THE BELL JAR
by
SYLVIA PLATH
THE BLURB:
“A girl lives in an out-of-the-way town for nineteen years, so poor she can't afford a magazine and then she gets a scholarship to college and wins a prize here and there and ends up steering New York like her own private car. Only I wasn't steering anything. Not even myself.”
Working in New York one hot summer, Esther Greenwood is on the brink of her future. Yet she is also on the edge of a darkness that makes her world increasingly unreal. In this vivid and unforgettable novel about the struggles of growing up, Esther's world shines through: the wide-eyed country girls, her crazed men-friends, hot dinner dances and nights in New York, and a slow slide into breakdown.
THE REALITY:
My good God- this novel is compelling and then some. On a lighter note, I like that Esther decides to name the heroine of her novel Elaine (although she puts the idea of writing a novel off) and writes a line and notes that she's probably read it somewhere else before. I've felt like that and I think all writers have felt like that- because we are readers, too, and sometimes prose sticks in the subconscious if not the conscious. Back to the book and this slow descent into a breakdown is so, so personal (and I believe more-then-partially autobiographical.)
Sylvia Plath uses the shape of a bell jar for an analogy of being trapped inside her mental illness, and its use is very clever and atmospheric. In fact, this whole book is very clever, with a range of similies and metaphors. I especially like the style of writing as Esther (very quickly, or so it seemed) began the initial stages of losing her mind. The reason? Her first real let down: being refused a place on a writing course (I think the novel specifies that she's 20, but don't quote me on that). A previously prodigiously intelligent, excellent student, it comes as a tremendous blow to her. This is based on real life, and it's weird the way that some people can handle let-downs and some can't. If a person has a tendency towards instability, though, they can well end up forming the latter part of that equation.
My favourite parts were Esther's time in new York- where the city, fashions, customs and etiquette of that time (I believe it's the 1950s) come alive and also her relationships with both Buddy and Irwin. Her time in a mental asylum, and her reactions to her treatment (especially electroconvulsive therapy) are brutally tackled with a sensitive hand that seemingly wavers into madness itself. Plath is certainly good at getting you to feel the exact emotions of the main character, and I especially loved the interesting and bloody one-in-a-million loss-of-virginity scene. I like the way this book doesn't shy away from the gruesome, the animal and the personal, and both giving birth and the viewing of cadavers are depicted.
Regarded as a great, read this and keep it on your bookshelf- I certainly will.
