The Bell Jar ( Sylvia Plath)

I read The Bell Jar yesterday. When I say I read it, I mean I opened the front cover at 8 pm and closed the back cover at  11 pm. It's art; it's tragic; it's gorgeous. What I mean is it's been a long time since a book broke my heart the way Sylvia Plath has.

I've heard so much talk about this book over the last year. Apparently 2013 was the book's fifth anniversary. After listening to my fellow English Majors talk about this book, and watching some of my favourite book vloggers discuss it, and after seeing it in every book store I entered, I finally went down to the library yesterday and picked it up. I'm not sure what I expected. I knew a bit about Sylvia Plath beforehand--she committed suicide shortly after her book was published, but i didn't know how incredibly personal her book would be.

I've heard that The Bell Jar, though fiction, is partially autobiographical. Watching the books protagonist, Esther Greenwood spiral downward, I couldn't help but wonder how Sylvia Plath must have felt writing the book. Sylvia herself must have felt and lived that downward spiral time and time again before she finally took her own life.

Perhaps part of what made me love this book so much is how relatable Esther Greenwood is during the first portion of the wood. Esther is conflicted. She doesn't know who she wants to be or what she wants to be. She sees the world through cynical eyes. She tries to live, but is unsure which path she should take. I felt like she and I had had something in common. She and I are  both searching for the correct path.

Then, in the second portion of the book, Esther takes the path that I never wish she take. She sinks down the path I fear the most--depression. I didn't cry while I read this, but I came close to the point of doing so. It's definitely on the top of my list of books to pick up for my own collection. The narrator is rawer and more honest than any I've read before.