Book Recommendation: The Bell Jar

Posted on 02/28/2018 by Pisaries Creator

“She stared at her reflection in the glossed shop windows as if to make sure, moment by moment, that she continued to exist.”

thebelljar

Plath’s noteworthy book goes without saying, and she remains one of the best creative minds that could have gone much further. The Bell Jar is her only novel written, notably semi-autobiographical, and was first published in 1963 under a different name. It was first published in the United States in 1971. Her book explores the experiences, thoughts, frustrations, and dreams of Esther Greenwood. She views her life much from a place of darkness where she tries to stand under as much light as possible. It is sometimes forced by herself. You get the sense Esther does things she is not fully certain about, and when all is said and done, there is even more confusion and self-loathing at the end of her internship days. There is a naiveté about her as much as conviction. She wonders if she will ever feel good enough and be better than she is currently. Esther’s beginning is full of uncertainty, the middle has disappointment, and the end was nothing what she imagined. While this is often cited as a book about mental illness, as Plath suffered from bipolar, it should also be remembered for the way she wrote it: honestly and brutally. It was basically written from her bleeding and broken heart as tragic as this sounds.

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