Litsy

Ch 14: yikes, these nurses are not nice! #estherisnotapeepshowgeorge #dontbethatguy #whyyyyydidthatnursegiveheramirror #yikes #momisgonnatryandgetherout #imnotsurethatswise #butalsothisplacesucks #ijustwanttohugher #hashtagbrigade

BarkingMadRead @mcctrish @librarybelle @ruthiella @matchlessmarie @jacqmac @cogsofencouragement @sace @clare-dragonfly @cuilin @dieareader @bookwormjillk @thearomaofbooks @graciouswarriorprincess 12h

BarkingMadRead @peanutnine @dabbe @deblovestoread @andrea313 @larkken @willaful @morr_books @kwmg40 @thearomafbooks @anishainkspill @elizamarie @tpixie @julieclair @jenlovesjt47 12h

mcctrish What the fuck happened to Esther ?! She took pills but now she looks like she‘s been in a car accident? They shaved her head? #oneflewoverthecuckoosnest for real! The pendulum has swung completely in the other direction and we just let people self medicate with their poison of choice and give them no care at all 🥲💔 12h

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Bookwormjillk I wish the entire #hashtagbrigade could get in a car and go rescue Esther. 11h

Librarybelle Agreed, @Bookwormjillk ! 11h

Ruthiella @mcctrish I think the bruises are from the botched electro-shock therapy. (edited) 11h

ElizaMarie #AMirrorReally !? I love how she mentions she knows perfectly well you don‘t serve #BeansWithBeans 11h

Clare-Dragonfly Everyone is awful in this chapter! Why on earth didn‘t the nurse try harder to convince her she didn‘t want a mirror? “You don‘t look very pretty” is a huge understatement. Or the nurse could have held the mirror herself. But also, the old nurse who told her seven years‘ bad luck is making things worse if anything. 🙄 11h

Clare-Dragonfly And the racism makes my skin crawl ☹️ 11h

CogsOfEncouragement So much to take in and attempt to decipher. The beans remark was too funny. The food being gross but Esther finally eating again. There is probably some symbolism there too. 10h

BarkingMadRead @Clare-Dragonfly soooooo bad, I‘m not a fan 10h

willaful Esther is such an unreliable narrator, I have no idea whether people are actually as awful as she thinks they are or not. 8h

BarkingMadRead @willaful I wonder the same, this is all seen through her very unreliable eyes 8h

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BarkingMadRead

The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath

Ch 13: this is so sad! This chapter was giving Better off Dead vibes, so many unsuccessful attempts #cryforhelp #momistryingsohard #daytripswithfriends #volunteeringatthehospital #weknowherlatestattemotwontwork #itdoesnttakeawayfromthetragedyifit #hashtagbrigade

BarkingMadRead @mcctrish @librarybelle @ruthiella @matchlessmarie @jacqmac @cogsofencouragement @sace @clare-dragonfly @cuilin @dieareader @bookwormjillk @thearomaofbooks @graciouswarriorprincess 2d

BarkingMadRead @peanutnine @dabbe @deblovestoread @andrea313 @larkken @willaful @morr_books @kwmg40 @thearomafbooks @anishainkspill @elizamarie @tpixie @julieclair @jenlovesjt47 2d

CogsOfEncouragement I thought the EXACT same thing! That movie kept coming to mind. I thought this particular chapter read as a dark comedy, but had to wonder if it was just me. Was I just in a weird mood? I googled it and discovered I‘m certainly not alone in feeling this way. 1d

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mcctrish @CogsOfEncouragement absolutely a dark comedy, just start a conversation with someone “so if you were going to kill your sled, how would you do it?” Not a single red flag flying from that pick up line 🤦🏻‍♀️ 1d

Bookwormjillk Reminded me of a Man Called Ove. I might need to finish this one early. Reading a chapter a day is stressful. 1d

