The Bell Jar
One of The Atlantic's Great American Novels
A realistic and emotional novel about a woman battling mental illness and societal pressures written by the iconic American writer Sylvia Plath.
"It is this perfectly wrought prose and the freshness of Plath's voice in The Bell Jar that make this book enduring in its appeal." -- USA Today
The Bell Jar chronicles the crack-up of Esther Greenwood: young, brilliant, beautiful, and enormously talented, but slowly going under--maybe for the last time. Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's neurosis becomes completely understandable and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such thorough exploration of the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche - and the profound collective loneliness that modern society has yet to find a solution for - is an extraordinary accomplishment, and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.
This P.S. edition features extra insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
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Community Reviews
This book touches on so many topics, it's impossible to label just one single theme. Mental illness, feminism, reality v. dreaming, and just the overall addressing of the state run mental institutions are still so relevant to today. Additionally having lost my grandmother to dementia and Alzheimer's disease...this book hit close to home for me and help me to better understand , even through an unreliable narrator, what a person goes through when "loosing" one's mind.
I highly recommend this book!!!
Never did figure out the point of the story. What made Esther have a breakdown. I did not enjoy the book.
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