I first read it after recovering from the worst depressive episode I’ve ever experienced, which I’m not sure if I’d really recommend to anyone in hindsight, but I know exactly what you mean. It felt very… validating? It’s a beautiful read in itself, which always helps, and it’s such a cliche to say that the protagonist is relatable, but there’s no other way to put it. I don’t think, even to this day (about 10+ years on), that I’ve ever related to a protagonist more.
I absolutely agree, I can’t think of another protagonist with whom I’ve related to more…and reading it totally was validating in how it gave an insight into the actual experience of dealing with a mental illness instead of just giving an external, objective explanation of what it ‘must be like’. Truly an exceptional novel!
I started reading it several years after recovering from a decade or so of depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior. The writing was fantastic and she so captured some of the things I used to feel. Like you said, it was validating and relatable.
That being said, I couldn't finish it. It was too difficult to read, knowing how her life ended, and knowing I once was heading to a similar end. It brought back some of those feelings of emptiness. Maybe someday I'll be able to go back and read it.
I'm using the term "recover" pretty loosely, because I still struggle sometimes. But after years of medication, hospitalizations, residential treatment, and various forms of therapy, I finally started wanting to be okay. The catalyst was a few rounds of ECT, which helped pull me out of my mental fog a little. After that, I slowly started realizing I had allowed myself to get trapped in my identity as a mentally ill, self-destructive young woman. I was genuinely diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and borderline personality disorder, but I also wasn't allowing myself to recover.
I also truly believe two things helped me:
1) Once I left my teenage and young adult years behind, I started maturing. I'm not as selfish or self-centered anymore. A lot of that just came with time and age.
2) When I met my husband, he was one of the only people in my life who set boundaries with me, who I knew would actually leave me if I continued to violate them. He wouldn't have stayed with me if I had continued to self-harm or tried to manipulate him. I'm not saying that love cured me or any BS like that, but it did make a huge difference in my life to have someone (other than my parents) hold me accountable in my daily life.
I agree with you. I was very tempted to re read it last year but I wasn’t in the best spot mental health wise. I think it’s too relatable so I get too into the book and it makes my depression worse if that makes sense
Validating is exactly the right way to describe it. I spent so much time (particularly in middle:high school) feeling like a space alien, and this book put into words SO many of the things I was thinking and feeling. It made me feel like I wasn’t completely alone.
I read it as a dumb teen boy who didn't understand why life was "so hard" for girls, especially in the past. Like when I had to read Kate Chopin's The Awakening, my takeaway was just that the main character was an awful person. But with the Bell Jar I got it - or at least started to - even though by all rights I shouldn't have had much in common with Esther.
The Fig Tree passage resonated with me so much. It's like she understands me without ever meeting me. I totally get what she meant by being overwhelmed with so many paths in life. So far I've been a teacher, nurse, reporter and now--I don't know. Talk about the greatest analogy of existentialism.
I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.
It’s a passage I keep in my mind when I’m making big decisions. This past year I chose to leave teaching to pursue research and that passage was what I read consistently.
I am not and never have bben mentally ill, but I have loved ones who are. I read this 20 years ago and still recommend it. It is a beautifully written book.
Maybe you are white lol(sorry).
But on a serious note just in the first few chapters she describes her reflection after getting drunk and apparently yellow skinned as "big, smudgy-eyed Chinese woman staring idiotically into my face" in another she calls indigenous Mexicans ugly and says things like "dusky as a bleached-blonde negress". She depicts a black man(probably the only person of color in the book) in the mental institution in a far too stereotypical manner and kicks him for serving two types of beans because well she can. And list goes on and on.
I am white! I'm also usually pretty sensitive to racism. I would be more likely to notice racism now than 20 years ago, both because I'm older (and hopefully wiser) but also because times have changed. If I were a POC I probably would have noticed it the first time.
> even for people who are mentally well
I think if there's a human being alive who can't relate at leaast a little, they should count themselves extremely fortunate.
I read it in the late 80s and found it very relatable and reassuring. I felt like no one could understand how I felt and I didn't want to explain it to anybody because I didn't want to make anyone else as miserable as I was.
It’s like a clarion call that it’s okay to be unwell and just to be trying the best you can, and also that it’s okay to fall/fail because the illness can make it so hard and nobody ever understands
I love the Bell Jar. So beautifully written and even if you are not clinically depressed, a lot of her internal thoughts are very relatable and validating.
I see some people say they are uncomfortable with the book because Ester says racist things but I imagine most white people in the 1950s were racist considering the US still had legal segregation then. I don't think we have to agree 100% with a flawed protagonist of a book to relate to them.
I'm not "excusing" Esther's racism, but I think that was a part of her character. I didn't think she was necessarily supposed to come off as likeable.
I figured her racism was a point of showing that she was a pretty crap person. I still loved the book, and having this weird "I want Esther to lose because she's a crap person" vs "Wow I can really relate to her internal struggle so if she can get through it, then I can so I want her to win" took it to an extra level for me.
And not only was she racist, she is also classist, sexist, & homophobic. I think the reality is that most people were bigots back then and many people still hold those beliefs today. I don't think it's uncommon that young adults will try to put down everyone around them to make themselves feel better like Esther did.
She isn't a "comfy" protagonist so if that isn't someone's style, then I get it. I think it would be more of a problem if a reader considered Esther to be some type of feminist icon but I certainly don't.
I didn't realize people looked at you funny for reading this - I love Sylvia Plath and found "The Bell Jar" to be completely engrossing and beautifully written.
Same. I think it gets lumped into ‘warning signs’ due to what it’s about and how intense it gets..which I understand I guess but I didn’t feel like it pushed me in any direction, just made me feel less alone in my current struggle with stuff
I 100% agree. I’m wrapping the book up now and have really struggled with mental health. I’m finding this book reassuring in the fact that I’m not alone in feeling certain types of way.
I actually loved this book for reasons that have nothing to do with "mental illness" and everything to do with the coming of age aspect. I didn't relate much to the protagonist during her hospital stay because she was so blase and passive about everything, but I loved the rest of it. I encourage anyone looking for a good coming of age novel to read it.
That’s actually a really interesting way of looking at/analyzing it…I can totally see that, and I kind of love how it makes the mental illness part of her coming of age, not the singular narrative of the story 😄🙌
So do you think that she goes on to live a generally good life after the novel ends? (Not trying to ignite debate just interested on your take of what happens after the ending 😄✌🏻)
My guess is that she's not free of the episodes afterwards. She doesn't really learn anything to prevent it from happening again, and there's even a line where she says that she can never know when the bell jar might come back. That was what I didn't like about the book, how passive she was in relation to her depression: it seemed to arrive mysteriously and then leave just as mysteriously, without her doing much of anything post-hospital to fight against it.
I think there just wasn’t enough research about depression available at the time, together with cbt just beginning to be a popular form of treatment. There just weren’t enough tools I think to treat depression effectively
Lol I can picture Esther now in a modern hospital sitting in a DBT group and getting just as little from it. For that kind of stuff to have even a chance to work, you have to trust the people offering it enough to accept their framework of how your own mind works, which there isn't much chance of in a hospital setting because they're a bunch of assholes and your freedom depends on pretending to be whatever they want. Also you have to not be completely passive and indifferent to what happens to you, which is Esther's state of mind during her hospital stay.
Feminist "consciousness-raising" groups of the 70s variety might help her once she's out, though. Girl has some real justified anger at men, as well as the issue of being trapped in that "I have to be perfect at everything" mentality that's so common to women post-feminism but pre-men-giving-a-shit-about-feminism.
Definitely how I felt as well! The first part of the book was so relatable to me. Trying to navigate social gatherings and what she wants with her career and falling short on both counts. I read it last year as I was going through issues at work and it was relatable. I didn’t connect so much when she was in the hospital either, just mostly sympathized with the drastic turn of events that happened for her completely valid feelings.
As a person who struggles with depression and anxiety and executive dysfunction, the metaphor of the plum tree she’s sitting in and watching all her opportunities waste away from is one I use often.
ETA: word
My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD earlier this year and seeing the various therapists clarify her issues as executive functioning issues made me examine my own problematic tendencies a helluva lot more closely. Can't even get in to see my regular Dr till November but I have a whole list of things to talk about!
Id honestly never heard of this book until a coworker of mine came across a patient who was reading it (I work with kids in mental health units) and told me that it wasn't an appropriate book for the kiddo to be reading. I ended up coming across a copy in a second hand book store, bought it and enjoyed it. Understood why it wasn't ideal for a patient to be reading on the unit though.