BarkingMadRead @Bookwormjillk I was thinking the same! 1d

DrSabrinaMoldenReads To me, it‘s the most depressing book I have ever read. 1d

CogsOfEncouragement I‘m reading two other very light books right now. The Seven Year Slip is a whimsical rom-com and a book in the Cedar Cove series by Debbie Macomber which is easy reading. Though there is certainly something to be said for not spending too many days with a character that you can tell is dragging you down to the depths. 1d

mcctrish I‘ve got ACOTAR, From Dust to Stardust and Fishbowl on the go while I read this, every one but fishbowl is a Buddy read so it‘s easy for me to stick to a chapter of this and not get overwhelmed, that said we are past the halfway mark and I honestly can‘t see where this is going #couldgetworse #mightgetbetter 1d

ElizaMarie I think the more I read, the more I feel bad for his mother. She doesn't know what to do or how to help. I feel so bad for Esther. She is so lost - and I don't see her getting the help she needs. - I don't know how I would have faired reading this in my late teens/early 20s. I am glad I am reading this now and not then. - I might not have had the perspective. 1d

Bookwormjillk @mcctrish I keep telling myself it‘s first person so hopefully it gets better? 1d

willaful This is really bumming me out. 1d

dabbe One of my students in high school years ago committed suicide. I still think of her often and wish I could have done something--anything. This book is ripping all of us to shreds. I so wish I could hug Esther and tell her how lovely she is and that life does get better--or at least, as you age, perspective helps you grow and get strong. She has NO ONE who is able to reach her! AUGHHHHH!!!! 😞 1d

BarkingMadRead @CogsOfEncouragement I‘ve read them all! 1d

CogsOfEncouragement @BarkingMadRead All the Cedar Cove? I‘m on book 10, so nearing the end of my time with these endearing characters. 1d

BarkingMadRead @CogsOfEncouragement all of Cedar cove and also I‘ve read Seven Year Slip! I was volunteering at a used book store some years back and they had the whole series so I just zipped through them! 1d

CogsOfEncouragement @BarkingMadRead Very cool. I‘m about halfway through Seven Year Slip. I saw Elyse Myers good-crying over it on a reel and it sounded like a good pairing with Bell Jar! 1d

CogsOfEncouragement @BarkingMadRead Oh, wait. Just found out how her aunt passed. I still think Elyse was happy crying at the end of this! 1d

Clare-Dragonfly I also feel the dark comedy of this, but emphasis on the DARK! I so wish Esther had access to modern pharmaceuticals. 1d

ElizaMarie @dabbe you are such an amazing person! I just wanted to say that 15h

dabbe @ElizaMarie You just made my day, week, month ... you are, too, yaknow! 💚🩶💚 10h

37 likes21 comments

Andrea313

The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath

I apologize in advance for being flip. Today's chapter is a really hard read and yet all I could think of was my very first pop culture exposure to ECT, the terrifying movie Return to Oz. Somehow a bunch of adults thought that making a movie where Dorothy undergoes shock therapy would be GREAT for kids! Anyway, all this to say, ECT is a horror no matter where you meet it- in a movie theatre age 5 or in a beautiful novel at the age of 17 or 40+.

Andrea313 #HashtagBrigade #CantReduceThisChapterToQuips #EstherIsNotGettingBetter #YouDontJustDecideToNotBeMentallyIllMOM #FactitiousArtificialSham #YoullNeverGetAnywhereLikeThat 2d

ravenlee My sister was watching that movie while babysitting me. I must have been 6 or 7. I wanted to do what she was doing, so she let me watch. 😳 I hid at the foot of the bed most of the movie, because I couldn‘t watch it but was scared to go to my room alone. Still traumatized! 2d

ElizaMarie I missed this trauma experience growing up (didn't see the movie/or heard of it before this post) 2d

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Andrea313 @ravenlee YUP. I don't remember being particularly afraid when I first saw it (I was SO young) and was mostly confused, wondering why bad things were happening to Dorothy. Then I saw it again years later and had a full-on WTF moment. My older brother was afraid of the Wheelers for ages, though. 😂 2d

