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A review by kevin_shepherd
The Unabridged Journals of Sylvia Plath by Sylvia Plath
4.0
“I don’t believe in God as a kind father in the sky. I don’t believe that the meek will inherit the earth. The meek get ignored and trampled. They decompose in the bloody soil of war, of business, of art, and they rot into the warm ground under the spring rains.”
An unabridged collection of Sylvia Plath’s personal journals. Even at 700+ pages this 6 pound doorstop of a book still has waning gaps of missing time—missing because her journaling was inconsistent, missing because of her hospitalization after a failed suicide attempt (1953), missing because Ted Hughes “lost” at least one journal, missing because Ted Hughes burned her final journal. The editors have done their absolute best to bridge the holes with letters (when available), journal “fragments,” footnotes and a rather extensive appendix. Still, it would be to the reader’s benefit to have a bit of background knowledge about Plath’s life history before tackling this behemoth.
I’m struck by the extent of Sylvia’s crippling codependency with Hughes. There is a distinct change in the tone of her writing once the handsome and talented T.H. enters her sphere of existence. Her focus becomes noticeably less about bettering herself as a poet and a writer and noticeably more about managing and furthering Ted’s career. I’m not suggesting he would have floundered without her, I’m just saying that… well… even though Plath rarely disparages his character, he still comes off looking like a complete asshole.
An unabridged collection of Sylvia Plath’s personal journals. Even at 700+ pages this 6 pound doorstop of a book still has waning gaps of missing time—missing because her journaling was inconsistent, missing because of her hospitalization after a failed suicide attempt (1953), missing because Ted Hughes “lost” at least one journal, missing because Ted Hughes burned her final journal. The editors have done their absolute best to bridge the holes with letters (when available), journal “fragments,” footnotes and a rather extensive appendix. Still, it would be to the reader’s benefit to have a bit of background knowledge about Plath’s life history before tackling this behemoth.
I’m struck by the extent of Sylvia’s crippling codependency with Hughes. There is a distinct change in the tone of her writing once the handsome and talented T.H. enters her sphere of existence. Her focus becomes noticeably less about bettering herself as a poet and a writer and noticeably more about managing and furthering Ted’s career. I’m not suggesting he would have floundered without her, I’m just saying that… well… even though Plath rarely disparages his character, he still comes off looking like a complete asshole.