Reviews with content warning for Injury/Injury detail - The Bell Jar

Reviews tagging 'Injury/Injury detail'

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

102 reviews

allydoessomereading's review against another edition

challenging dark emotional reflective sad medium-paced

Plot- or character-driven? A mix
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

5.0

I think Sylvia plath knows my life exactly. I don't think I've ever read my own thoughts and feelings be explained so beautifully and precisely like Plath does. Her writing is so vibrant and poetic, even when she is discussing some very heavy topics. Its amazing that she was able to discuss the female experience so ruthlessly in the time that she did. Its insane that this book from years ago is the first ive read with passages that have made me feel so seen and understood in a way i havent felt before. I think this book found me at both the best and worst time, either way I know it's stuck with me for life.

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ankiaisreading's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional reflective relaxing sad tense 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

3.75

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flapjackzs_'s review against another edition

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dark emotional 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? Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus? Yes

4.5

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vonya45's review against another edition

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challenging dark emotional funny inspiring reflective sad 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

4.5

A gorgeous story that is at once hard to listen to, incredibly validating and sometimes surprisingly funny. The way Plath writes with a blend of matter-of-factness and poetic imagery is a treat, made even better by Maggie Gyllenhaal's perfect reading of the audiobook. But the real heart of the novel is its depiction of depression and the image of the bell jar, suffocating its inhabitant while distorting the surrounding world. I'm sure plenty of us can see some hints of our own experiences in these descriptions. It feels like talking to someone who feels the same way, you do but they finally put the feeling into words you couldn't find. Even the non-linear structure, which can sometimes be distracting or confusing, aids the feeling of being lost in the murky grayness of a depressed person's mind, recalling memories at random and spiraling in on itself with no hold on reality. As such, it might be a really bad book choice for someone who is not doing well mentally, especially once you know how Sylvia's own life ended after the book's final warning that the bell jar may return. For me, it was a heavy read but with enough wit and humor and style to keep from getting pulled down. I'm very glad I finally read this masterpiece.

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jellygenie's review against another edition

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dark emotional sad slow-paced

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

3.0

Writing was great, too sad, little character development and unlikeable MC, borderline racist comments, depressing and open-ended.

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mawar12's review against another edition

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challenging emotional reflective sad tense medium-paced

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

3.0

probably one of the first books I added content warning to. the main character is kinda an asshole. she is so rude to her mom who is coming just so she can have her daughter a present. do you know how many mom's don't even care about their daughters mental health and just dismiss it? her mom's a hero. not perfect but she did what she can.

then she judges buddy for what he did in high school. like c'mon now.

MC also was so negative that it's so draining to read this book. I get it, that's what happened with people with depression. but that doesn't mean that everytime a good thing happened and my heart was filled with hope, the MC had to say something to view it as negative. it doesn't make for a good reading experience to me.
every person that came and visit her was viewed negatively, every kindness and people asking her to go out with them was framed negatively. I think the only person kind to her that the MC actually loves and gave it right back was Doctor Nolan.
MC also didn't care when she wanted to steal diamond from someone , told Joan rudely out of nowhere Joan made her puke. it's like she judges people that are rude to her but apparently she can also be rude to people tht aren't that rude to her first.

The shock therapy was shockingly scary and im glad that kinda wasn't a huge thing anymore.

also im surprised people still use telegram in 1950s to early 1960s.

Joan's death is shocking because look perfectly fine the day before her death.

some of the mental health facilities were pretty nice in the book , it's like a hotel with nurses giving you food in your room.

I'm glad that the MC is able to get better but still have questions and she didn't just magically be like all is well, which is pretty accurate for mental health patients.

Her trying to off herself was really triggering and I hate when Buddy asked who wanted to marry her now that she's been in a mental health facility. I know that the MC also has been rude to Buddy because she wrote a rude letter to him while he was suffering with TB, but still tqhat rude of him.

quiet sad that the friends of MC in earlier part of the book weren't as mentioned anymore later in the book.

Overall it's an okay book I like how the writing takes you into the story. can be quiet overdescriptive for me at times. But the MC being so negative was so draining. at least with 'Catcher in the Rye' or cPerks of being a wallflower' they have something else that can keep the tone more fast paced. it just feels like you saying something positive but a person will say something negative back so much so it drains you. But honestly I feel like the book is over hyped. I get the feeling the reason it being hyped was because it agrees with the 'popular' views of some of the western world today. which is the negatives of marriage, how 'women don't need no man' and 'religious people bad and judgemental'. it hardly is the greatest book ever. it's okay but definitely not great.

some opinions too on MC's thoughts:

First of all, you need to understand why people that defend chastity think the way they do. and you have to look at all angles and met with more people. if you judge people that chose chastity by what one Organisation says then of course you're going to have a bad view of it. think for yourself, is it factually correct and is it proven by data and experience that guarding chastity was actually good?

second of all the girl didn't even hang out with the right person. sure you can be chaste but obviously if you are around toxic men that's hard. hang out with people that think like you or positive people. why do you join people having parties if you want to be chaste? s*x is a beautiful thing that can create life so why waste it on people you aren't serious with?

just because one guy is being fake doesn't mean all people who think chastity is good think like him.
like how not all atheists think like Karl Max.

this also applied to religion. often times this book frame religious people as having less appealing characteristics and even generalized Catholics. which is surprising why so many like this book. I'm pretty sure if the word catholic was changed to the word 'LGBT' the TikTok algorithm wouldn't have hyped this book but would burn it to the ground. the treatment of religion in this day and age is horrible. I know many good religious people that are both good and religious but these people didn't seem to exist in the book.

I also don't like it when it tried to simplify marriage as 'women cool men work'. these husbands and wives do so for their kids and for their family, not just because society told them to. you must understand why things happened and why people think that way and if it's more right for the society and yourself. if not, you would spend time judging Catholics based on one organization you came across or basing whether you want to keep virginity or not on whether what one guy does with his.this is what's wrong with the MC's thoughts.

exploring other religion other than Christianity may also help and learning about them rather than just basing it on one view.

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