The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath (The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath)

Member Name: hayley

Product:	The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath
Date:	12/07/00 (117 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Interesting and moving

Disadvantages: A bit of a sombre subject matter

This is a novel obviously written from the heart. Sylvia Plath describes the nervous breakdown of a nineteen year old girl and her subsequent treatment and struggle to recovery.

I know that I have made this novel sound really sombre and black now, and you've probably been put off for life, but there are some lighter moments and the story is told with a sensitivity and honesty that is really refreshing. I would thoroughly recommend that you give it a go!

Sylvia Plath has a style of story-telling that I have never before encountered and that is certainly effective. The so-called 'bell jar' that the title of this novel refers to is a metaphor for the claustrophobic atmosphere that this girl perceives - a feeling of being enveloped by her mental illnes and her inability to perceive anything else around her.

Certainly don't expect this book to be a bundle of laughs, but it is not all doom and gloom either. Sylvia Plath incorporates a poignant hope into her writing, which is quite up-lifting.

Summary: