The Bell Jar - Sylvia Plath Reviews

The Bell Jar. This was the only novel that Plath published, which she did under a pseudonym back in the 60's. She was an excellent poet but is largely known for her largely-autobiographical novel. Her real-life persona in the book is Esther Greenwood; a woman in the 60s who has won a contest and is spending the summer at a ...  Read the complete review

This novel by Sylvia Plath is known to be quite autobiographical. It tells the tale of Esther Greenwood, a young woamn who appears bright and intelligent, yet she feels the world falling around her and does not believe in herself. She is given the amazing opportunity to progress in a career of fashion and design, being one of a few ...  Read the complete review

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath tells the story of Esther, a young girl who performs well at school, aspires to be a writer and has landed a stint working for a magazine in New York. During this time she starts to suffer mental health problems and has suicidal tendencies. She attempts suicide on a few occasions and is consequently admitted to an ...  Read the complete review

What can I say about this that hasn’t already been said? I did enjoy reading it, though as an autobiography not fiction – although I know it was not truly autobiographical, I think the accounts of her feelings were. The main character was not particularly likeable and nor should she be. When one is sunk in depression there ...  Read the complete review

After hearing a clip out of the journals of Sylvia Plath, I was entrigued and decided to try this book. This is honestly the best book I have ever read, Plath manages to be both poignant and througly readable. The protaganist is a young girl Esther (Plath) who works for a top magazine company, she slowly falls more and more into the depths of ...  Read the complete review

This novel was passed on to me by my beloved, who had told me how brilliant it was, but I had not believed her. Mea culpa, indeed. My perception of this novel was that it was for girls, but what I realised is that if that was true, then Catcher in the Rye is for boys. I’m sorry, I really am – I realise now what a silly, stereotypical ...  Read the complete review

Thank god for Sylvia Plath. In her brief & tragic life she provided us with an insight into the world of the depressed. The Bell Jar shows us how depressed people were treated once. And it teaches us all to be more tolerant. A wonderful read for people of all ages, Sylvia draws us in with a personal description of Esther that ...  Read the complete review

My god. I've just emerged from a 3 day depression having read this book. I loved it, couldn't put it down but felt that my fascination with it's content was slightly unhealthy. I was really left with the feeling that i had just experienced a mental breakdown myself. It is about a young girl who is put into a mental ...  Read the complete review

I found this book rather harrowing to read, its overall theme being human suffering. The author explored themes related to this, such as the human mind, struggle, suicide, and young women's positions in society during the 1940s and 50s: more specifically, how this society refuses to take women's aspirations seriously. However, the general ...  Read the complete review

Who amongst us has not had at that awful ‘closed in’ feeling during stressful or depressing times in our lives when all we would like to do is run away, far far away? The title of this book by Sylvia Plath is a metaphor for just that. The Bell Jar represents that feeling of claustrophobia depression can bring on. ...  Read the complete review

This is the poet, Sylvia Plath's only novel and it is possibly one the best books I've ever read, The Bell Jar is a disturbing image of Plath's struggle through Mental illness in the 1960's and how the misguided doctors of the time attempted to 'cure' her with various painstaking treatments. As you read this book you ...  Read the complete review

Sylvia Plath describes in perceptive detail the heart-rending tale of a nineteen year old's nervous breakdown and her subsequent recovery. She quashes the misconceptions and prejudices surrounding mental illness and relates the story in a sensitive and touching manner. Sylvia Plath creates an oppressive atmosphere in her novel, so ...  Read the complete review

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 ...  Read the complete review