The Bell Jar : A Novel (Perennial Classics)
by Sylvia Plath
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Book Summary Information
Author: Sylvia PlathEdition: Paperback
Audio: English (Published)
Format: Bargain Price
Published: 2000-03-01
ISBN: N/A
Number of pages: 288
Publisher: Harper Perennial Modern Classics
Book Reviews of The Bell Jar : A Novel (Perennial Classics)
Book Review: A novel for the Female Salingers of the world
Summary: 5 Stars
Sylvia Plath's story--both in real life, and in this work of "fiction"--is undeniably sad. I purchased this book after, by chance, catching the last 15 minutes of the movie Sylvia on tele (which piqued my interest in her story). I instantly fell in love with the mood of this book. Sylvia's style as an author is undeniable.
I am tempted to compare the main character of this story (which is, in fact, a not-so-"fictionalized" autobiographical account of Sylvia's entry into young adulthood)to J.D. Salinger's Holden Caulfield (of The Catcher in the Rye, for those not familiar). However, that might be a bit oversimplistic. When you consider the social climate and its implications for women in the era of this book, you may find it all the more compelling that the main character behaves as she does. I won't give too much away, but I will say that Plath does a remarkable job of creating a character for whom her readers will likely experience many conflicting impressions and feelings.
You will likely walk away from this book feeling frustrated and curious. Go with it! I highly recommend Sylvia Plath: Method and Madness: A Biography as subsequent reading. Why? Because only after reading Sylvia's biography can you realize how very much of 'The Bell Jar' was based in reality--and that, in turn, will solidify whatever feelings it evoked in you. I found myself turning back to 'The Bell Jar' constantly just to note the similarities as I read that biography. At the end of both, I cannot deny that although Sylvia's life and story was very different than my own (and that, as a person, she was someone I probably would not have felt *warm and fuzzy* toward in 'real life'), I walked away from both books feeling somehow sorrowfully connected to her and her tragic life--which undoubtedly ended much too soon.
Summary of The Bell Jar : A Novel (Perennial Classics)
A student from Boston wins a guest editorship on a national magazine, and finds a new world at her feet. Her New York life is crowded with possibilities, so the choice of future is overwhelming. She is faced with the perennial problems of morality, behaviour and identity.Plath was an excellent poet but is known to many for this largely autobiographical novel. The Bell Jar tells the story of a gifted young woman's mental breakdown beginning during a summer internship as a junior editor at a magazine in New York City in the early 1950s. The real Plath committed suicide in 1963 and left behind this scathingly sad, honest and perfectly-written book, which remains one of the best-told tales of a woman's descent into insanity.
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