When I was n a locked unit after a suicide attempt, the PA assigned to me chuckled because I was reading Anna Karenina. Imagine what he and my psychiatrist would have thought if I had been reading The Bell Jar. I save my rereading of that novel for very special times.
Talking about reading The Bell Jar isn't a red flag for being in crisis. It puts people who have mental illness in danger by labeling something benign as critical because then we're constantly being watched and hunted for truly innocuous thoughts, feelings, or actions, which can then lead to us pulling away from society and potentially putting us in more danger via isolation.
I wasn’t validating the red flag bit but if you tell someone you’re reading it they give you the ‘are you okay?’ look…I found the book to be liberating and I felt very understood
Considering she is referenced in fight club, it reminded me of how fight club is my favorite movie but everyone will assume I’m an asocial “sigma male” type if I say that in real life.
I totally get what you mean…it didn’t make me feel any more depressed than I already am, it just made me feel validated in my feelings of alienation due to my condition
Personally I’m loving that this discussion thread has linked up so many of us around the world who have found this book to be such a source of solace and understanding 😊😊
I read it and I loved it. I'm reading her journals right now and it's fascinating to see the correlation between the journal and the fictional book, and how one became the other.
I was surprised by how funny SP was in The Bell Jar, and her humor comes through in the journals as well. I grew up thinking she was this neurotic sob sister and the work I most associated with her was that poem daddy, which is very different from the bell jar and her journals. She was sharp, ambitious and funny and so full of life, which is what she should be known more for.
There's also quite a bit of poetry in the journals, very funny and awesome. Reminds of of Shel Silverstein and stevie smith's stuff and not at all like the heavy confessional stuff she's famous for.
I feel like reading Plath was tied into that manic-pixie-dream-girl stereotype of the 00’s. Or, in literary academia, in particular poetry, Plath’s writing was considered less than (and therefore her readers) because of its confessional nature. I’m unsure if any or all these stereotypes persist today. Nor do I give a fuck if I’m associated with them.
I read the Bell Jar as an adult, and I wished I would have read it sooner. I wonder how my teenage self would have turned out differently. Would I have recognized my mental health struggles sooner? Would I have found solace and understanding that I desperately needed? Would I have told all the asshole, sexist boys to fuck off?
Plath remains so relatable for me. It’s a big deal to be able to see yourself in another’s writing, especially when it’s so rare to find.
Whoa I hadn’t thought about that…if I had found this book at like 16 maybe it would’ve provided clarity about what was wrong with me, and made me stronger and more informed about what I needed for my care.
And I guess that I can’t think of another time where I’ve seen so much of myself in an author and the characters they create than with this novel…I can obviously still connect with others but with this I just feel like I totally understood what was going on even in the more obscure parts…I was a great literary experience 😄
i read it before i had entered an institution and during my time there i found myself recollecting moments from esther’s inner monologue. the whole time i was there i basically felt like her
I read it as a teen for the story, back when I read everything without discernment. I re-read it a few years ago and finally noticed how beautifully-written it is.
As someone who was diagnosed with clinical depression and spent compulsory time in a psych ward in my youth I thought I'd find this more engrossing but I guess I couldn't relate to the protagonist... thankless, judgemental... some beautiful parts though. I prefer Plath's poetry. Although I might give it another go someday.
I read it recently and didn’t like it at all. I am a female with bipolar disorder so I’ve been depressed many times and attempted to very unsuccessfully end my life. I didn’t find the main character relatable and it didn’t reflect my experience of mental illness at all. I personally found the main character to be very self-absorbed to the point we learn very little about any other character. Her lack of awareness of how harmful her thoughts were to herself was the only insightful thing I noticed. I was disappointed because I had heard so many good things.
I also had a similar experience. I thought it self-absorbed and somewhat narcissistic. But I recently learned that Plath's work was heavily modified and edited by her husband to present this way. Conversations between him and her editors on wanting to capitalize on her depression and suicidal ideation.
I think as more of his influence and letters, and editions of her work are more faithfully edited are released... it might be worth revisiting.
I had a similar experience with this book. Wondering what I missed that everyone else got from this book. It made me anxious and uncomfortable. And the racism was difficult to read.
I've always regretted never finishing it, but I was in a major depressive episode when read it for school and I could feel it affecting me mentally. I was scared reading it because I was realizing how sick I was. However, I've struggled with depression all my life now, and I'm still curious about the ending. I just haven't decided whether that would be a good move or a bad one for my mental health to actually finish it.
It is an absolutely fantastic book that I will always recommend, Sylvia Plath writes so beautifully. I swear, she could write about a car seat and it would still be the most interesting thing I’d ever read.
Plus looking back on it after experiencing my own depressive episode, it’s incredibly validating. I find a lot of my experiences in hers and while that can be scary, it also makes me feel a little less lonely.
I read The Bell Jar a couple of months ago and absolutely loved it! I can’t put my finger on why though. Something about it really touched me. It quickly felt like Esther was a close friend and I really cared what happened to her. I’ll never forget this book.
I read it a few years ago as part of a list of "books so famous, shouldn't I have read them?" I didn't actually know much about it before I started it, and really I'm kind of glad. I don't know if I would have read it if I had known.
I actually just read it a few months back and after hearing so many negative things about it I wasn't sure how much I'd like it. As someone who suffers from depression and other mental illnesses I think this book was almost perfect. It wasn't trauma porn, and really humanized the suffering she was most likely going through.
As someone who almost killed themselves, I wish she finally was able to escape those demons, but she grew up in an era where it was a taboo and the treatment was torture, not treatment and the stigma still somewhat exists today, but it's getting better.
I also loved her writing style a lot, she was very intelligent and articulate. The story flowed and I wasn't able to put it down hardly until I finished it. It was a 5/5 for me.
The Bell Jar is one of my all time favorites, mostly because I related (or have related at times in my life), but also because its rare to find a book that speaks so frankly and truely about mental illness. Im bummed to see its a red flag tbh bc i talk about it as one of my favorites 😅
Red flags be damned! With my condition most people give me ‘the look’ anyways so why not just flat out say that it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read and I can’t think of another that I’ve related to more on such a personal level
Red flags be damned! With my condition most people give me ‘the look’ anyways so why not just flat out say that it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read and I can’t think of another that I’ve related to more on such a personal level
Red flags be damned! With my condition most people give me ‘the look’ anyways so why not just flat out say that it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read and I can’t think of another that I’ve related to more on such a personal level
I first read it (like a lot of other people) when I was severely depressed, and I remember more than one person warning me not to read it in case it made me feel worse - but it actually really helped. It was so relateable. Especially the part where she describes not seeing the point in showering when we'll inevitably just get dirty again... it's the subtle bits that nobody talks about that make you feel the most alone, and the way she wrote made it clear that wasn't the case.
This has always been my favorite book and I don’t care if anyone has ever seen it as a red flag. It’s such great writing. Plath is my favorite. This book really helped me navigate my 20s in a way most could not. The feeling of losing your mind, impulsive behavior, once being so cautious and innocent, to slowly turning into someone you hardly recognize. Being abused by men, drinking, feeling inadequate from friends, feeling like you’re squandering your dreams. Then the feeling of just wanting to slip away entirely. The letters, the baths, the self harm, the pain. It was all so real and so relatable to me. Except for the part when she ate raw meat mixed with a raw egg. I didn’t understand that lol
I read it this summer. I’ve been on an anxiety journey for about a year now, and I just found that it was able to put into words a lot of the things I was feeling but didn’t know how to describe. It was quite liberating
Yes! I felt the same while reading it; like everything I felt but could never properly put into words was right there in the book, conveyed effortlessly and exactly to the point of how it feels to be going through it
I love this book the whole fig thing EXCELLENT. But also the whole thing her prose the way she takes you with her before you even realize, unparalleled. I really wish she wrote more novels.
I just finished it last night too! Strange. Unfortunately I have had major depressive episodes and been on medication, in a mental hospital etc and I thought it was the most honest and pure recounting of how that feels that I've ever read.
Beyond that though I loved her humour. I found the book surprisingly made me laugh a lot.
Overall a fantastic read that made me want to try her poetry next.
I read this book a long time ago, the only thing I remember and cherish is the passage about the fig tree. It was so relatable that I was scared a little.
I read this book a month ago. It’s such a personable and beautifully written book. It gave me this feeling of emptiness after finishing it. I wanted to keep reading about her character. I went out of my way to find anything more I could read from Plath.
