Book Review - The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

Recently, I've been feeling drawn to read work by Sylvia Plath.

Catching snippets of her poetry republished by literate bloggers and quotations from The Bell Jar continuously referenced inspired me to pick up her arguably most famous work to read over the weekend. Well, I ended up starting the book around 3pm and I'm all finished with it now. (It's 6:15 pm) It was a quick read but very much worth the purchase. I am always compelled to get physical copies of books I think are important to the development of my psyche as well as the development of my intellectuality. 

The main character of The Bell Jar was a college student at a women's college who began her relatively normal life. There were many surprisingly relatable aspects to her character in the beginning of her book; surprising because of the time period in which the book was set. Esther had some progressive views regarding her attachment to men which surprised me for a book set when Eisenhower was still president of the U.S. Her desire to not be married and her ideas about her life containing something more than marriage and children were markedly progressive.

Esther's descent into "insanity" seemed exaggerated in the summary on the back of the book. "Insanity" is an awfully vague term to describe what happens to her and relies on prejudices against mental illness. What Esther experiences is well written and almost written as if Plath was going through it herself. There is a sense of feeling pity for her that goes along with realizing the character would shun your pity. 

I loved The Bell Jar as it explored a bit of the prejudices against mental illness as well as the concept that those who are mentally ill are still capable of understanding their surroundings and sometimes behaving in a very sane way. Reading this book convinced me that Plath's death was too soon. She was brilliant.