Andrea313 @ElizaMarie OMG you should watch it now. You'd probably still have the trauma experience, it's some if the most bizarre shit ever. 2d

ravenlee I don‘t even remember much, but the lady who collects heads from girls who have nice hair? or something. It freaked me out in a big way, as a girl with long brown braids like Dorothy. 1d

19 likes6 comments

BarkingMadRead

The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath

Ch 12: I feel like hashtags are too disrespectful for this chapter 😢 #letstryanddothisright #immadatmom #ifeellikeshediminishedthesituation #thatnursesucked #sodidthedoctor #thatsallimgonnasayaboutthat #hashtagbrigade

BarkingMadRead @mcctrish @librarybelle @ruthiella @matchlessmarie @jacqmac @cogsofencouragement @sace @clare-dragonfly @cuilin @dieareader @bookwormjillk @thearomaofbooks @graciouswarriorprincess 3d

BarkingMadRead @peanutnine @dabbe @deblovestoread @andrea313 @larkken @willaful @morr_books @kwmg40 @thearomafbooks @anishainkspill @elizamarie @tpixie @julieclair @jenlovesjt47 3d

Librarybelle Definitely a hard chapter to read today. 3d

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Bookwormjillk Yup, a toughie. 3d

kwmg40 Agree with everyone here. This was difficult to read. 3d

mcctrish Does the dr even know who she is ? How much of his medical practice is for profit ? The mom and her “I knew you weren‘t that kind of girl” not “that was fucking terrifying I should have turned you right around when we got here” 3d

Cuilin I got halfway through this chapter and put the book down. I don‘t think I can read this right now. I‘m not in the right headspace or something. 2d

Cuilin @mcctrish oh the mom, she made me so angry. 😠 2d

ElizaMarie That mother!!! Anyway my heart goes out for our girl. She is struggling 😞 2d

willaful I'm tempted not to finish as well. 2d

CogsOfEncouragement I‘m not mad at the mom. I feel like she is worried about her daughter, and this is the medical help of the time. She doesn‘t understand, she wants her daughter better, she is relieved that Esther has said something to allow her to believe she has snapped out of it. Her mom is trying to help. Our mom‘s thought pouring hydrogen peroxide on our scraped knees was helping. 2d

dabbe So hard to read these last two chapters. It's even harder when you know it's Plath who wrote it. 😞 2d

Clare-Dragonfly Oof, definitely hard to read. And unfortunately quite relatable (from my memories—I‘m doing emotionally well these days, thank goodness). It seems like all the electric shock “therapy” did was get her moving, without improving her mental state at all. 2d

TheAromaofBooks @CogsOfEncouragement - I feel bad for the mom, too. This is a time when people didn't understand really even the concept of depression. If you feel sad, stop feeling sad. Her mom is doing what the doctor says, but has no basis to know that what he is saying is complete BS. She knows something is wrong with Esther, but doesn't have any tools to help her. She's struggling in the dark, too. 2d

BarkingMadRead @CogsOfEncouragement @TheAromaofBooks such good points! I think she annoyed me because I‘ve had people react that way to me when I‘ve been depressed. Like I had no right to be and should just be happy 2d

TheAromaofBooks @BarkingMadRead - I definitely can see that!! I think I have seen older family members get bullied by medical professionals so I felt a lot of empathy for Esther's mother. He's a doctor so he must be right, even if it doesn't seem right... my grandma suffered for years because she trusted a doctor who was worse than useless because she was poor and uneducated so he must know what's best. 😞 Esther's mom - and Esther! - seem the same way. 1d

40 likes16 comments

Andrea313

The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath

Obviously Esther eventually has a HUGE effing reason to dislike Dr. Gordon, but at first, it's all about the vibes (ok, ok, and a large helping of mental illness). We see her negative symptoms become more intense, neglecting her own self-care and experiencing an uptick in suspicion of people around her. It's a tough chapter made worse by Dr. Gordon's prescription of shock treatment. Hold onto your hats, folks...