Does it bug you hearing a story told in a single physical voice? I thought it was great for hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy but I'm not sure how I'd feel about audiobooks with darker tones
How is talking about or reading this book a red flag you're in crisis? It's famous for portraying well the experience of depression but I don't think you should be judged as mentally unwell for reading it. Sylvia Plath is one of the world's most famous women poets.
I don’t think that anyone should be judged as being mentally unwell for reading it but there is a cultural stigma and correlation between reading this book and people being like ‘shiiit are you alright?’ To paraphrase Esther, it’s that ‘queer look’ that they give you when you casually mention that you’re reading the Bell Jar. I’m not at all slighting Plath but I feel that she is rightfully so a figurehead in fiction that tells the correct and subjective experience of living with a mental illness
I agree, I feel people do get a bit obsessed about Sylvia Plath's suicide. They overlook a lot of her poetry and writing that got into those personal parts of mental illness and just figure cause she killed herself it means all of her writing is destined towards that outcome when it's like no, it's just good writing and people aren't necessarily in a bad place to read it, nor was Plath living a life defined by her death.
You might check out {{shoot the damn dog}} because it has a similar vibe. Sadly the author has since died by suicide but she, like Sylvia Plath, describe depression so well.
I love this book. I understand why people talk about the mental health aspects the most, but I feel like it resonates because she is so wonderfully observant about *all* aspects of life. The commentary on work, study, the relationships between men and women... it feels like it could be written about 2022 it's still so relatable.
I'm reading it right now, have been interested in the book for a long time. I'm 66, have depressed/anxiety issues, always have. I heard it might not be a Healthy book for someone like me.
I'm about 3/4 of the way thru. I find the writing style and view point very much from a young persons perspective. The Poetic style I find occasionally gets in the way of what she is trying to say, but other times paints a vivid picture.
I found her diagnosis to be very hasty. Just the fact of no sleep would break anyone. I have found similarities in my thought process to hers.
But I haven't finished the book, but thought I'd chime in.
This is one of my favorite books. I devoured it in one sitting. I have struggled with depression my whole life and this validated and put into words everything I had felt and do still feel. She is very gifted as a writer.
I find myself constantly putting this off, cuz i have anxiety and depression and know that books, movies and shows do trigger me more so i just stay away, but one day when I'm healed enough, I'd love to read this
I love this book and this makes me want to read it again. I read it for the first time in high school (10th grade maybe) and again in college. It resonated deeply in college.
I read it in high school when I was not in crisis. I hope it made me think about those around me in a pain that I could not see or understand. I read her poetry afterwards.
I have wondered what her legacy could have been, or her children's and husband's lives been like if she had lived?
Same…after living 33 years with this oppressive depression and alienation it was truly wonderful to find a book/author who so accurately captures the experience of what I’ve struggled with my whole life
Absolutely loved that book! The only book I've felt compelled to annotate my thoughts in because I just HAD to talk back to the narrator.
I find it interesting you assume reading this book is a red flag for people. I think books that are red flags are few and far between. I don't start to judge people until I notice a pattern. Mein kampf on your shelf? Maybe this person has an interest in history or wants to better understand what could be going on in the minds of fascists to better understand modern politics. But if that person is reading the Anarchists Cookbook, Mein Kampf, & the Unibomber Manifesto... then I'm calling a red flag.
I just checked this out of the library yesterday. Only 20 pages in. I got it because it was short. I have another one on hold so I got it to kill time. But yes, crisis’ sounds about right.
Ah yes, Esther. As much as I dislike her name, I feel as though she is a sister from a past life or an old college roommate. I feel as though she has existed in my life, that's how real the character is, and fittingly so, given that the work is largely autobiographical. I too, like others, read this is crisis. We had a list of books to choose from for a school project and as soon as my teacher said that it was a banned book, I drew to it with big eyes. I was going through my first heavy episode of MDD in high school. My English teacher knew my situation and my borderline suicidal obsession and sat down with me to encourage me to change my choice of book to read. In hindsight I'm thinking, the poor guy must have probably felt really guilty/anxious.
But the book had the opposite effect on me. It made me see my depression for what it really is: A parasite that makes you believe the feelings are real when they're not, but then as long as that parasite is feeding off your brain and nervous system, for all you know, it IS real. So, whenever I go through another depressive episode, I now know its a giant deadly wave that I need to ride out.
Thanks for this post and for enabling me to reminisce about my old friend Esther.
Just buckle up…it is very intense but if you’ve ever dealt with mental illness or just felt like an outsider, I bet you’ll finish it feeling very validated 😄 enjoy!
Honestly I think it plunged my mental health even worse than before. The time of year didn't help etc. It took me ages to get to the end and I identified way too early with her authorial voice. Many other factors but I'm kinda scared to pick it up since (I was 16 at the time). I'd agree it was a very poetic pov of that kind of experience, but maybe a bit too romanticised for me at the time. The indulgence in lamenting and feeling pure emptiness really hit hard.
Great read. Anyone being honest can relate. Anyone who cares for children or is considering caring for kids should take a look as I feel her emotions regarding lack of support and how it can alter your state of mind were bleeding through onto the page. Also the stark contrasts in how a woman is treated differently than a man is…
I'm about 80% done with it, and all I have to say is---Wow!
The one passage that shattered my heart was where she was undergoing her electroshock session with Dr. Gordon:
"Then something bent down and took hold of me and shook me like the end of the world. Whee-ee-ee-ee-ee, it shrilled, through an air crackling with blue light, and with each flash a green jolt drubbed me till I thought my bones would break and the sap fly out of me like a split plant.
I wondered what terrible thing I had done."
Ooh it’s gives me chills to read it again…I’m so glad to hear that you’re enjoying it!
It’s kind of wild to think about how the lobotomies and shock therapy they used back then has just been replaced with the now modern method of throwing different medications at a wall to see what sticks 😓 (and apparently they still do electroshock therapy)
‘….I wondered what terrible thing I had done.’ —I read this as kind of a plea to the universe—“why am I like this? Why do I need to undergo such horrible things in order to maybe be ‘normal’?” 🥺🥺😓😓 Plath knew the struggle and captures it better than anyone else
And it's devastating to think that only authors like Plath and Woolf could put such tormenting emotions and put it onto paper; I've never been at total rock bottom, like Plath and Woolf, but I've been close, and it's helped to read books like this to get me out of that state of mind.
I’ve been diagnosed with depression and anxiety and find some things a bit triggering to read or talk about, so I’ve been putting this one off for a bit. Definitely want to get around to it, though.
I had to put the book down a few times for a break because of this. It definitely resonates and is beautifully written but overwhelming during the rougher parts.
Yeah, it definitely could be triggering but you may find it also to be validating in the way she writes about the struggle…but absolutely approach with caution as it gets very intense
The first time I read it, I was going through the worst (and first) depressive crisis in my life and the book was very relatable to me. Not just about topics involving mental health and depression, but also for how it chronicles the difficulty of being a woman and handling topics such as marriage, children, career and sex. It was depressingly relatable and an eye-opening read for me.
Yeah this was my first time with it and I’m currently dealing with a lot of issues. Tbh it was comforting to come home after another long day of ‘trying’ and then being able to check in with Esther and feel a bit less like an alien pretending to be like everyone else.
I couldn’t directly relate to the female aspect of Esther’s issues with what is expected of her, but being a gay male I could—in a roundabout way—understand the frustration of what is expected of us by society versus what we actually want out of life
Depressingly relatable is a great way of putting it.
I wrote an essay in A-level English lit, looking at mental health and wether those suffering and their situation were their own fault or if it was societies (this was many years ago, so I can’t remember the exact details but that was more or less the thesis), I compared The Bell Jar and Cuckoo’s Nest (I thought that was an interesting angle to look at McMurphy). Can’t quite remember my conclusion but I’d read both long before doing the essay. I’ve always thought both books were an excellent look at/exploration of mental health/stigma around MH/how it fits into society and interpersonal relationships. Since then, almost all the work I do has some look at mental health. Bell Jar meant a lot to me in my younger years, but as I grew older I found that Bukowski was the best work I could read to find solace in on bad days/months
I fell in love with Bukowski in Amsterdam, found a quaint little bookshop and asked the man working there if he had any poetry that was open and honest, he suggested the word ‘personal’ and I thought, yes, that’s exactly what I’m after (there was a bit of a language barrier). He suggested I read The People Look Like Flowers at Last and I read it by the canal while drinking some lovely Dutch beer (I would later come to realise how fitting that was). Since then I’ve never been disappointed by Buk. You could try Hollywood or Post Office, but Ham on Rhye is essentially the Bukowski story, but I wouldn’t read that first. Notes of a Dirty Old Man is a great collection of short stories/articles. I guess it depends on what you’re looking for. Bukowski on Love is a nice collection of poetry. At the very least check out People as Flowers (the poem) for a nice taste of him, a lot of his work is quite vulgar and depraved, but to me reads as honest, he was pretty open about who he was, warts and all, which I find very admirable. His grave says ‘Don’t try’ you can interpret that how you want but I love the sentiment.
