Has anyone read the bell jar by sylvia plath?

Question

what did you think?

Answer 1

It's way too painful to read for pleasure. My wife suffers from severe depression. This book gave me insight into what she goes through. For that I was grateful. She has read many other biographies of Sylvia Plath, and we both admire her poetry, placing her right at the top of all 20th century poets. We can only guess what heights she might have attained if she had lived longer. My favorite among her poems is "Black Rook in Rainy Weather." Read it along with Thom Gunn's "Black Jackets"; they both create beauty out of raw experience, and see beauty where most of us would not. What a gift!

Answer 2

This was my favorite book in high school. I've probably read it a couple of dozen times. It was a coming of age novel for me at a time when I often felt confused and miserable. The Bell Jar gave me something to identify with and the opportunity to learn a little bit more about someone's actual life since I was too young to have experienced so much myself. My mom would make fun of me whenever she saw me reading it, though.

I'm not sure exactly what my mom was thinking, but looking back at that novel now with a bit more life experience I do feel kind of bad that I had used it to legitimize my own melancholy in a way. It's great to read once or twice (especially then it helped to clear up a lot of things I was curious about), but more than that is just avoiding real life and all the other things that are out there to learn.

If you're asking whether or not you should read it for the first time, you definitely should. Some of the language is beautiful, and it shows you a perspective that you might otherwise never experience. It may serve as a decent introduction to other great writers like Faulkner, Dostoevsky and Camus.

Answer 3

It is a classic. Sylvia Plath was an extremely gifted writer. Her tragic life is reflected in the theme of this book. Plath suffered severe major depressive episodes with psychotic features, and did not receive adequate care. Because mental illness carries such profound social stigma, affected persons often don't seek help. I believe this incredibly insightful book opened the eyes of countless people to the horror that is Depression.

Answer 4

Yes, I read it in my senior year of high school. I think the book is very honest, to the point of painfully so, it s very emotional and at times difficult. It deals with harsh themes, and I personally loved it. Sylvia Plath is completely frank about herself in it and the book s most outstanding quality , in my opinion, is its psychological depth

Answer 5

The best part of that book is a poem toward the end called "Mad Girl's Love Song"

Answer 6

Yes, i read it, but it was in the '70's. i remembered i liked it.

Answer 7

No. But thanks for reminding me that I should. My daughter read it and said it was a great book.

Answer 8

my friendis reading it now.. she loves it.. altho it was a slow beginning.