A review by marissasa
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

challenging dark reflective sad tense medium-paced
  • Plot- or character-driven? Character
  • Strong character development? Yes
  • Loveable characters? No
  • Diverse cast of characters? No

5.0

I'm glad I finally got around to reading this classic, as it has the best and most realistic description of depression I've ever read. It was alarmingly realistic with how much I could relate to Esther's feelings, mental illness, and sentiments about her future, especially in the beginning of the book, but makes sense when you take in the context that this is a roman a clef with mostly true occurrences from Plath's life. Even the small things, not just the obvious existential dread and depressive outlook, were so relatable and accurate to being a mentally ill and directionless young woman in her 20s. The way Esther walked 40+ blocks back to her hotel alone in the dead of night because she didn't want to pay for a cab and because she didn't care if anything happened to her, was genuinely something I did multiple times in college for the same reasons. The main character is flawed and sometimes even a bad person, but she is nuanced and complex just as struggling women are in real life. The things she goes through are harrowing and tense, but we do get to see the progress from her descent into mental illness to her eventual improvement and potential release from the psych ward, and I think that was a meaningful decision that only further humanizes her. In addition, the prose, imagery, and overall writing is beautiful. I specifically loved every metaphor and simile Plath used to describe her bleak outlook on her future: "I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story", "I saw the years of my life spaced along a road in the form of telephone poles, threaded together by wires", and "I saw the days of the year stretching ahead like a series of bright, white boxes, and separating one box from another was sleep, like a black shade." Similar to other poets who have written novels, you can just tell how they have such a masterful command over the language and can string together words into the most beautiful sentences. The only thing stopping this book from being a 5 star read for me is the fact that there are some racist comments and slurs that were typical of white people in the 50s (and frankly today too, sigh). While I recognize that it was a different time back then and that certain things seen as wrong today were unfortunately normalized, I think it's important to not ignore them completely and still factor in those things when you are critically reading, rating, and reviewing a book.
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