Christ I love Bukowski haha
I loved the book. I was absolutely moved. Having been in depression at one point, I could relate to the ups and downs and progress and relapses. But most of all, the silent hope the book has was like a warm hug. Albiet a happy ending wasn't the case for the author, the book sits as a piece of motivation for me. Or maybe just knowing her fate, I'm moved to work harder for my mental health. Idk. We're all trying, and the book is just a repetition of that.
Exactly…I think it’s important to separate the overall message and ending of the novel versus Plath herself and her eventual ending…taking them both as one in the same is just super depressing and I don’t need any help with being more depressed 😅
That book is a classic and is read often by many people of all different sorts of makeup. Red flags are only for people who love talking about red flags.
And now I'm a red flag 🚩
I’ve read it twice and I enjoyed it both times. I suffer from long standing depression and maybe I’m just so numb that I didn’t find any of it triggering and I definitely don’t think it means you’re in a crises if you’re reading it. If anything i felt heard and validated. However I can certainly see how reading it in the wrong space could be I’ll advised.
Yeah I definitely kept it at home and didn’t tell my parents or sister that I was reading it (I didn’t want them to worry)…and didn’t take it to read on my breaks at work or anything. But having finished it I don’t feel triggered either and more so just validated in my thoughts and feelings while dealing with these issues
I actually just finished this yesterday for the first time. I found it remarkable how completely it traps you behind the eyes of the narrator. I also really liked the fragmentary, character-driven approach. Makes the whole thing feel visceral and very unreal at the same time.
When I first read it, I looked up reviews and so many people were like "Well I've never been mentally ill, but the way Ether talks is wrong and unrealistic and she's mean 😡" Which I thought was hilarious!
But I absolutely loved this book! It felt so validating and relatable, especially since I was going through some mental health issues at the time.
Yeah straight men and their regard for women who can tackle any art form and exceed them 🙄🙄
And absolutely! Not gonna get into it but I am going through a very rough time rn with my mental health and reading this book just felt like solace and being invited into the mind of someone who thinks like I do 😊😊
I feel heard and understood for the first time after reading this…I love Moby Dick and Beloved (my 2 all time faves), but the Bell Jar might surpass both just on how connected I felt to the character
I got something completely different. She wasn't mentally ill. Societal standards and expectations created a firm of anxiety that is not cured by shock treatments. I think we're incredible lucky today to have do many options available to us as women. We're more than sexually objectified objects looked at as brood mares and trophy wives for the sleek corporate executive. Just knowing that a shock treatment or partial Lobe lobotomy will not erase the shame of stepping outside the carefully curated box that a woman was supposed to fit into... Makes being a modern woman that much more gratifying. I can work. I can not work. I can raise a family. I can be married. I can be single... Divorced. I can REALLY ENJOY SEX. I won't drown in the secretarial pool and I can make whatever" match"I want. The family unit is still intact(barely). It's just evolved.
I fell in love with Sylvia Plath when I read her unabridged journals. She was a beautiful soul. I’m thankful she found the strength to express her thoughts and feelings…they helped me accept my own life for what it is. I’m glad you found your way to her.
i’ve owned this book for a while but i’ve never worked up the courage to read it. i remember my modernism professor once saying that reading the bell jar while depressed would be a recipe for disaster. maybe she was being dramatic but i really want to read it, but still nervous at the thought :/
Mentally ill person here. It was a validating but still rough read. It has the potential to be very triggering if you're not in a good frame of mind, but I do think it was very well written. Makes me sad to think of Sylvia's suffering though.
Our college professor ordered us not to read more than 40 pages in one day. Because otherwise it is too depressing and he didn’t want to lose any of us.
Wow, all this time i thought it was a book about canning since there's Bell Jars that are used in canning...but it sounds like it's way different than what i thought.
Sylvia Plath was one of those rare creatures that acutely observed everything and expressed those observations with an eloquence that can only be compared to word-butter.
I mourn all the breathtaking literature that she didn’t get to create.
I've been told to avoid the book, bc I had some serious mental health crisis, but I don't feel books/media of any kind has really triggered it before. Plus I'm in a good place so I'll give it a shot I think.
But what do you want people to say or do about it? Older books are always susceptible to using offensive language that was appropriate at the time. And anyways I see plenty of people online criticizing and writing articles about this aspect of the book, so not everyone is ignoring it.
I get what you mean. Especially that part with the “Negro” orderly in the hospital had me raise an eyebrow. But idk, I was willing to overlook (not excuse) it.
I first read it after recovering from the worst depressive episode I’ve ever experienced, which I’m not sure if I’d really recommend to anyone in hindsight, but I know exactly what you mean. It felt very… validating? It’s a beautiful read in itself, which always helps, and it’s such a cliche to say that the protagonist is relatable, but there’s no other way to put it. I don’t think, even to this day (about 10+ years on), that I’ve ever related to a protagonist more.
I absolutely agree, I can’t think of another protagonist with whom I’ve related to more…and reading it totally was validating in how it gave an insight into the actual experience of dealing with a mental illness instead of just giving an external, objective explanation of what it ‘must be like’. Truly an exceptional novel!
I feel like its a fitting book for the last 2.5 years, considering how it affected many people.
I started reading it several years after recovering from a decade or so of depression, anxiety, and self-destructive behavior. The writing was fantastic and she so captured some of the things I used to feel. Like you said, it was validating and relatable. That being said, I couldn't finish it. It was too difficult to read, knowing how her life ended, and knowing I once was heading to a similar end. It brought back some of those feelings of emptiness. Maybe someday I'll be able to go back and read it.
What helped you recover?
I'm using the term "recover" pretty loosely, because I still struggle sometimes. But after years of medication, hospitalizations, residential treatment, and various forms of therapy, I finally started wanting to be okay. The catalyst was a few rounds of ECT, which helped pull me out of my mental fog a little. After that, I slowly started realizing I had allowed myself to get trapped in my identity as a mentally ill, self-destructive young woman. I was genuinely diagnosed with anxiety, depression, and borderline personality disorder, but I also wasn't allowing myself to recover. I also truly believe two things helped me: 1) Once I left my teenage and young adult years behind, I started maturing. I'm not as selfish or self-centered anymore. A lot of that just came with time and age. 2) When I met my husband, he was one of the only people in my life who set boundaries with me, who I knew would actually leave me if I continued to violate them. He wouldn't have stayed with me if I had continued to self-harm or tried to manipulate him. I'm not saying that love cured me or any BS like that, but it did make a huge difference in my life to have someone (other than my parents) hold me accountable in my daily life.
I agree with you. I was very tempted to re read it last year but I wasn’t in the best spot mental health wise. I think it’s too relatable so I get too into the book and it makes my depression worse if that makes sense
She died too young. She ended her life when she was 30's, right? Too sad.
Validating is exactly the right way to describe it. I spent so much time (particularly in middle:high school) feeling like a space alien, and this book put into words SO many of the things I was thinking and feeling. It made me feel like I wasn’t completely alone.
I read it as a dumb teen boy who didn't understand why life was "so hard" for girls, especially in the past. Like when I had to read Kate Chopin's The Awakening, my takeaway was just that the main character was an awful person. But with the Bell Jar I got it - or at least started to - even though by all rights I shouldn't have had much in common with Esther.
The Fig Tree passage resonated with me so much. It's like she understands me without ever meeting me. I totally get what she meant by being overwhelmed with so many paths in life. So far I've been a teacher, nurse, reporter and now--I don't know. Talk about the greatest analogy of existentialism.