Andrea313 #HashtagBrigade #EverythingIsBeige #NoSleep #NoShowers #EllyHigginbottomFromChicago #ThatSailorWasWayTooYoung #DoctorGordonTrySomethingElse #DoctorGordonYouSuckAtYourJob 3d

TheBookHippie I‘m a vibes person. So yes. I read this and was so angry as a young person. Still was on reading a few years ago was just 😵‍💫. (edited) 3d

24 likes2 comments

BarkingMadRead

The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath

Ch 11: this doctor 💥 💥 🤬🤬#anyway #randomsailorstory #didheevenlistentoher #howdoesheexpecthertoimprove #ohyeah 💡 ⚡️ #ugh #readingaboutsuicideisnthelping #dontgetonthebus #atleastnowtherandomstorymakessense #offtochicago #maybe #staytuned #hashtagbrigade

BarkingMadRead @mcctrish @librarybelle @ruthiella @matchlessmarie @jacqmac @cogsofencouragement @sace @clare-dragonfly @cuilin @dieareader @bookwormjillk @thearomaofbooks @graciouswarriorprincess 3d

BarkingMadRead @peanutnine @dabbe @deblovestoread @andrea313 @larkken @willaful @morr_books @kwmg40 @thearomafbooks @anishainkspill @elizamarie @tpixie @julieclair @jenlovesjt47 3d

Cuilin I‘m not sure I want to read anymore but I will. It‘s triggering something. Can you get secondhand melancholy from a book? 3d

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ElizaMarie The part - “It seemed silly to wash one day when I would only have to wash again the next. It made me tired just to think of it.“ - Made me so so sad for her!

@Cuilin I feel a bit of the blahs too after reading this chapter. (edited) 3d

BarkingMadRead @Cuilin @ElizaMarie for sure! It‘s gloomy and snowy here in SC and she‘s definitely got me feeling the blues 3d

mcctrish This might not be the best book for February blahs - I went outside for the first time in days today. I was putting on a bit of a protest against winter and left to my own devices I could have held out longer but my husband was grousing that we had no apples left for his lunch. Or bananas. Or berries. Anyways I went to the grocery store and I survived. I feel Esther‘s pain. Adulting is hard. I don‘t think electric shock is the answer 3d

BarkingMadRead @mcctrish we have like zero food in our house 🤣 I have hated the grocery store ever since Covid, I‘m scarred for life 3d

mcctrish @BarkingMadRead I want to know why the cashiers don‘t bag groceries for you anymore?! It just makes me lose my mind with rage! I‘m spending $260 on groceries in a store, I could go anywhere, I‘ve chosen this one, appreciate my business UGH 3d

BarkingMadRead @mcctrish you need to move to SC 🤣 they bag your groceries and will push your cart to the car and unload them too 3d

willaful @mcctrish They found out how much they could get away with during lockdown. 🤬 I'll never forget the gas station that had closed down its public bathrooms “for your safety“ but of course didn't require masks. Security theater, so much of it.

This was definitely a depressing chapter. Esther seems pretty seriously mentally ill to me, but damn, shock treatment is a lot before trying something else, *anything* else! 3d

mcctrish @willaful or how little 😡 3d

Bookwormjillk This chapter was really hard to take. 3d

dabbe How does this doc only see her TWICE before recommending shock therapy? Was that the 1st answer in the 60s? A very difficult chapter to read. She reminds me in so many ways of Holden Caulfield. 😞 3d

Ruthiella @mcctrish The supermarket doesn‘t bag your groceries? They do here in Southern California. We do have to put them on the conveyor belt ourselves. When I was a kid, the cashier also emptied the cart for the shopper. (edited) 3d

mcctrish @Ruthiella 🤯 I‘m conducting a poll on FB of what stores bag or if anyone even cares 🤦🏻‍♀️ my usual store does bag but I went to a store close to home today instead of the one on the way home from school and no bagging, even though I gave her my bins to load 3d

mcctrish @dabbe RIGHT? 3d

ElizaMarie @mcctrish @dabbe @willaful yeah I don‘t think she really needs ECT (I have treated patients pre and post ECT and—- try something first! ) like 2 doc appointments and they already gave up!? (edited) 3d

