Tell me why I keep picking up copies of The Bell Jar every time I go thrifting even though I already own like 6 copies? I keep forgetting and just grab it. 😂 Anyway, I'm FINALLY going to read it today!
Tell me why I keep picking up copies of The Bell Jar every time I go thrifting even though I already own like 6 copies? I keep forgetting and just grab it. 😂 Anyway, I'm FINALLY going to read it today!
My #Tuesdaytunes is “Cemetery Somewhere” by John Muirhead.
Sylvia Plath wrote:
“I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.”
I remembered the cadavers and Doreen and the story of the fig-tree and Marco's diamond and the sailor on the Common and Doctor Gordon's wall-eyed nurse and the broken thermometers and the negro with his two kinds of beans and the twenty pounds I gained on insulin and the rock that bulged between sky and sea like a grey skull.Maybe forgetfulness, like a kind snow, should numb and cover them.But they were part of me. They were my landscape.
“I thought it sounded just like the sort of drug a man would invent. Here was a woman in terrible pain, obviously feeling every bit of it or she wouldn't groan like that, and she would go straight home and start another baby, because the drug would make her forget how bad the pain had been, when all the time, in some secret part of her, that long, blind, doorless and windowless corridor of pain was waiting to open up and shut her in again.”
“I wondered why I couldn't go the whole way doing what I should any more. This made me sad and tired. Then I wondered why I couldn't go the whole way doing what I shouldn't, the way Doreen did, and this made me even sadder and more tired.”
This books makes me feel tired. Tired of repressing every self-doubting thought, packed in a little pocket of worries in my brain, about the future, myself, and how I allow others‘ opinions on these to shape my own life. I feel like I almost betray Plath with the way I lead my life (as if she would care) - setting a bell jar around my own life, with my own hands. This book paints my Bell Jar bright red, right in my face, and I hate that.
Mixed feelings about this one. I much preferred it to some of the contemporary/millennial books on similar topics. It felt both of its time and also very much not; there were times the writing put me in mind of Ottessa Moshfegh. Yet I didn‘t love it. There remains the obsessive self-centredness of the main character that I disliked here and have done in other books and I struggled with the second half. Still, I‘m glad I read it.
“I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart. I am, I am, I am.”
https://english.shabd.in/the-bell-jar-sylvia-plath/book/10277922
It is taking me so long to get through my first book of the year...
...because we have been doing fun things like traveling to New Orleans and adopting a new kitty!
Litsy, meet Mike! He hasn't been introduced to our other cat quite yet (she is scared), but he has settled in well so far. ❤️
As the year comes to an end, I have been feeling ever more intensely pulled to reread The Bell Jar. I read it every five years or so.
Then today at work, I realized I was repeating, "I took a deep breath and listened to the old brag of my heart," over and over again in the back of my mind. So when I got home, I pulled my copy off the shelf. I probably won't start it for another week or two, but it felt good to flip through the pages!
After wanting to read this book for a very long time, I'm a little disappointed. I found the writing style difficult to follow. Understandably, it is a semi-autobiography, and covers sensitive topics, but I was not overwhelmed.
This book has been on my TBR list for far too long. Time to read it at last
Ever since the first time I read this book in high school I‘ve been saying it‘s my favorite book so I seem intellectually superior and also sexy. Rereading it as a 20 year old has solidified the fact that this is the best book I‘ve ever read. It‘s SO relatable which is kinda scary but whatever. The last time I read it I remember thinking the beginning was slow but this time the beginning had me hooked. I love this book. PLS read it!!!
I didn't care for this book at all. I felt like it ended too quickly. I rated this book a 2 out of 5 stars.
“I thought the most beautiful thing in the world must be shadow.”
Sylvia Plath, The Bell Jar
#AutumnPlease
#Shadow
🖤💔
This film looks interesting 🤔
https://faroutmagazine.co.uk/lady-lazarus-visual-exploration-of-sylvia-plaths-po...
For #Blues , I immediately jumped to the tagged book, one that has been on my tbr for such a long time.
For the song, I decided to go with a blues song by Jimi Hendrix, whose rock music is deeply rooted in the blues genre. Born Under a Bad Sign is not one I‘m completely familiar with, but I loved the instrumental play in it (it‘s pretty much instrumental for the entire 8 minutes). #TitlesAndTunes
Late the game on this one but glad I finally read it! Esther Greenwood is an intelligent and talented woman but is trapped in a stifling, restricting system which drives her mad. Some of the most beautiful and inventive descriptions I‘ve ever read. Esther‘s descent seems completely plausible, believable and inevitable. Really powerful. Highly recommend.
While I didn't enjoy the first part too much, I absolutely loved the second half of it, i was so interested in what was going to happen that I could barely stop reading long enough to underline passages.
My favourite parts of the book are Esther's relationships with people, specifically her mother. This is the first book to ever make me cry.