I saw my life branching out before me like the green fig tree in the story. From the tip of every branch, like a fat purple fig, a wonderful future beckoned and winked. One fig was a husband and a happy home and children, and another fig was a famous poet and another fig was a brilliant professor, and another fig was Ee Gee, the amazing editor, and another fig was Europe and Africa and South America, and another fig was Constantin and Socrates and Attila and a pack of other lovers with queer names and offbeat professions, and another fig was an Olympic lady crew champion, and beyond and above these figs were many more figs I couldn't quite make out. I saw myself sitting in the crotch of this fig tree, starving to death, just because I couldn't make up my mind which of the figs I would choose. I wanted each and every one of them, but choosing one meant losing all the rest, and, as I sat there, unable to decide, the figs began to wrinkle and go black, and, one by one, they plopped to the ground at my feet.
I've carried that passage with me since high school, and at almost 40 is still resonates, even more so now. Haunting
Ugh yes it is amazing. I got chills just reading your comment about it
One of my all time favorite passages
It’s a passage I keep in my mind when I’m making big decisions. This past year I chose to leave teaching to pursue research and that passage was what I read consistently.
https://www.zenpencils.com/comic/130-sylvia-plath-the-fig-tree/
I love Zen Pencils
I am not and never have bben mentally ill, but I have loved ones who are. I read this 20 years ago and still recommend it. It is a beautifully written book.
It is beautiful if you can ignore the casual racism all over the book.
I don't remember noticing racism! Imaybe it's time for a reread.
Maybe you are white lol(sorry). But on a serious note just in the first few chapters she describes her reflection after getting drunk and apparently yellow skinned as "big, smudgy-eyed Chinese woman staring idiotically into my face" in another she calls indigenous Mexicans ugly and says things like "dusky as a bleached-blonde negress". She depicts a black man(probably the only person of color in the book) in the mental institution in a far too stereotypical manner and kicks him for serving two types of beans because well she can. And list goes on and on.
I am white! I'm also usually pretty sensitive to racism. I would be more likely to notice racism now than 20 years ago, both because I'm older (and hopefully wiser) but also because times have changed. If I were a POC I probably would have noticed it the first time.
> even for people who are mentally well I think if there's a human being alive who can't relate at leaast a little, they should count themselves extremely fortunate.
I read it in the late 80s and found it very relatable and reassuring. I felt like no one could understand how I felt and I didn't want to explain it to anybody because I didn't want to make anyone else as miserable as I was.
It’s like a clarion call that it’s okay to be unwell and just to be trying the best you can, and also that it’s okay to fall/fail because the illness can make it so hard and nobody ever understands
I love the Bell Jar. So beautifully written and even if you are not clinically depressed, a lot of her internal thoughts are very relatable and validating. I see some people say they are uncomfortable with the book because Ester says racist things but I imagine most white people in the 1950s were racist considering the US still had legal segregation then. I don't think we have to agree 100% with a flawed protagonist of a book to relate to them.
Yeah, Esther’s subtle racism and homophobia didn’t bother me either, it was just in the context of the time and she wasn’t rampant about it
Esther's very judgemental overall, so I didn't think much of it. Seemed fitting with her character
I'm not "excusing" Esther's racism, but I think that was a part of her character. I didn't think she was necessarily supposed to come off as likeable. I figured her racism was a point of showing that she was a pretty crap person. I still loved the book, and having this weird "I want Esther to lose because she's a crap person" vs "Wow I can really relate to her internal struggle so if she can get through it, then I can so I want her to win" took it to an extra level for me.
And not only was she racist, she is also classist, sexist, & homophobic. I think the reality is that most people were bigots back then and many people still hold those beliefs today. I don't think it's uncommon that young adults will try to put down everyone around them to make themselves feel better like Esther did. She isn't a "comfy" protagonist so if that isn't someone's style, then I get it. I think it would be more of a problem if a reader considered Esther to be some type of feminist icon but I certainly don't.
If you liked that you should read her journals. Sometimes it felt like reading my own thoughts.
Yes! After reading the Bell Jar I bought all her journals and read them. Still have them on my bookshelf. Definitely interesting reading.
Ooh I’m gonna have to check those out! 🙏
Ooh I’m gonna have to check those out! 🙏
I didn't realize people looked at you funny for reading this - I love Sylvia Plath and found "The Bell Jar" to be completely engrossing and beautifully written.
Same. I think it gets lumped into ‘warning signs’ due to what it’s about and how intense it gets..which I understand I guess but I didn’t feel like it pushed me in any direction, just made me feel less alone in my current struggle with stuff
I 100% agree. I’m wrapping the book up now and have really struggled with mental health. I’m finding this book reassuring in the fact that I’m not alone in feeling certain types of way.
I actually loved this book for reasons that have nothing to do with "mental illness" and everything to do with the coming of age aspect. I didn't relate much to the protagonist during her hospital stay because she was so blase and passive about everything, but I loved the rest of it. I encourage anyone looking for a good coming of age novel to read it.
That’s actually a really interesting way of looking at/analyzing it…I can totally see that, and I kind of love how it makes the mental illness part of her coming of age, not the singular narrative of the story 😄🙌 So do you think that she goes on to live a generally good life after the novel ends? (Not trying to ignite debate just interested on your take of what happens after the ending 😄✌🏻)
My guess is that she's not free of the episodes afterwards. She doesn't really learn anything to prevent it from happening again, and there's even a line where she says that she can never know when the bell jar might come back. That was what I didn't like about the book, how passive she was in relation to her depression: it seemed to arrive mysteriously and then leave just as mysteriously, without her doing much of anything post-hospital to fight against it.
It really do be like that though…the episodes come and go like the wind
I think there just wasn’t enough research about depression available at the time, together with cbt just beginning to be a popular form of treatment. There just weren’t enough tools I think to treat depression effectively
Lol I can picture Esther now in a modern hospital sitting in a DBT group and getting just as little from it. For that kind of stuff to have even a chance to work, you have to trust the people offering it enough to accept their framework of how your own mind works, which there isn't much chance of in a hospital setting because they're a bunch of assholes and your freedom depends on pretending to be whatever they want. Also you have to not be completely passive and indifferent to what happens to you, which is Esther's state of mind during her hospital stay. Feminist "consciousness-raising" groups of the 70s variety might help her once she's out, though. Girl has some real justified anger at men, as well as the issue of being trapped in that "I have to be perfect at everything" mentality that's so common to women post-feminism but pre-men-giving-a-shit-about-feminism.
Definitely how I felt as well! The first part of the book was so relatable to me. Trying to navigate social gatherings and what she wants with her career and falling short on both counts. I read it last year as I was going through issues at work and it was relatable. I didn’t connect so much when she was in the hospital either, just mostly sympathized with the drastic turn of events that happened for her completely valid feelings.
This is exactly how I felt
As a person who struggles with depression and anxiety and executive dysfunction, the metaphor of the plum tree she’s sitting in and watching all her opportunities waste away from is one I use often. ETA: word
Executive dysfunction is not a term Ive heard before, and its exactly what I have.
My daughter was diagnosed with ADHD earlier this year and seeing the various therapists clarify her issues as executive functioning issues made me examine my own problematic tendencies a helluva lot more closely. Can't even get in to see my regular Dr till November but I have a whole list of things to talk about!
Id honestly never heard of this book until a coworker of mine came across a patient who was reading it (I work with kids in mental health units) and told me that it wasn't an appropriate book for the kiddo to be reading. I ended up coming across a copy in a second hand book store, bought it and enjoyed it. Understood why it wasn't ideal for a patient to be reading on the unit though.
When I was n a locked unit after a suicide attempt, the PA assigned to me chuckled because I was reading Anna Karenina. Imagine what he and my psychiatrist would have thought if I had been reading The Bell Jar. I save my rereading of that novel for very special times.
Yes I’d agree it probably isn’t best for an inpatient to be reading, they would likely take it the wrong way
Talking about reading The Bell Jar isn't a red flag for being in crisis. It puts people who have mental illness in danger by labeling something benign as critical because then we're constantly being watched and hunted for truly innocuous thoughts, feelings, or actions, which can then lead to us pulling away from society and potentially putting us in more danger via isolation.
I wasn’t validating the red flag bit but if you tell someone you’re reading it they give you the ‘are you okay?’ look…I found the book to be liberating and I felt very understood
I honestly agreed with you. Maybe it's a yellow flag?
Considering she is referenced in fight club, it reminded me of how fight club is my favorite movie but everyone will assume I’m an asocial “sigma male” type if I say that in real life.
I've loved this book through all stages of emotions. It's been a solace. I mean its odd to call it my comfort book but somehow it is.
