From the Bookshelf of Something Old, Something New…

The Bell Jar

Sylvia Plath

Start date: December 1, 2014

Finish date: December 31, 2014

Discussion: Archived Reads - 2014

Discussion leader: Michelle

Why we're reading this: December 2014 Something 'Old' Group Read …more
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Archived Reads - 2014

September 2014 - A Wrinkle in Time by Madeleine L'Engle
By Michelle , Too many books, too little time! · 7 posts · 17 views

last updated Dec 25, 2014 01:19AM

December 2014 - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath
By Michelle , Too many books, too little time! · 8 posts · 55 views

last updated Dec 21, 2014 01:33PM

What Members Thought

Jun 30, 2011 sonya marie madden rated it really liked it

I was depressed when I read this book in high school, but it helped ME to know that Plath had bipolar disorder.

10 likes · Like · see review

Jul 01, 2008 J. Lynn rated it it was amazing

When I first opened The Bell Jar, I latched on immediately, loving every page of the somewhat self-indulgent, train-like chugging that the narrative takes. Maybe it was because I was just in a low mood. Maybe it was because the beginning is a lot easier to get through than the end, a lot funnier, at least. But I was stunned at how simply Sylvia Plath was able to explain some impulses that to me have seemed invisible and complex and utterly unexplainable.

As I picked up the book this morning, how When I first opened The Bell Jar, I latched on immediately, loving every page of the somewhat self-indulgent, train-like chugging that the narrative takes. Maybe it was because I was just in a low mood. Maybe it was because the beginning is a lot easier to get through than the end, a lot funnier, at least. But I was stunned at how simply Sylvia Plath was able to explain some impulses that to me have seemed invisible and complex and utterly unexplainable.

As I picked up the book this morning, however, in a much better mood and much closer to the much heavier end, I'm finding it so much thicker to read, like chopping my way out of a vat of hardened peanut butter. (Oh, bad metaphors.) Now, with only about 50 pages left, reading The Bell Jar feels exactly like eating a big, heavy meal. At first you can't imagine a more satisfying indulgence, but as you continue, you start to feel slightly nauseous. Suddenly you look up and realize how much you've eaten: both the sheer amount and the knowledge of it make you feel sick and weighted. At some point, you stop considering the possibility of stopping: you've eaten so much that it makes literally no difference, and can only hope to get to the end without hurling.

I think that Sylvia Plath is brilliant, don't get me wrong. I've literally never had such a visceral experience reading a book. When I finish it I'm not sure that I'll ever - ever - read it again, but I will finish it and I will continue to appreciate a work that was able to get a physical as well as mental reaction out of me. For me, The Bell Jar has been an Experience with a capital "E" - kind of like eating a fried twinkie: the kind of thing you do once but probably never again, because you appreciate how it could be destructive and addictive to continue.

Hmm...third food metaphor of this review. Might be time for lunch.

Update: Finished it, and although it certainly doesn't rank among my favorite books I gave it 5 stars because it felt terribly important. I think it's both crucial and dangerous that it exists. ...more

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