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laurenfstr 's review for:
The Bell Jar
by Sylvia Plath
emotional
slow-paced
Plot or Character Driven:
Character
Strong character development:
Complicated
Loveable characters:
No
Diverse cast of characters:
Yes
Flaws of characters a main focus:
Yes
Really great writing but I struggled to see past all of the issues with this book (e.g., racism, homophobia). They felt overdone, unnecessary (even considering the time the book was published), and overall bled bitterness throughout the rest of the work. I think if it was any longer I would have DNFed it after about 50 pages.
I did find myself connecting with Esther at points but then was completely lost at others. I liked her as the female lead, and I thought the rawness and gruesome honesty of her inner monologue was something I enjoyed a lot about this novel. I do love a book with a questionable female main character.
I think the fig tree analogy has been massively overrated. Instead I preferred the telephone wire and bell jar analogies, as I think they had much bigger punches. Though maybe this is because I had already heard about the fig tree on BookTok, which probably ruined it as it does a lot of things…
I had put off reading this book for years because of all of the hype I’d seen, but I don’t think it was worth the wait. I feel really mixed overall, like something was missing and the negative parts about this book are fighting with the interesting female lead and really great writing 🤷♀️
I did find myself connecting with Esther at points but then was completely lost at others. I liked her as the female lead, and I thought the rawness and gruesome honesty of her inner monologue was something I enjoyed a lot about this novel. I do love a book with a questionable female main character.
I think the fig tree analogy has been massively overrated. Instead I preferred the telephone wire and bell jar analogies, as I think they had much bigger punches. Though maybe this is because I had already heard about the fig tree on BookTok, which probably ruined it as it does a lot of things…
I had put off reading this book for years because of all of the hype I’d seen, but I don’t think it was worth the wait. I feel really mixed overall, like something was missing and the negative parts about this book are fighting with the interesting female lead and really great writing 🤷♀️