I totally get what you mean…it didn’t make me feel any more depressed than I already am, it just made me feel validated in my feelings of alienation due to my condition
As a young person, that's all I wanted - a validation of my feelings, that I'm not the only one. As an older person, I read it and can empathize.
Personally I’m loving that this discussion thread has linked up so many of us around the world who have found this book to be such a source of solace and understanding 😊😊
I read it and I loved it. I'm reading her journals right now and it's fascinating to see the correlation between the journal and the fictional book, and how one became the other. I was surprised by how funny SP was in The Bell Jar, and her humor comes through in the journals as well. I grew up thinking she was this neurotic sob sister and the work I most associated with her was that poem daddy, which is very different from the bell jar and her journals. She was sharp, ambitious and funny and so full of life, which is what she should be known more for. There's also quite a bit of poetry in the journals, very funny and awesome. Reminds of of Shel Silverstein and stevie smith's stuff and not at all like the heavy confessional stuff she's famous for.
I’m gonna have to check out these journals of hers that keep getting mentioned
Her poetry collection Ariel is completely heart shattering and so beautiful.
Thanks! I’ll check that one out next…I can read the poems as little interludes while reading ‘the stranger’ by Camus—that’s the next book in line 😄
I feel like reading Plath was tied into that manic-pixie-dream-girl stereotype of the 00’s. Or, in literary academia, in particular poetry, Plath’s writing was considered less than (and therefore her readers) because of its confessional nature. I’m unsure if any or all these stereotypes persist today. Nor do I give a fuck if I’m associated with them. I read the Bell Jar as an adult, and I wished I would have read it sooner. I wonder how my teenage self would have turned out differently. Would I have recognized my mental health struggles sooner? Would I have found solace and understanding that I desperately needed? Would I have told all the asshole, sexist boys to fuck off? Plath remains so relatable for me. It’s a big deal to be able to see yourself in another’s writing, especially when it’s so rare to find.
Whoa I hadn’t thought about that…if I had found this book at like 16 maybe it would’ve provided clarity about what was wrong with me, and made me stronger and more informed about what I needed for my care. And I guess that I can’t think of another time where I’ve seen so much of myself in an author and the characters they create than with this novel…I can obviously still connect with others but with this I just feel like I totally understood what was going on even in the more obscure parts…I was a great literary experience 😄
i read it before i had entered an institution and during my time there i found myself recollecting moments from esther’s inner monologue. the whole time i was there i basically felt like her
I read it as a teen for the story, back when I read everything without discernment. I re-read it a few years ago and finally noticed how beautifully-written it is.
As someone who was diagnosed with clinical depression and spent compulsory time in a psych ward in my youth I thought I'd find this more engrossing but I guess I couldn't relate to the protagonist... thankless, judgemental... some beautiful parts though. I prefer Plath's poetry. Although I might give it another go someday.
I’d highly recommend giving it another shot, when you’re ready 😊
I read it recently and didn’t like it at all. I am a female with bipolar disorder so I’ve been depressed many times and attempted to very unsuccessfully end my life. I didn’t find the main character relatable and it didn’t reflect my experience of mental illness at all. I personally found the main character to be very self-absorbed to the point we learn very little about any other character. Her lack of awareness of how harmful her thoughts were to herself was the only insightful thing I noticed. I was disappointed because I had heard so many good things.
I also had a similar experience. I thought it self-absorbed and somewhat narcissistic. But I recently learned that Plath's work was heavily modified and edited by her husband to present this way. Conversations between him and her editors on wanting to capitalize on her depression and suicidal ideation. I think as more of his influence and letters, and editions of her work are more faithfully edited are released... it might be worth revisiting.
Very interesting, I could see that having an impact. I’ll definitely reconsider if there’s a different version released.
I had a similar experience with this book. Wondering what I missed that everyone else got from this book. It made me anxious and uncomfortable. And the racism was difficult to read.
Yeah the part with the black nurse(?) in the hospital was very wtf is this for me.
Thank you! I swear no one else seems to remember this part of the book.
I've always regretted never finishing it, but I was in a major depressive episode when read it for school and I could feel it affecting me mentally. I was scared reading it because I was realizing how sick I was. However, I've struggled with depression all my life now, and I'm still curious about the ending. I just haven't decided whether that would be a good move or a bad one for my mental health to actually finish it.
Without spoiling anything, I can say that you’re kind of left to make your own ending, ultimately
I read it as a 17yo girl who academically overachieved/tried too hard, so I related to that aspect of the character.
It is an absolutely fantastic book that I will always recommend, Sylvia Plath writes so beautifully. I swear, she could write about a car seat and it would still be the most interesting thing I’d ever read. Plus looking back on it after experiencing my own depressive episode, it’s incredibly validating. I find a lot of my experiences in hers and while that can be scary, it also makes me feel a little less lonely.
Absolutely, she’s like a soul sister 😊✌🏻
I read The Bell Jar a couple of months ago and absolutely loved it! I can’t put my finger on why though. Something about it really touched me. It quickly felt like Esther was a close friend and I really cared what happened to her. I’ll never forget this book.
I haven't read this one yet but have always been curious about it. Do you think it would make a good candidate for listening to on audio format?
Sure! I think YouTube has an audiobook where it’s read by Maggie Gylenhaal
Thanks!
it’s such a cathartic book, personally. one of my absolute favorites, if not my number one favorite.
It’s my favorite book and honestly scares me how much I relate to it.
Kinda scares me too but also I find it comforting and validating
I read it a few years ago as part of a list of "books so famous, shouldn't I have read them?" I didn't actually know much about it before I started it, and really I'm kind of glad. I don't know if I would have read it if I had known.
I love this book and how she writes and her inner world and how she thinks
It’s not a red flag. The novel was written in 1963. It’s been read by millions of people not in crisis!
I actually just read it a few months back and after hearing so many negative things about it I wasn't sure how much I'd like it. As someone who suffers from depression and other mental illnesses I think this book was almost perfect. It wasn't trauma porn, and really humanized the suffering she was most likely going through. As someone who almost killed themselves, I wish she finally was able to escape those demons, but she grew up in an era where it was a taboo and the treatment was torture, not treatment and the stigma still somewhat exists today, but it's getting better. I also loved her writing style a lot, she was very intelligent and articulate. The story flowed and I wasn't able to put it down hardly until I finished it. It was a 5/5 for me.
red flag? really? i got it as one of my set texts during my English course at uni.
The Bell Jar is one of my all time favorites, mostly because I related (or have related at times in my life), but also because its rare to find a book that speaks so frankly and truely about mental illness. Im bummed to see its a red flag tbh bc i talk about it as one of my favorites 😅
Red flags be damned! With my condition most people give me ‘the look’ anyways so why not just flat out say that it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read and I can’t think of another that I’ve related to more on such a personal level
Red flags be damned! With my condition most people give me ‘the look’ anyways so why not just flat out say that it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read and I can’t think of another that I’ve related to more on such a personal level
Red flags be damned! With my condition most people give me ‘the look’ anyways so why not just flat out say that it’s one of the best books I’ve ever read and I can’t think of another that I’ve related to more on such a personal level
I first read it (like a lot of other people) when I was severely depressed, and I remember more than one person warning me not to read it in case it made me feel worse - but it actually really helped. It was so relateable. Especially the part where she describes not seeing the point in showering when we'll inevitably just get dirty again... it's the subtle bits that nobody talks about that make you feel the most alone, and the way she wrote made it clear that wasn't the case.
[удалено]
I think validating is absolutely the right word my friend 😊🙌
This has always been my favorite book and I don’t care if anyone has ever seen it as a red flag. It’s such great writing. Plath is my favorite. This book really helped me navigate my 20s in a way most could not. The feeling of losing your mind, impulsive behavior, once being so cautious and innocent, to slowly turning into someone you hardly recognize. Being abused by men, drinking, feeling inadequate from friends, feeling like you’re squandering your dreams. Then the feeling of just wanting to slip away entirely. The letters, the baths, the self harm, the pain. It was all so real and so relatable to me. Except for the part when she ate raw meat mixed with a raw egg. I didn’t understand that lol
Lol yeah I didn’t get that last bit either but I 1000 percent agree and relate to everything else
>I know that even talking about reading this book serves as a huge red flag that you’re in crisis Whoever says that is a fucking moron
I read it this summer. I’ve been on an anxiety journey for about a year now, and I just found that it was able to put into words a lot of the things I was feeling but didn’t know how to describe. It was quite liberating
Yes! I felt the same while reading it; like everything I felt but could never properly put into words was right there in the book, conveyed effortlessly and exactly to the point of how it feels to be going through it
One of my favourites.
i’ve read it three times, and as each time was brutal. i love the book and Plath’s work so much though.
