The Works of Sylvia Plath

[monsterzero]

Couldn't put down The Bell Jar and her poems are quite interesting...well, okay, I had to read 'Daddy' for class and was intrigued to say the least.

What are your opinions? I can't believe TS Eliot ditched her efforts to become popular, but then again his darkness and her darkness are two different things. Plus Plath didn't have odd references to Old European poets throughout everything she ever did, so there you go.

[monsterzero]

I dig Hunter Thompson and technically he was inbalanced. It's not that bad to be fascinated by someone's story that happens to be in a state of mental disease: literature is built around the whole human struggle, and mental disease/torment is classic for that.

Just don't do what she tried to do. Still, it was a great book, I burned through it in one night.

[monsterzero]

Indeed, I liked how as a man I could read it and still identify with poor Esther. It was just so well done.

[materialgirl]

I wasn't wild about The Bell Jar, but I've always been a fan of Plath's poetry, albeit a closeted one at times. She's the sort of poet you first pick up in high school, then later (when you're trying to purge all traces of adolescent angst from your system) deny liking, then eventually pick up again and enjoy guilt-free.

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Moldy said:

With the possible exception of the Catcher in the Rye, the Bell Jar is my favourite book.

It's probably a little worrisome that I'm drawn to books about people who are mentally imbalanced. I also liked Girl, Interrupted an awful lot.

I love all those. In fact, I used to read both Cather and Bell Jar once a year to remind myself that I'm relatively OK.

Anyway, I think I love the books so much because I really went kicking and screaming into adulthood. I did not want to grow up at all. Well, let me rephrase that. In late high school and college I did not want to grow up. The entire idea of a job and a mortgage and all that stuff just depressed the hell out of me.

I think both books deal with that transitional phase from teendom to adulthood so I could identify with the angst.

I should also say that relatively soon after graduation (and after a year of strong drinking after work) I finally realized that being an adult isn't too bad and I dealt with it and am now OK.

[Cinchona]

Has anyone else read her journals? I've read only the abridged edition.

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admin said:

With the possible exception of the Catcher in the Rye, the Bell Jar is my favourite book.

It's probably a little worrisome that I'm drawn to books about people who are mentally imbalanced. I also liked Girl, Interrupted an awful lot.

Wow. Those are my two favorites books, as well. And it makes me question my own sanity, too since I am certainly drawn to these types of works. Genius/Insanity=fine line, they say! ;D

[thesurlymermaid]

"Lady Lazarus" is my favorite poem of all time. Sometimes, poetry just smacks you in the face, and that's what happened to me the first time I read it.

[vegasusa555]

Just popped in to say that The Bell Jar is one of my favorite books as well. Read it on a whim for a project my senior year in high school and loved it. I've been reading that there may be a movie version of it coming out soon. I wish Hollywood would just leave some things alone. The book is good enough!

[Deleted]

The Bell Jar is such a timeless novel. I especially like her imagery with the tree and all the possibilities life presents. Such gorgeous writing. I read it in college and it still resonates today.