Clare-Dragonfly Yikes, as I expected—the shrink sucks. Going straight to electric shocks is not wise! Do you really think she‘s going to Chicago? There was something about a stop two blocks from her house. Sadly I just don‘t think she has the chutzpah to do something so bold. 3d

CogsOfEncouragement I finished this chapter after a short walk in the sunshine. Very helpful. 2d

julieclair This chapter made me so sad. Her depression, the shock treatment, the overall feeling of flatness. Just sad. 2d

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Andrea313

The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath

At home, Esther learns she didn't make the summer writing course she applied for. Her mental health is really starting to deteriorate as she both spies on and hides from her neighbours and vacillates rapidly between summer plans (I'll write a novel! No, I'll learn shorthand! No, I'll read Finnegan's Wake!). None of that happens, but she does manage to break up with Buddy and inadvertently wind up with a referral to a psychiatrist. Both wins, tbh.

LoverOfLearning A classic I will one day read! 4d

Andrea313 @LoverOfLearning When you do, I hope you love it! 4d

Andrea313 #HashtagBrigade #ThrewAwayTooManyClothes #BetsyToTheRescue #PollyannaCowgirl #NoWritingCourse #SummerSchoolDropout #ShorthandIsSoStrange #IWouldntWantToLearnItEither #EstherNeedsHelp #MaybeItsPsychosis #MaybeItsThe1950s #TeresaKnowsWhatsUp 4d

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BarkingMadRead

The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath

Ch 10: this was a lot #buckleup #homeagain #didntgetintothesummerclass #nobackupplan #randomstoryaboutaneighborwithsixpointfivekids #nosyblackwidowneighbor #didshereallyeatrawmeat #yikes #letswriteanovel #nevermind #letslearnshorthand #nope #letshaveanexistentialcrisis #letsrethunkourentirecareerpath #atleastsheblewoffbuddy #soproud #offtogetsomemeds #uhoh #referraltoashrink #staytuned #hashtagbrigade

BarkingMadRead @mcctrish @librarybelle @ruthiella @matchlessmarie @jacqmac @cogsofencouragement @sace @clare-dragonfly @cuilin @dieareader @bookwormjillk @thearomaofbooks @graciouswarriorprincess 4d

BarkingMadRead @peanutnine @dabbe @deblovestoread @andrea313 @larkken @willaful @morr_books @kwmg40 @thearomafbooks @anishainkspill @elizamarie @tpixie @julieclair @jenlovesjt47 4d

mcctrish All of a sudden the randomness has a Lark Rise vibe #iykyk 4d

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BarkingMadRead @mcctrish it really does 🤣 4d

willaful Man, what a depressing chapter. I hope Esther is going to get some help but I kind of doubt it. :-\ 4d

BarkingMadRead @willaful I‘m worried that she will think she doesn‘t need it 4d

Deblovestoread Mrs. Kravitz! 4d

Clare-Dragonfly @BarkingMadRead Same! Or that the shrink will be terrible… 4d

Bookwormjillk I‘m with you all hoping she gets the help she needs. 4d

tpixie @Deblovestoread 😝 @BarkingMadRead Mrs Kravitz!!! 🧙 I LOVED Bewitched 4d

willaful @Clare-Dragonfly I think it's almost guaranteed that the shrink will be terrible. 😞 4d

Deblovestoread I loved Bewitched, too! @tpixie I was glad the family doc didn‘t just throw more pills at her. Hopefully her referral is a good one! 4d

dabbe Esther has never had anything below an “A“ in her life. She wins contests, too. Not getting into the summer class was her complete undoing. I'm almost scared now to read more.