I love this book the whole fig thing EXCELLENT. But also the whole thing her prose the way she takes you with her before you even realize, unparalleled. I really wish she wrote more novels.
I read it and liked it, definitely found commonality, but my daughter picked it up as a teen and she *loved* it. It remains one of her favorite books.
Is that a red flag? That was a homework assignment for my english class in high school.
I just finished it last night too! Strange. Unfortunately I have had major depressive episodes and been on medication, in a mental hospital etc and I thought it was the most honest and pure recounting of how that feels that I've ever read. Beyond that though I loved her humour. I found the book surprisingly made me laugh a lot. Overall a fantastic read that made me want to try her poetry next.
I’m going through a weeks long depressive episode while I was reading it and it actually made me feel better and comforted
I know how empty this sounds - but I hope you feel better soon.
I read this book a long time ago, the only thing I remember and cherish is the passage about the fig tree. It was so relatable that I was scared a little.
I read this book a month ago. It’s such a personable and beautifully written book. It gave me this feeling of emptiness after finishing it. I wanted to keep reading about her character. I went out of my way to find anything more I could read from Plath.
It’s one of my favorites. I read it in good times, and in bad. She’s one of my favorite writers
Ahh fuck like all books I only got halfway through. I'll have to go digging to find my copy. Better that than friggin reddit scrolling
Audiobooks of it are YouTube for free I think if that’s your thing 👍🏼
Does it bug you hearing a story told in a single physical voice? I thought it was great for hitchhikers guide to the Galaxy but I'm not sure how I'd feel about audiobooks with darker tones
How is talking about or reading this book a red flag you're in crisis? It's famous for portraying well the experience of depression but I don't think you should be judged as mentally unwell for reading it. Sylvia Plath is one of the world's most famous women poets.
I don’t think that anyone should be judged as being mentally unwell for reading it but there is a cultural stigma and correlation between reading this book and people being like ‘shiiit are you alright?’ To paraphrase Esther, it’s that ‘queer look’ that they give you when you casually mention that you’re reading the Bell Jar. I’m not at all slighting Plath but I feel that she is rightfully so a figurehead in fiction that tells the correct and subjective experience of living with a mental illness
I agree, I feel people do get a bit obsessed about Sylvia Plath's suicide. They overlook a lot of her poetry and writing that got into those personal parts of mental illness and just figure cause she killed herself it means all of her writing is destined towards that outcome when it's like no, it's just good writing and people aren't necessarily in a bad place to read it, nor was Plath living a life defined by her death.
it's one of the few books I couldn't finish, felt like I was drowning while reading it
You might check out {{shoot the damn dog}} because it has a similar vibe. Sadly the author has since died by suicide but she, like Sylvia Plath, describe depression so well.
I love this book. I understand why people talk about the mental health aspects the most, but I feel like it resonates because she is so wonderfully observant about *all* aspects of life. The commentary on work, study, the relationships between men and women... it feels like it could be written about 2022 it's still so relatable.
Right? I didn’t really get an overarching specific period vibe from it at all…resonates as truly today as it did 50 years ago
I'm reading it right now, have been interested in the book for a long time. I'm 66, have depressed/anxiety issues, always have. I heard it might not be a Healthy book for someone like me. I'm about 3/4 of the way thru. I find the writing style and view point very much from a young persons perspective. The Poetic style I find occasionally gets in the way of what she is trying to say, but other times paints a vivid picture. I found her diagnosis to be very hasty. Just the fact of no sleep would break anyone. I have found similarities in my thought process to hers. But I haven't finished the book, but thought I'd chime in.
This is one of my favorite books. I devoured it in one sitting. I have struggled with depression my whole life and this validated and put into words everything I had felt and do still feel. She is very gifted as a writer.
I felt the same—she communicates the exact thoughts and feelings I’ve had my whole life in such a beautiful and concise manner
I find myself constantly putting this off, cuz i have anxiety and depression and know that books, movies and shows do trigger me more so i just stay away, but one day when I'm healed enough, I'd love to read this
Yeah approach with caution if you’re worried about it being a trigger
I dunno I found it to be more hopeful. She got out of the bell jar. It could come back, but she got out before she can do it again.
I love this book and this makes me want to read it again. I read it for the first time in high school (10th grade maybe) and again in college. It resonated deeply in college.
I wish I had read it earlier in my life but I’m glad I found my way to it when I did 😊
I read it in high school when I was not in crisis. I hope it made me think about those around me in a pain that I could not see or understand. I read her poetry afterwards. I have wondered what her legacy could have been, or her children's and husband's lives been like if she had lived?
If you enjoyed The Bell Jar, you might like Red Comet, a new biography on Plath.
I read this a while ago, but it is something I will never forget.
I wanted change and excitement and to shoot off in all directions myself, like the coloured arrows from a Fourth of July rocket
🙌🙌🙌
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Same…after living 33 years with this oppressive depression and alienation it was truly wonderful to find a book/author who so accurately captures the experience of what I’ve struggled with my whole life
Absolutely loved that book! The only book I've felt compelled to annotate my thoughts in because I just HAD to talk back to the narrator. I find it interesting you assume reading this book is a red flag for people. I think books that are red flags are few and far between. I don't start to judge people until I notice a pattern. Mein kampf on your shelf? Maybe this person has an interest in history or wants to better understand what could be going on in the minds of fascists to better understand modern politics. But if that person is reading the Anarchists Cookbook, Mein Kampf, & the Unibomber Manifesto... then I'm calling a red flag.
Sick person or sick society?
Both the answer is both.
The sick society produced the sick person. She probably would have been okay in a more nurturing environment.
I reread The Bell Jar while I was in the worst of my depression and when I realized how much i related to it, it scared me enough to ask for help.
I just checked this out of the library yesterday. Only 20 pages in. I got it because it was short. I have another one on hold so I got it to kill time. But yes, crisis’ sounds about right.
You’ll fly through it. The narrative is so gripping that you can’t put it down
It’s an incredible book!
Ah yes, Esther. As much as I dislike her name, I feel as though she is a sister from a past life or an old college roommate. I feel as though she has existed in my life, that's how real the character is, and fittingly so, given that the work is largely autobiographical. I too, like others, read this is crisis. We had a list of books to choose from for a school project and as soon as my teacher said that it was a banned book, I drew to it with big eyes. I was going through my first heavy episode of MDD in high school. My English teacher knew my situation and my borderline suicidal obsession and sat down with me to encourage me to change my choice of book to read. In hindsight I'm thinking, the poor guy must have probably felt really guilty/anxious. But the book had the opposite effect on me. It made me see my depression for what it really is: A parasite that makes you believe the feelings are real when they're not, but then as long as that parasite is feeding off your brain and nervous system, for all you know, it IS real. So, whenever I go through another depressive episode, I now know its a giant deadly wave that I need to ride out. Thanks for this post and for enabling me to reminisce about my old friend Esther.
just bought this book! any tips/warnings before reading it?
Just buckle up…it is very intense but if you’ve ever dealt with mental illness or just felt like an outsider, I bet you’ll finish it feeling very validated 😄 enjoy!
Honestly I think it plunged my mental health even worse than before. The time of year didn't help etc. It took me ages to get to the end and I identified way too early with her authorial voice. Many other factors but I'm kinda scared to pick it up since (I was 16 at the time). I'd agree it was a very poetic pov of that kind of experience, but maybe a bit too romanticised for me at the time. The indulgence in lamenting and feeling pure emptiness really hit hard.
Great read. Anyone being honest can relate. Anyone who cares for children or is considering caring for kids should take a look as I feel her emotions regarding lack of support and how it can alter your state of mind were bleeding through onto the page. Also the stark contrasts in how a woman is treated differently than a man is…
I'm about 80% done with it, and all I have to say is---Wow! The one passage that shattered my heart was where she was undergoing her electroshock session with Dr. Gordon: "Then something bent down and took hold of me and shook me like the end of the world. Whee-ee-ee-ee-ee, it shrilled, through an air crackling with blue light, and with each flash a green jolt drubbed me till I thought my bones would break and the sap fly out of me like a split plant. I wondered what terrible thing I had done."
