The Bell Jar
A Novel
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- $15.99
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- $15.99
Publisher Description
A realistic and emotional look at a woman battling mental illness and societal pressures written by 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: brilliant, beautiful, enormously talented, and successful, 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 real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies. Such deep penetration into the dark and harrowing corners of the psyche is an extraordinary accomplishment and has made The Bell Jar a haunting American classic.
This P.S. edition features an extra 16 pages of insights into the book, including author interviews, recommended reading, and more.
APPLE BOOKS REVIEW
The Bell Jar, the only novel by poet Sylvia Plath, is both an essential feminist text and a harrowing account of mental illness. What nobody ever seems to mention is that it’s also brilliantly readable—and often darkly funny. Despite landing a prestigious magazine internship in New York, young Esther Greenwood feels suffocated by the limits placed on women in the 1950s and by her own encroaching depression, which causes her to unravel over the course of a summer. (Sadly, Esther’s story mirrors Plath’s own struggles; she took her life shortly after the book’s publication in 1963.) Simultaneously beautiful, poetic, and vividly realistic, Plath’s writing makes us feel both claustrophobic and energized. Mostly, we wish she’d had the chance to write a follow-up.
Customer Reviews
The Bell Jar
I thoroughly enjoyed this book. I finished it in one day. It kept my attention and the details were so intense I could feel the summer heat and feel myself spiraling downward into madness with her. Very well written.
Reply to “crap”
Your review does not make sense at all-it’s completely stupid and immature. Also, if you’re going to write an awful, pointless review PLEASE learn how to spell and MAKE sense! Looks like a child wrote that-which I hope you are because if you’re an adult…omg
This book is a classic and I am a huge fan of Plath. Her work is from a period of time that’s always captured my attention! I’ve always wanted to live in that time! I’ve always wanted to be born in the 1950’s so I could live in the 60’s and 70’s! Best era in my opinion!
ZoëK
A Classic Take on Depression
A brutally honest following of one woman’s spiral into depression.