Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jarby Sylvia Plath, Harper Perennial Modern Classics

Najla

كيف سأعرف أن الناقوس الزجاجي سيهبط ذات يوم— في الكلية، في اوروبا، في مكان ما، في اي مكان بتشوهاته الخانقة ثانيةً؟

I think this speaks more on being ambitious while poor than any sort of feminist literature. Very valuable read although I wouldn’t read the whole book again. It was interesting to see another person’s journey with depression but was hard to read her being hateful and callous towards others including herself.

Liz Hunsaker

I don’t know what to think about this book. It was fine until it shifted and i didn’t know where to stand anymore.

Romy

As a slow reader, I must say this book hooked me! Maybe because I loved the fig tree analogy that speaks so much about me. I adore complex characters who are seeking for identity by constantly contradicting the societal norms in ways that make enormous sense.  They made me question my existence in a palpable manner. Also, this is Sylvia Plath! I expected so much, especially in the writing style, and it did not disappoint. One of the most well-written books I have read. 

jhet with an h

i really liked this book. i went into it as blind as i can be, as i didn’t read the synopsis and kept myself from reading critics’ reviews and reviews of readers just like myself.

the book shows the time it was written in. it does have some racist and homophobic descriptions but they aren’t that common and while we shouldn’t ignore them i think focusing only on that part of this book is very discrediting to plath’s literary prowess.

i know that the bell jar is often compared with salingers’s catcher in the rye, but i do not think it’s right at all. these two do have its similarities, but i feel like just calling it female catcher in the rye is very wrong. plath writes the mentally ill woman in a really accurate way, and it’s so close to her own life that you can’t really call it anything else other than what she called it - the bell jar. (this paragraph is kinda confusing but bear with me)

i really liked how esther descends into her madness. it feels real. it’s raw and ugly and sad and you really feel for her. i also think it’s accurate how the stay in the asylum’s doesn’t magically fix her problems and change her way of thinking and make her mental illness disappear. it’s very honest and real. 

after this, i really want to check plath’s poetry out because she really amazes me and i really like the way she writes. and the way she sees the world.

i really liked this book. i went into it as blind as i can be, as i didn’t read the synopsis and kept myself from reading critics’ reviews and reviews of readers just like myself.

the book shows the time it was written in. it does have some racist and homophobic descriptions but they aren’t that common and while we shouldn’t ignore them i think focusing only on that part of this book is very discrediting to plath’s literary prowess.

i know that the bell jar is often compared with salingers’s catcher in the rye, but i do not think it’s right at all. these two do have its similarities, but i feel like just calling it female catcher in the rye is very wrong. plath writes the mentally ill woman in a really accurate way, and it’s so close to her own life that you can’t really call it anything else other than what she called it - the bell jar. (this paragraph is kinda confusing but bear with me)

i really liked how esther descends into her madness. it feels real. it’s raw and ugly and sad and you really feel for her. i also think it’s accurate how the stay in the asylum’s doesn’t magically fix her problems and change her way of thinking and make her mental illness disappear. it’s very honest and real. 

after this, i really want to check plath’s poetry out because she really amazes me and i really like the way she writes. and the way she sees the world.

fionna

Sırça Fanus

Yağmur Yıldız

Diğer yorumları okuduktan sonra şuna karar verdim; bu kitabı okumanın doğru zamanı var. Mezuniyetine birkaç hafta kalmış ve ne yapacağını bilemeyen biri olarak beni saran ve sarsan pek çok yanı vardı. En büyük eleştirimi gir/çık yapan, hikayeye hiçbir katkısı olmayan bir sürü karakteri tanımak, bir o kadar mekanı ziyaret etmek zorunda oluşumuzdan yana yapacağım. “Şimdi Frankie’den bana ne?” demekten kendimi alamadım.

Esther’in içinde bulunduğu bunalım, buna sürükleniş hali, tam manasıyla içindeyken dünyayı ve insanları görüş şekli bence çok anlamlıydı. “Hep aynı sırça fanusun altında kendi ekşimiş havamda bunalıyor olacaktım. “ Bu alıntının insanlardaki yansımasını çok merak ediyorum.

Nathan Canon

A Câmpanula de Vidro

Nelson Zagalo

Em termos narrativos, é um livro mediano com pequenos rasgos interessantes mas na generalidade arrastado e colado ao mero suceder de eventos, sem grande ligação, motivação ou objeto. Sim, existe um trabalho de deslinearização narrativa que por vezes funciona muito bem, mas estamos claramente a falar de experimentações de primeiro romance. Daí que ter nesta edição um posfácio de Mario Avelar a afirmar que Plath supera Joyce, é no mínimo caricato. Diga-se que mesmo a dramatização do novelar é bastante imaturo, Plath não consegue nunca edificar a personagem e criar pontes suficientes para que a empatia se desenvolva. Ou seja, a personagem surte indefinida, o que paradoxalmente acaba por vir a servir muito bem as interpretações póstumas, já que o suicídio é algo imanente de uma psicologia incerta e indefinida.

Já enquanto defensora de valores caros aos movimentos feministas é uma obra relevante, porque sendo mulher e não se confinando nunca por tal condição é desde logo excelente. Plath, de certo modo apresenta-se aqui semi-autobiografada, dando conta da sua capacidade para olhar acima dos problemas e desafios, optando sempre por se colocar acima dos radares sociais, afirmando-se pela individualização e autonomia, e claro em busca da sua própria liberdade sexual.

O livro ganha peso por este segundo ponto, a forma como são expostos os ideais feministas ao longo de uma narrativa simples, ao que se junta o suicídio da autora, apenas um mês após a publicação da obra, o que acaba por catapultar todo o interesse pela autora, e claro toda a sua curta obra. Ainda assim e do pouco que li, acredito que a sua poesia voou bem mais alto.

Nota: 3.5