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A review by michaeljohnhalseartistry
The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
4.0
My 8th novel of 2016, I first came across Sylvia Plath when I was in high school, and I've been a huge fan ever since. Just recently I bought her novel, The Bell Jar, the only novel Plath wrote. I wasn't really sure what to expect going in to it. I had no idea what it was about, I just knew Plath wrote it and picked it up.
For the most part, I loved the novel. The way Plath writes poetry, with very real imagery and almost blunt emotional impact is translated over into the novel beautifully. The way Plath writes depression and the progression of it as it takes over the main character is beautiful, and stems, no doubt, from self-awareness. She creates this creeping sense of growing disinterest in the world so well that you hardly notice the slow degradation. One minute the novel begins and you can sense there's something off with Ester Greenwood, and the next minute you're half way through and wondering when Ester had sunk so low.
The one real issue I had with The Bell Jar was a little knit-picky thing. I wasn't too fond of the ending. I thought it was too ambiguous, and as I tend to gravitate towards the darker outcomes, I would've rather seen the main character commit suicide in the end. BUT I suppose that'd be too close to home for Plath to have written that ending, haha. Interestingly, this novel was published in January 1963, a month before Plath committed suicide herself.
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www.michaeljohnhalse.wix.com/michaeljohnhalse
For the most part, I loved the novel. The way Plath writes poetry, with very real imagery and almost blunt emotional impact is translated over into the novel beautifully. The way Plath writes depression and the progression of it as it takes over the main character is beautiful, and stems, no doubt, from self-awareness. She creates this creeping sense of growing disinterest in the world so well that you hardly notice the slow degradation. One minute the novel begins and you can sense there's something off with Ester Greenwood, and the next minute you're half way through and wondering when Ester had sunk so low.
The one real issue I had with The Bell Jar was a little knit-picky thing. I wasn't too fond of the ending. I thought it was too ambiguous, and as I tend to gravitate towards the darker outcomes, I would've rather seen the main character commit suicide in the end. BUT I suppose that'd be too close to home for Plath to have written that ending, haha. Interestingly, this novel was published in January 1963, a month before Plath committed suicide herself.
---
FOR MORE BOOK REVIEWS, PHOTOS, AND MY OWN NOVEL SERIES, CHECK OUT MY BLOG:
www.michaeljohnhalse.wix.com/michaeljohnhalse