The Bell Jar

"If you expect nothing from anybody, you're never disappointed."

The Bell Jar surprised me in a lot ways. First, that I liked it so much, that no; I have come to adore the book so much. I feel like this invisible string of attachment to this novel and myself, and it's going to feel like my heart is ripping out when I return it too the library.

All I can really say about the novel is that it is beautiful; it captures the essence of Esther's depression right down to its very bones. And unlike many novels that embark upon this theme of depression, it doesn't sit there and whine and cry about how depressed it is. It's one of those beautiful works that has the magical trait or showing and not telling, a gift of a true writer. It's the thing, I'm telling you, that all writers need to have to be any good. And through The Bell Jar Sylvia Plath did a fantastic job of it, on more than one occasion I related to Esther. I felt her emotions, I felt her toiling, and pain. And sometimes even her utter lack of emotion. Everything is silent, everything is dead.

And Esther, she's this wonderful character that Plath created. Many say that Esther is based off her own self, and I'd have to believe it was true. The depth to which this character is explored is not something which any person could do, you have to be a person who really knows the character, who really understands her. And it's just brilliant.

The problem with me and stories that I really like is that I often have trouble expressing myself with them, but really, I can say this; The Bell Jar is a wonderful story. Not wonderful in the sense that amazing adventures happen and everyone gets a happy ending. But it's wonderful because it's a story that captures such intense, raw human emotion it's almost hard to believe. It's like reading from your own self or hearing your own thoughts. They aren't just words, but a gripping story that resonates in your very being. And I think above all, that is what makes it so beautiful. Is that Plath's ability to capture this, to capture the hills and rampages of human emotion is a wonderful thing. And it makes for a story worth reading.

Fin.
-Keshia