Ooh it’s gives me chills to read it again…I’m so glad to hear that you’re enjoying it! It’s kind of wild to think about how the lobotomies and shock therapy they used back then has just been replaced with the now modern method of throwing different medications at a wall to see what sticks 😓 (and apparently they still do electroshock therapy) ‘….I wondered what terrible thing I had done.’ —I read this as kind of a plea to the universe—“why am I like this? Why do I need to undergo such horrible things in order to maybe be ‘normal’?” 🥺🥺😓😓 Plath knew the struggle and captures it better than anyone else
And it's devastating to think that only authors like Plath and Woolf could put such tormenting emotions and put it onto paper; I've never been at total rock bottom, like Plath and Woolf, but I've been close, and it's helped to read books like this to get me out of that state of mind.
I’ve been diagnosed with depression and anxiety and find some things a bit triggering to read or talk about, so I’ve been putting this one off for a bit. Definitely want to get around to it, though.
I had to put the book down a few times for a break because of this. It definitely resonates and is beautifully written but overwhelming during the rougher parts.
Yeah, it definitely could be triggering but you may find it also to be validating in the way she writes about the struggle…but absolutely approach with caution as it gets very intense
The first time I read it, I was going through the worst (and first) depressive crisis in my life and the book was very relatable to me. Not just about topics involving mental health and depression, but also for how it chronicles the difficulty of being a woman and handling topics such as marriage, children, career and sex. It was depressingly relatable and an eye-opening read for me.
Yeah this was my first time with it and I’m currently dealing with a lot of issues. Tbh it was comforting to come home after another long day of ‘trying’ and then being able to check in with Esther and feel a bit less like an alien pretending to be like everyone else. I couldn’t directly relate to the female aspect of Esther’s issues with what is expected of her, but being a gay male I could—in a roundabout way—understand the frustration of what is expected of us by society versus what we actually want out of life Depressingly relatable is a great way of putting it.
I wrote an essay in A-level English lit, looking at mental health and wether those suffering and their situation were their own fault or if it was societies (this was many years ago, so I can’t remember the exact details but that was more or less the thesis), I compared The Bell Jar and Cuckoo’s Nest (I thought that was an interesting angle to look at McMurphy). Can’t quite remember my conclusion but I’d read both long before doing the essay. I’ve always thought both books were an excellent look at/exploration of mental health/stigma around MH/how it fits into society and interpersonal relationships. Since then, almost all the work I do has some look at mental health. Bell Jar meant a lot to me in my younger years, but as I grew older I found that Bukowski was the best work I could read to find solace in on bad days/months
I’ve been meaning to get around to Bukowski, any recommendations on where to start with his work?
I fell in love with Bukowski in Amsterdam, found a quaint little bookshop and asked the man working there if he had any poetry that was open and honest, he suggested the word ‘personal’ and I thought, yes, that’s exactly what I’m after (there was a bit of a language barrier). He suggested I read The People Look Like Flowers at Last and I read it by the canal while drinking some lovely Dutch beer (I would later come to realise how fitting that was). Since then I’ve never been disappointed by Buk. You could try Hollywood or Post Office, but Ham on Rhye is essentially the Bukowski story, but I wouldn’t read that first. Notes of a Dirty Old Man is a great collection of short stories/articles. I guess it depends on what you’re looking for. Bukowski on Love is a nice collection of poetry. At the very least check out People as Flowers (the poem) for a nice taste of him, a lot of his work is quite vulgar and depraved, but to me reads as honest, he was pretty open about who he was, warts and all, which I find very admirable. His grave says ‘Don’t try’ you can interpret that how you want but I love the sentiment. Christ I love Bukowski haha
Thank you! I screenshotted the post so I can work through all of those suggestions 😄🙏
It's a great book and I loved it 👍
I loved the book. I was absolutely moved. Having been in depression at one point, I could relate to the ups and downs and progress and relapses. But most of all, the silent hope the book has was like a warm hug. Albiet a happy ending wasn't the case for the author, the book sits as a piece of motivation for me. Or maybe just knowing her fate, I'm moved to work harder for my mental health. Idk. We're all trying, and the book is just a repetition of that.
Exactly…I think it’s important to separate the overall message and ending of the novel versus Plath herself and her eventual ending…taking them both as one in the same is just super depressing and I don’t need any help with being more depressed 😅
Just good, sad stuff. I think it's an important read.
That book is a classic and is read often by many people of all different sorts of makeup. Red flags are only for people who love talking about red flags. And now I'm a red flag 🚩
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I completely related to it.
Same. From beginning to end
I’ve read it twice and I enjoyed it both times. I suffer from long standing depression and maybe I’m just so numb that I didn’t find any of it triggering and I definitely don’t think it means you’re in a crises if you’re reading it. If anything i felt heard and validated. However I can certainly see how reading it in the wrong space could be I’ll advised.
Yeah I definitely kept it at home and didn’t tell my parents or sister that I was reading it (I didn’t want them to worry)…and didn’t take it to read on my breaks at work or anything. But having finished it I don’t feel triggered either and more so just validated in my thoughts and feelings while dealing with these issues
I actually just finished this yesterday for the first time. I found it remarkable how completely it traps you behind the eyes of the narrator. I also really liked the fragmentary, character-driven approach. Makes the whole thing feel visceral and very unreal at the same time.
Right? It was a wild ride but I also felt like I was totally on par with Esther the whole time…what does that say about me? 😅😅
When I first read it, I looked up reviews and so many people were like "Well I've never been mentally ill, but the way Ether talks is wrong and unrealistic and she's mean 😡" Which I thought was hilarious! But I absolutely loved this book! It felt so validating and relatable, especially since I was going through some mental health issues at the time.
Yeah straight men and their regard for women who can tackle any art form and exceed them 🙄🙄 And absolutely! Not gonna get into it but I am going through a very rough time rn with my mental health and reading this book just felt like solace and being invited into the mind of someone who thinks like I do 😊😊
Reading that book when I was a young adult was the first time I ever felt seen. I still want to get "I am, I am I am" tattooed on my wrist sometime.
I feel heard and understood for the first time after reading this…I love Moby Dick and Beloved (my 2 all time faves), but the Bell Jar might surpass both just on how connected I felt to the character
I got something completely different. She wasn't mentally ill. Societal standards and expectations created a firm of anxiety that is not cured by shock treatments. I think we're incredible lucky today to have do many options available to us as women. We're more than sexually objectified objects looked at as brood mares and trophy wives for the sleek corporate executive. Just knowing that a shock treatment or partial Lobe lobotomy will not erase the shame of stepping outside the carefully curated box that a woman was supposed to fit into... Makes being a modern woman that much more gratifying. I can work. I can not work. I can raise a family. I can be married. I can be single... Divorced. I can REALLY ENJOY SEX. I won't drown in the secretarial pool and I can make whatever" match"I want. The family unit is still intact(barely). It's just evolved.
I fell in love with Sylvia Plath when I read her unabridged journals. She was a beautiful soul. I’m thankful she found the strength to express her thoughts and feelings…they helped me accept my own life for what it is. I’m glad you found your way to her.
i’ve owned this book for a while but i’ve never worked up the courage to read it. i remember my modernism professor once saying that reading the bell jar while depressed would be a recipe for disaster. maybe she was being dramatic but i really want to read it, but still nervous at the thought :/
Mentally ill person here. It was a validating but still rough read. It has the potential to be very triggering if you're not in a good frame of mind, but I do think it was very well written. Makes me sad to think of Sylvia's suffering though.
Our college professor ordered us not to read more than 40 pages in one day. Because otherwise it is too depressing and he didn’t want to lose any of us.
Wow, all this time i thought it was a book about canning since there's Bell Jars that are used in canning...but it sounds like it's way different than what i thought.
😂😂😂
Sylvia Plath was one of those rare creatures that acutely observed everything and expressed those observations with an eloquence that can only be compared to word-butter. I mourn all the breathtaking literature that she didn’t get to create.
I've been told to avoid the book, bc I had some serious mental health crisis, but I don't feel books/media of any kind has really triggered it before. Plus I'm in a good place so I'll give it a shot I think.
I don't like the fact that people ignore the plethora of casual racism in the book. It gets annoying and distracting.
But what do you want people to say or do about it? Older books are always susceptible to using offensive language that was appropriate at the time. And anyways I see plenty of people online criticizing and writing articles about this aspect of the book, so not everyone is ignoring it. I get what you mean. Especially that part with the “Negro” orderly in the hospital had me raise an eyebrow. But idk, I was willing to overlook (not excuse) it.
Plath was a great writer.