It is a tragedy that Plath died before being able to finish her second novel.
I reread this book ever 3-4 years and every time I‘m blown away by different aspects of this novel. This time it was how recent this was actually set in our history. My grandma and I discussed her reading this book when it was first published in the US and how much she loved it. A classic for a reason, and something I look forward to rereading again in my 30s.
This is a reread for me! I seem to pick it up every couple years with a new appreciation for Plath. Lately, I‘ve been seeing booktok videos (I‘m assuming that‘s where they started but I don‘t have TikTok) creating lists of books to read to master female manipulation and this book is always listed. Maybe I‘m confused, but even as I‘m reading through this I‘m not seeing the MC as some manipulative mastermind.
This is a really interesting story, and I needed to read it really slowly to take it all in. It's a hard read at times as it has mental illness and suicide too. I remember being really into Syliva Plath, and the movie came out with Gwenth Paltrow. It's her only novel.
One of my #Roll100 books from last month. While I own the physical book, when I learned that Maggie Gyllenhaal narrated the audio version I grabbed that too. I‘ve been embracing reading and listening in tandem more often lately and it‘s really been helping with my brain fog. This one is a classic for all the best reasons. @PuddleJumper
It was a queer, sultry summer, the summer they electrocuted the Rosenbergs, and I didn‘t know what I was doing in New York. #FirstLineFridays @ShyBookOwl
I wish she‘d found a way to stay in the world 💔 The Bell Jar is a book I‘ve read at least four times - it resonated with me for so many reasons, in so many ways. #independentwomen @BarbaraBB @Cinfhen
Such an honest, human voice, dark yet humorous. For anyone wondering - this is a must-read!
I wish I could hand this book to 25-year-old Meg because I think it would‘ve resonated even more strongly then. I saw so many of the struggles I‘ve had on my own mental health journey reflected in Esther, and I think many others do, which is why it‘s such a classic. I loved the introduction written in the 1990s by her former editor and the 16 page bio at the end that are included in this edition. Thanks @Emilymdxn for this #ALSpine rec!
#bookmail
Lovely new illustrated version of The Bell Jar 😁
This was my first time reading this and knowing Sylvia‘s history made it difficult at times. I‘m glad I read it though.
This is my November #bookspin @TheAromaofBooks
So glad I finally read this one. Written in the 60‘s, this gives me a lot to think about between the then and now when it comes to mental illness, love interests and relationships. Have we progressed? Enough? #Pop22 ~ a sapphic book
It‘s #bookspin day! The tagged is my bookspin and The Last House on the Street is my #doublespin for November.
@TheAromaofBooks
I haven‘t read this since I was in my 20s (I‘m now 57). I‘m revisiting a lot of books that I either haven‘t read in a long time, or that I enjoyed so much just a few years ago. I‘m a little all over the place with my reading right now. I can‘t seem too find anything that really sticks with me. #readingslump
Yes! The Bell Jar, by Sylvia Plath. I‘ve probably read it 4-5 times. #littenswanttoknow @Alwaysbeenaloverofbooks
I think this is a really important book, even if I didn‘t particularly “like” it. The autobiographical significance it has regarding Plath‘s life (and death) make for a compelling narrative around the novel. Plath had talent. I find her metaphor of a bell jar to describe depression/mental illness an effective one. It‘s a shame there aren‘t more of her novels to read. Like so many young artists gone too soon, the lost potential is a tragedy. 3.5⭐️
I loved this book, it really goes to show that even in todays society women are being treated similar about their mental health. Parts of this book resonated with me because I too, suffered depression and was hospitalized for it. I would‘ve loved to read other novels by her, the relationship between her and Ted and her decision to ultimately have children knowing she was so against it in this book.
How did I know that someday-at college, in Europe, somewhere, anywhere-the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, would descend again?
What I hate is the thought of being under a man‘s thumb. I had told Doctor Nolan. A man doesn‘t have a worry in the world, while I‘ve got a baby hanging over my head like a big stick to keep me in line.
I‘m a few days late, but thanks for the #wondrouswednesday tag @jimfields3 !!
🌸 I *mostly* read every day. It‘s a very rare thing for me to not read a least a few pages everyday.
🌼 I tend to read before bed every night, but also try to carve out time to read on my lunch break. I also bring a book with me everywhere for those unexpected opportunities to read!
🌺 I think my go-to comfort genre is thrillers/mysteries - I love a good twist!
Our wedding anniversary today 🥂🥂
Book on the left I brought for hubby- I got the folio version of The Bell Jar from hubby, which I have been coveting since publication ❤️
⭐️⭐️⭐️ Narrated by a young, talented MC going through a mental break down. The POV was interesting but because it was through the MC‘s thoughts, sometimes things jumped around and weren‘t explained or made explicit to the reader, and I often found my mind wandering elsewhere.