Books and thoughts

As I haven't taken the time to write a blog in a very long time, I thought I would take these moments of boredom/free time to write about a couple of books I recently finished reading. I suppose this will be a review of some sort, but it's mainly just my thoughts and feelings on the books and how they have affected me in some way.

The Bell Jar by Sylvia Plath

The Bell Jar was one of those books that was lingering in the back of my mind's top shelf in the "to-read-eventually" section. I started reading the first chapter not really feeling much of a connection to what Plath was writing because normally I like to research the author before I fully immerse myself into a story. It always helps me understand it more or link various characters, details or events to the writer. But lo and behold, my book had a whole section at the back about Sylvia Plath's life and the process of writing The Bell Jar. I immediately understood that the main character, Esther Greenwood, is merely a mirror image of Plath herself. At this point the story changed immediately in my eyes and it suddenly took on a more powerful meaning. It's a relatively simple read, but the true insanity and paranoia present in Esther slowly comes forward as the story continues. As the blurb says, "Sylvia Plath masterfully draws the reader into Esther's breakdown with such intensity that Esther's insanity becomes completely real and even rational, as probable and accessible an experience as going to the movies". I could not have summarized it any better myself. What really attracts the reader to think this way is the narrative of the book, which is written in first person, so we are experiencing every detail through Esther Greenwood's distorted view of the world. There are moments in which we see hope for her, but she can't help but wonder, "How did I know that someday - at college, in Europe, somewhere, anywhere - the bell jar, with its stifling distortions, wouldn't descend again?"

I don't believe Esther ever did free herself of the bell jar, she simply had moments in which she resurfaced, but soon sank back into the whirl of discomforts that came with living in her own skin. I found the book extremely powerful and compelling, but also quite harrowing. It should indeed be considered a modern classic and I recommend it to anybody who is looking for some modern and absorbing literature which will really make them think. Now that I have read the book I can place it on my "best books ever read" shelf with conviction.

"To the person in the bell jar, blank and stopped as a dead baby, the world itself is the bad dream."

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