Title: The Bell Jar

Author: Sylvia Plath

Pages/Format: 244/Paperback

What I Thought: I really liked it, and I could definitely relate to Esther Greenwood’s descent into depression.  The Bell Jar is about Esther Greenwood, who had an internship in New York City, but finds herself becoming more and depressed, until she ends up in a mental hospital.

I thought it was a realistic portrayal of what it’s like to live with depression, and I found myself thinking about my own experiences and struggles with depression.  I also really liked the imagery that Plath used, as well as her writing style.

While it was sometimes hard to follow, I was willing overlook it.  Sometimes your thoughts are all over the place, and they certainly aren’t rational at times.  It was also hard to get into, but over time, I found myself wrapped up in the book.

The feelings of going under and feeling trapped are all too familiar, and it’s a struggle to cope with it; at the same time, you find ways to move, and ways to make the pain go away. 

The Bell Jar is apparently semi-autobiographical, and I can certainly understand writing a fictionalized account of your life.  Since this is the only work of Plath’s I’ve read, and since I don’t know much about Sylvia Plath, I can’t really say for sure.  But going off of the fact that she did kill herself by sticking her head in an oven, and struggled with depression, I’d say that certain elements of her life did end up in The Bell Jar.  Sometimes writing about what’s going on can be very cathartic. 

Rating: 4 out of 5.  It’s not the most amazing book I’ve ever read, but I certainly knew what Esther was going through, and how even the most mundane tasks can be difficult.