections like this, I would've given this five stars.
Despite its flaws, this book remains an important book and it pains me that there haven't been many strides in the mental health community since this was published. Reading the sections about the various wards she was placed in alone reminded me that so little separated the standards from the 50s from what is in place now. A painful, yet cathartic read, but important nonetheless.
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Self harm, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Ableism, Adult/minor relationship, Body shaming, Drug use, Fatphobia, Racial slurs, Racism
challenging
dark
emotional
tense
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Forced institutionalization, Medical trauma, Suicide attempt
challenging
dark
emotional
funny
hopeful
sad
tense
slow-paced
Strong character development:
Yes
Loveable characters:
Yes
Diverse cast of characters:
No
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Sylvia Plath really captures a feeling of apathy and depression in this book and the way Esther experiences the world . Lots of dark humour and unexpected twists as well
Thought it was interesting comparison talking about the rosenbergs at the start, almost a premonition of her psychiatric treatment. I also thought Joan was a hallucination for a while. Kind of a bleak but hopeful book, a bit like Eleanor Oliphant but more bitter and less hopeful
Content Warnings
Graphic: Death, Mental illness, Rape, Self harm, Sexual assault, Sexual violence, Suicidal thoughts, Suicide, Suicide attempt
Moderate: Eating disorder, Fatphobia, Homophobia, Racial slurs, Racism