BTW, do they live in a house in Boston? If so, why do the mom and Esther share the same bedroom? Or am I wrong in that assumption? 4d

TheAromaofBooks Waaaaaayy too casual about eating raw hamburger + raw egg 😂 4d

ElizaMarie Buddy !!! #RunForYourLifeNurse !! Hopefully he doesn't seduce that poor nurse who he “falls in love“ with. I mean. poor girl to be sucked into him! I am #proud Ester put her foot down with that one! 4d

julieclair @mcctrish Maybe the Lark Rose vibe was why Esther got on my last nerve in this chapter! 😂. But then I reached the end of the chapter and felt guilty about her getting on my nerves. She does need someone who can help her. I do hope the psychiatrist turns out to be a good one. But I'm fearful 2d

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Andrea313

The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath

The image I've concocted in my head of Esther throwing her clothes off the rooftop is so concrete and vivid that nothing I can find online even approximates it. But here's an image of two women on the roof of the real Barbizon Hotel so you get a sense of what her view may have been. This chapter is so intense and so profoundly sad, from Hilda's cold indifference to Marco's assault to the clothes floating into the city like "a loved one's ashes".

Andrea313 #HashtagBrigade #HildaIsBrutal #TimeForACry #JayCeesCureIsMoreWork #TimeToParty #TheFamousBlackSheathReturns #CaptivatingStickpin #GoToHellMarco #ThrowingAwayClothes #GoodbyeHopesAndDreams #ShatteredIllusions 5d

Cuilin I‘m so glad she hit out!! 🤛 🩸 5d

Andrea313 @Cuilin Yes! No doubt what did happen was awful but it could have been so much worse on top of that. 4d

23 likes3 comments

BarkingMadRead

The Bell Jar | Sylvia Plath

Ch 9: Esther‘s last night in NYC #iwouldbeemotionaltoo #tackypicsforthemagazine #bilegreen 🤮 #doreenwantstoparty #estherwantstopack #ofcoursertheyparty #esthergetsstuckwithawomanhater #sheshouldhavestuckhimwiththatpin 💎 #rightintheeye #ihopeheneverfindsit #ofcoursedoreenisnowheretobefound #estherdumpsallherfrumpyclothes #ilegitthoughtshewasgonnajump 😰 #staytuned #hashtagbrigade

BarkingMadRead @mcctrish @librarybelle @ruthiella @matchlessmarie @jacqmac @cogsofencouragement @sace @clare-dragonfly @cuilin @dieareader @bookwormjillk @thearomaofbooks @graciouswarriorprincess 6d

BarkingMadRead @peanutnine @dabbe @deblovestoread @andrea313 @larkken @willaful @morr_books @kwmg40 @thearomafbooks @anishainkspill @elizamarie @tpixie @julieclair @jenlovesjt47 6d

Cuilin I wasn‘t prepared for the assault. Ugh. This though 🤛 👃 🩸 👍 6d

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BarkingMadRead @Cuilin me either, but she was totally badass 6d

mcctrish Absolutely badass and for real she should have stabbed him with the pin 6d

Ruthiella I‘m surprised I don‘t remember this at all from reading this before. It‘s traumatizing ! 5d

dabbe @mcctrish In a place where the sun don't shine! 💪🏻 5d

dabbe That green shirt, skirt, and stocking are giving me total Ali McGraw vibes from LOVE STORY! 💚 5d

mcctrish @dabbe the green doesn‘t make me unhappy and I totally agree with Love Story vibes 5d

tpixie @dabbe yes!! 💚💚💚 5d

BarkingMadRead @dabbe I love green, although maybe not quite this much and also not called bile green 🤣 5d

willaful I loved the line “It was a face that needed soap and water and Christian tolerance.“ 5d

Bookwormjillk @Ruthiella I don‘t remember it either 5d

tpixie @willaful lol great line 5d

ElizaMarie @willaful yes!!!! 5d

julieclair This chapter was rough. I'm impressed by her presence of mind. 👊 2d

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